Figure 6. 



7.00 



6.00 



5.00 



4.00 



■3.00 



o 



o 



2.00 



1.00 



Average Cost per Ton for Bulk Feed Distribution 

 at Three Density Levels 



.31 tons per square mile per year 



6.55 tons per square mile per year 



32.73 tons per square mile per year 



20 30 40 50 60 



Thousands of tons distributed per year 



70 



80 



90 



With a given firm size, decreasing the size of the hroiler producing 

 area resuhs in substantial reductions in the average cost per ton for dis- 

 tribviting feed. However, the reductions diminish with successive de- 

 creases in area. 



For Firm A, most of the reductions occur over a range in density 

 from 1.31 to 10 tons per square mile and amounts to approximately $1.50 

 per ton. With increases in firm size and volume, reductions in average 

 cost occur over a wider density range, 1.31 to 20 tons per square mile and 

 increase in magnitude. The reduction in average cost increases from ap- 

 proximately $2.60 per ton for Firm B to $4.70 a ton for Firm E. Increas- 

 ing density from 20 to 32.73 tons per square mile results in small reduc- 

 tions varying from 19 cents per ton for Firm A to 25 cents per ton for 

 Firm F. 



These data indicate the general positive relationship between dis- 

 tance and feed distribution costs. The methodology used does not, how- 

 ever, precisely determine the effect of distance on the cost of distributing 

 a ton of feed. To develop such a relationship, the cost of distributing a 

 ton of feed to each band at each density level was determined and paired 

 with its respective one-way road mileage. An equation expressing the 

 relationship is derived by the least-squares method and is: 



C = 1.250 + 0.0489M4 



4R2 



.97. 



46 



