Transition to the Bulk Assembly of Milk 

 in Northern New England 



By James R. Bo wring and Kenneth A. Taylor* 

 I. Introduction 



TECHNOLOGICAL changes are no 

 less apparent in the dairy indus- 

 try than in agriculture as a whole. 

 Increased production per cow, in- 

 creases in the number of cows per 

 dairy farm worker, are symbolic of 

 the new feeds and the labor saving 

 devices and building designs which 

 have been developed. 



Increased competition among 

 farmers and among milk dealers for 

 the sale of milk intensifies the drive 

 for the adoption of cost reducing 

 techniques to keep prices down. One 

 of these new methods which has been 

 adopted in manv areas with large 

 farms but which is now reaching to 

 the smaller dairv farms is the tank 

 assembly of milk. Lender this system 

 milk is cooled and stored on the 

 farm, in refrigerated bulk tanks, 

 transferred to a tank truck by means 

 of a power-driven pump, delivered to 

 the dealer, and transferred from the 

 tank truck to the dealer's tank for 

 processing. Handling; and cleaning of 

 milk cans is no longer necessarv. 

 waste is reduced, and the probability 

 of contamination after leaving the 

 farm is minimized. Under can assem- 

 bly, title to the milk passes at the 

 plant; under bulk assembly, the point 

 of sale is at the farm. 



The process of change from cans 

 to tank is based in large measure on 

 the dealer's incentive of profit and 

 the producer's estimate of his profit 



or loss if he converts or stands pat. 

 Either the producer's expected gain 

 must exceed the cost or the loss he 

 thinks he will avoid by converting 

 must exceed the cost. Therefore local 

 differences in the structure of the in- 

 dustry, such as size of farm, dis- 

 tance from market, and selling agree- 

 ments, will result in different rates 

 of change-over to bulk assembly. The 

 educational job, the financing ar- 

 rangements, the reorganization of 

 established routes and the loss of 

 capital investments are obstacles 

 which must be overcome before the 

 transition can be completed. Tech- 

 nological change proceeds at varying 

 speeds. 



It is the puroose of this Bulletin 

 to describe and discuss various phases 

 of the transition to bulk handling; in 

 three New England States — New 

 Hampshire. Maine and Vermont. In- 

 formation will be provided on the re- 

 action of producers, dealers, and 

 truckers to the change-over both in 

 prospect and in operation. These may 

 provide guides to community farm 

 leaders and agricultural extension 

 personnel in the development of edu- 

 cational programs. 



Special emphasis will be given to 

 the potential savings to the industry 

 in transportation and assembly costs. 

 It is in this area that many of the 

 economic advantages lie. Therefore a 

 discussion of costs, rates, and neces- 



* Mr. _ Bowring is Economist, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of New 

 Hampshire. Mr. Taylor was Research Assistant, Agricultural Experiment Station, Uni- 

 versity of New Hampshire. 



