SECONDARY MILK MARKETS, 1930-1932 15 



PRICE PLANS AND PRICES PAID TO PRODUCERS 



Price plans and prices paid to producers in all three areas were characterized 

 by the lack of uniformity ordinarily found in this t\^pe of market, and varied from 

 one dealer to another. In general the producers selling their milk to producer- 

 distributors or small dealers were more favorably placed with regard to the 

 average price received for their milk. (Table 12.) In addition, most of them 

 were situated very near to the distributing plants, often living on neighboring 

 farms, thus making the cost of delivery of negligible importance. In many cases 

 small distributors paid the same price for milk which they collected from the 

 producer as for that purchased from others who delivered it to the plant. Very 

 often it was a case of personal neighborly adjustment. The bulk of the milk was 

 purchased by large dealers and small distributors on the basis of a flat price 

 without discrimination as to surplus or butterfat content. Before 1932 the pro- 

 ducers with uneven production or with milk of low butterfat content were thus 

 placed on an equal basis with producers supplying a higher quality product and 

 having even production. However, with more unfavorable conditions of the 

 milk markets in 1932, and smaller purchases by dealers, curtailment took place 

 in the form of a dropping off of the less desirable producers. 



Table 12. Pricks Received by Producers for Milk Sold to Dealers in 



All -\reas in 1932 



Per Cent 

 of Total 



35.6 



.4 

 3.1 



2.0 



24.6 



5.6 



15.1 



9.7 



3.2 



.7 



100.0 



Weighted average price 4.9 cents. 



In the Gardner market only one dealer purchased his milk on the basis of 

 quality and surplus, adopting a modified price plan of the New England Milk 

 Producers' Association. The return to the producers on this basis averaged about 

 3^ cents a quart. This price was equivalent to that paid by another large dealer 

 purchasing his milk in this area at a flat price. The rest of the dealers and pro- 

 ducers in this area paid 5 cents a quart without diff'erentiation as to quality. In 

 some cases the entire output of the producer was taken and in others only a 

 definite amount. 



In agreement with the higher price for milk in the Attleboro market, the average 

 prices paid to producers in this larea were considerably higher than in either 

 Gardner or Newburyport. There was again no uniformity either in the price 



