Supply Sources 



Direct contracting arrangements account for 90 percent of volume 

 slaughtered by central Maine plants. Direct contracting is also significant 

 in Areas 4 and 5, Contractors (other than processing plants) play an im- 

 portant role in Areas 3, 4, and 6, on the basis of data shown. However, 

 the data shown under "contractors" (Table 8) do not provide an inclusive 



Table 8. Supply Sources: Percentage Distribution of Slaughtered Output 



Independent 

 Raised Contracted Contractors Producers 



Area 



Live 

 Buyers 



Total 



1 

 2 

 3 

 4 

 5 

 6 



Total 



40 



11 



43 



100 



Plant Size 



Total 



40 



11 



43 



100 



* Less than 1%. 



measure of the true importance of feed companies, hatcheries, and large 

 independent contractors in the supply picture. Much of the volume which 

 they control is included under the "independent producer"' column, because 

 the processor tended to answer the question with only direct contracting 

 between himself and the producer in mind. Live buyers are important in 

 fowl procurement, in supplying poultry and egg stores, and to some extent 

 as agents for processors in heavily populated areas. Plants which buy 

 dressed poultry for eviscerating and cutting up obtain practically all of 

 their supplies from slaughterers. 



Many very small slaughtering plants are associated with farming enter- 

 prises, the processing unit converting the producer's own birds to dressed 

 or eviscerated form for local sale. Other very small and small plants, pri- 

 marily poultry and egg stores or roadside establishments, are heavily de- 

 pendent on small lots obtained from independent producers and live buyers. 

 Some small plants obtain a few lots from contractors or have an occasional 

 flock grown on contract. 



With the medium and large slaughtering plants, contract growing is an 

 increasingly important source of plant volume. Medium-sized plants rely 

 inore heavily on secondary contractors than on direct contract growing. 



25 



