Amount of Surplus 



A relatively small surplus was carried by independent dealers in the four 

 states, Table 6. The dealers in Vermont, a surplus production area, had 

 the smallest percentage of surplus; probably due to the small volume size 

 of these plants. The percentage of surplus in the other states was relatively 

 uniform. 



It seems logical to conclude that the independent nature of dealers in this 

 study and the fact that they were primarily fluid milk processing plants were 

 more significant factors in the amount of surplus than location, the seasonal 

 pattern of receipts within the state, or the total surplus within the state. 



Table 6 Average Annual Surplus Carried by Individual Plant Dealers, 



Four Northeastern States. 



Per Cent of 

 State Year Surplus* 



Vermont 1953 4 



New Hampshire 1957 12 



Massachusetts 1955 14 



West Virginia 1957 10 



* Estimated by dealers or calculated from an average of the high and low months 

 of production. 



A comparison of the percentage surplus carried by these dealers with the 

 source of their supply was made with information available from the New 

 Hampshire study. This comparison showed that those dealers who obtained 

 almost all of their receipts from producers had the greater percentage of 

 surplus. The data indicated further that many producer-dealers were not 

 successful in regulating their own production in line with fluid sales. These 

 findings were substantiated by the data obtained from West Virginia. 



Disposal of Surplus 



Manufacturing facilities for the disposal of surplus milk were available 

 in about 14 per cent of the plants in the New England states, Table 7. Over 

 half of the plants in West Virginia had facilities for manufacture of ice 

 cream and one plant was equipped with a churn for the manufacture of 

 butter. However, only 20 per cent of all plants in the study had manufactur- 

 ing facilities to utilize their surplus receipts. 



Milk was separated into cream and skim by most plants, either for dis- 

 posing of surplus or as a means of obtaining fluid cream for their customers. 

 Ninety per cent of all plants surveyed had a separator. The range in the 

 percentage of plants with a separator among the states was from 80 per cent 

 in Vermont to 95 per cent in West Virginia. Much of the cream was used 

 on retail routes to meet local demand (fluid sales). 



Skim milk was a waste product for many dealers and was dumped down 

 the sewer in many of the New England plants studied. The production of 

 cottage cheese was the use most frequently mentioned by dealers as an im- 



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