Area 6 



The Hartford-Springfield area, which in this study consists of Hampden 

 County, Massachusetts, and Litchfield and Hartford counties, Connecticut, 

 is heavily populated and industrialized. It is contiguous, though only 

 slightly deficit. Because of the large volume of commercial meat chickens 

 produced in Hampden County the area is about self-sufficient in these 

 classes, and only slightly deficit in the production of fowl and related 

 market classes. Dairying is of equal importance with poultry production. 

 Hampden County is commercial; Hartford County semi-commercial; Litch- 

 field County non-commercial; on balance the sample area can best be de- 

 scribed as semi-commercial. The area is able to draw upon supplies from 

 eastern Connecticut as well as on certain other nearby counties of Con- 

 necticut and Massachusetts. The area contains a few large and medium- 

 sized plants and many small plants. Slaughter in this area greatly exceeds 

 the volume produced within its boundaries. 



Siimniary of Plant Size Characteristics 



Many features of the poultry processing industry in New England are 

 more clearly associated with unit size than with location. Others are ex- 

 plained in part by each. All processors are competitive in the sense that 

 they share in the total supply of, and consumer demand, for poultry. Yet 

 the direct and effective competition between very large and very small 

 plants in a given area may be limited. These extremes procure birds from 

 different sources and market them through different outlets. From the lower 

 to the higher extremity, there is likely to be a gradual but irregular tran- 

 sition in characteristics and in the degree of direct competition. Included 

 among the tools of competition, in addition to basic prices, are services, 

 and a whole group of intangibles, such as, objective and subjective meas- 

 ures of quality, personal contacts, and social groupings. 



The several forms of integration which occur in the industry are related 

 to either plant size or the evolution of the individual firm. These may be 

 defined as follows: 



A. Horizontal, processing. Several plants operated by one formal struc- 

 ture of management. 



B. Horizontal, multiple-commodity. Poultry, eggs, and other items pro- 

 duced and/or handled by the same unit at the same level in market- 

 ing channels. 



C. Vertical or multiple-function. Growing, assembling, processing, dis- 

 tributing, feed mixing and sales, equipment and supplies sales, and 

 financing handled by one formal or informal management group. 



In New England horizontal integration in processing is almost totally 

 absent. Informal arrangements, based on family ties or common sources of 

 financing, may exist. These are likely to involve medium or large-sized units. 

 Many smaller units handle eggs, particularly when jobbing or retailing is 

 involved. Some of the large cooperative processors originated as handlers 

 of eggs and/or live poultry, with the poultry processing operations succeed- 

 ing the handling of live birds. 



Many small processors are engaged in growing and in retail distributing. 

 Many large processors engage in breeding, hatching, financing, contract 



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