2. Buik Feed Handling on the Farm 



IN grain growing sections, bulk handling has been common practice for 

 many years. Beginning on the West Coast shortly after the end of 

 World War II and gradually extending to the east coast, grain dealers have 

 equipped themselves with special trucks designed for delivering grain in 

 bulk. For over three years, several New Hampshire firms have made grain 

 in bulk available to their patrons at a price discount. 



A few farm operators for many years have purchased grain in bags, 

 emptied it into bins and from there on handled it in bulk. One of the reasons 

 for doing this was the inability of some of the help to handle 100-pound 

 bags. But for most New Hampshire farmers handling grain in bulk on the 

 farm is a relatively new innovation. 



The initial effort of this study was largely directed toward the appraisal 

 of the handling of feed in bulk. It soon became apparent that bulk feed could 

 be neither universally recommended nor adopted by dealers or by farmers. 

 From the feed dealer's standpoint there are additional investments and a 

 difficult problem of establishing efficient delivery routes in many areas. On 

 the farm, the diverse nature of facilities, as well as varying unit sizes, makes 

 the decision in each case an individual problem. 



There are a number of factors which bear upon the decision on whether 

 or not to shift from bagged to bulk-grain delivery on any particular farm. 

 These are: 



(1) Availability of the service. 



(2) Accessibility of the farm. 



(3) Cash savings on purchase price of feed. 



(4) Indirect savings. 



(5) Alternatives, benefits, costs. 



(6) Effects on the labor force. 



Availability of the Service. 



In some areas of the state it is feasible for the feed dealer to offer con- 

 ventional bulk-feed delivery service. However, there are many areas where 

 there are too few units of sufficient size to justify operation of bulk delivery. 

 Thus, it is conceivable that some relatively large poultry and dairy farms 

 would be forced to continue handling bagged feed. At the present time dis- 

 tribution of bulk feed in New Hampshire is confined to within a given radius 

 of milling facilities, except as some dealers may elect to subsidize bulk 

 delivery by resorting to the costly method of emptying bags into convention- 

 al bulk delivery units. 



Recently, an alternative method of delivery has made its appearance. 

 With this system feed is received and loaded on delivery trucks in bags. 

 Delivery at the farm involves a hopper, into which bagged feed is dumped, 

 and an elevating mechanism mounted on the delivery truck. The unit can 

 be used to deliver feed in bulk to the farm bins where unit size warrants, 

 while serving other units with regular bagged-feed delivery. Under some 

 circumstances this might overcome the present disadvantage of units re- 

 ceiving bagged feed by rail from distant mills but called upon for bulk- 

 delivery service, or the cost difficulties experienced in setting up both effic- 

 ient bulk and bagged-delivery routes, even where each form is available at 



distributing points by rail. 



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