Marketing New England Poultry 



1. Characteristics of the Processing Industry 



By 



George B. Rogers, William F. Henry, Alfred A. Brown 



and 

 Edwin T. Bard well* 



I. Objectives and Methods of Study 



1%/rARKED changes have taken place in the poultry industry in New Eng- 

 ^'-^ land and in the United States since 1940. Technological advances in 

 production, processing and packaging, transportation, and marketing enabled 

 the industry to expand, and contributed immeasurably to alteration of its 

 structure and operations. A steadily decreasing price relative to other foods, 

 increasing consumer incomes, more rapid movement of the product to the 

 retail level, more uniformity of product, and greater convenience and 

 variety offered the shopper have facilitated consumption of the expanded 

 output. 



In most respects processing has been the most dynamic segment of the 

 New England poultry industry in the post-war era and its influence on other 

 segments has been great. This report, a cooperative study by the Agri- 

 cultural Marketing Service, U.S.D.A., and the New Hampshire and Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural Experiment Stations, describes processing in various 

 sections of New England and the functions directly associated with the pro- 

 cessing enterprise. Later reports will develop more fully the prospects for 

 more efficient use of resources in all segments of the industry. 



The recent growth and development of the New England processing in- 

 dustry have been associated with: 



(1) A relative and absolute decline in long-distance movements of live 

 poultry and in the role of the independent live buyer as a sales 

 outlet for producers; 



(2) Expansion of large-scale dressing operations at country points and 

 the decline of slaughtering in cities; 



(3) Increased specialization in certain areas in commercial meat chicken 

 production, larger average size of producing units, and declining 

 numbers of small producing units; 



*Mr. Rogers is Agricultural Economist, Market Organization and Costs Branch, 

 Marketing Research Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S.D.A., stationed at 

 the University of New Hampshire. Mr. Henry is Agricultural Economist, New Hamp- 

 shire Agricultural Experiment Station. Mr. Brown is Agricultural Economist, Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural Experiment Station. Mr. Bardwell is Cooperative Agent, New 

 Hampshire and Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Stations and Agricultural 

 Marketing Service, U.S.D.A., stationed at the University of New Hampshire. 



