II. Area and Plant Size Characteristics 



The commercial poultry meat industry in New England is based largely on 

 chicken broilers and fryers. But an ajjpreciable part of the total supply 

 of poultry meat consists of heavier birds, such as fowl, roosters, and roaster- 

 type young birds, as well as turkeys. Some plants concentrate on broilers 

 or fowl, using other classes to supplement supplies of the major item. Since 

 supplies of fowl are more seasonal, plants concentrating on fowl may reach 

 out considerable distances for supplies and/or handle relatively large vol- 

 umes of young chickens. Broiler plants, particularly in commercial areas, 

 may find volume steady and not be interested in processing fowl. 



Poultry production in New England is not evenly distributed either in 

 type or quantity. The major commercial areas are central Maine, eastern 

 Connecticut, southeastern New Hampshire, and eastern Massachusetts. In 

 the first two areas, commercial meat chicken predominates; in the latter, 

 market and hatching eggs. In most other areas, production is small and 

 scattered. Concentrations of large-sized processors occur in the areas of 

 commercial poultry production, with little or no commercial processing in 

 the areas of light production. 



The structure of the marketing system in particular areas is altered by 

 the contiguity to or remoteness from major markets. This is principally 

 reflected in the relative importance of the live poultry trade and the degree 

 of distribution by processing plants to jobbing and retail outlets. Areas 

 contiguous to major markets exhibit a large amount of live poultry buying. 



In remote areas, if commercial, birds are likely to be processed for distant 

 markets; and if the area is non-commercial, a substantial share of the small 

 volume may be processed by small local units and absorbed by local con- 

 sumer demand. 



Both consumer demand and market demand in relation to production 

 affect the marketing system. One aspect of demand and supply involves 

 the quantity consumed in the area. On this basis it is evident that remote 

 commercial areas will be surplus and contiguous non-commercial areas will 

 be deficit. Other areas will be either surplus or deficit depending on the 

 quantities needed for consum.ption and actually produced. Deficit areas 

 will tend to prepare poultry for local use; surplus areas for shipment to 

 more distant markets. A second aspect of demand and supply involves the 

 processing capacity and/or the live buying capacity in the area. These 

 provide a more direct and effective demand for local birds than does con- 

 sumer demand. In many cases they are not derived to any great extent from 

 the local consumer demand, especially in areas removed from the main 

 markets. 



Description of Sample Areas 



For summary purposes, the 24 counties surveyed were consolidated into 

 6 areas on the basis of degree of commercialization of production, distance 

 from major markets, surplus-deficit status, and ratio of broilers to farm 

 chickens.* 



'For data applicable to individual counties see Appendix Table II. 



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