ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT 



STATION— 1943-44 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 

 AND FARM MANAGEMENT 



A. H. Lindsey in Charge 



Effect of Public Regulation of Milk Marketing upon the Organization of 

 Milksheds of Massachusetts Markets. (A. A. Brown.) Programs developed as 

 wartime measures by various Federal agencies currently overshadow the effect 

 of local marketing regulations. Except as the prestige of pre-war institutions 

 is brought to the support of the War Food Administration, Office of Price Ad- 

 ministration, or Office of Defense Transportation, their influence Is dormant. 



Data are being assembled as they become available on (1) the efforts of the 

 War Food Administration to maintain and stimulate milk production with feed 

 subsidies; and (2) the efforts of the Office of Price Administration to maintain 

 milk consumption through the establishment of ceiling prices on sales at retail 

 and wholesale. 



Conflicting forces are present in various programs; forces which in the long run 

 may prove to be very detrimental to the public interest. Shortages in labor, 

 materials, and equipment, now faced by the industry as a result of the concen- 

 tration of resources to war purposes, would normally result in the development 

 of efficiencies. Some of these are coming but in a way which it was hoped might 

 be avoided. Greater efficiency in city distribution has long been sought. Opera- 

 tions were multiplied along the lines of an "industrial make-work" program. 

 Order could have been brought out of this turbulent operation through more 

 positive public control or through concentration by the industry. The larger 

 elements appear to be absorbing the smaller ones or the weaker ones. 



The number of handlers in Boston in May 1944 was 284 compared with a 

 1938-1940 three-year average of 441. All group handlers, handler-buyers and 

 producer-handlers showed approximately uniform numerical reductions of 49-59, 

 although the handler group had the greatest proportionate reduction of 40 per- 

 cent. 



Similar changes are also shown for the Lowell-Lawrence market although 

 differences in reports do not permit precise monthly comparisons. In this mar- 

 ket for the month of April the total number has declined from, 232 in 1941 to 

 158 in 1944. Producer-handlers dropped most from 111 to 69; a reduction of 

 37 percent. Other markets in the state are undergoing similar changes. Tabu- 

 lations of these have not yet been made. 



Rulings of the OPA and ODT are in conflict on the matter of milk trucking 

 charges in the country; one prohibits reductions; the other, increases (as a result 

 of conservation measures). With charges frozen, one of the strongest induce- 

 ments toward the efficient use of trucking in the country is eliminated. 



Transportation Requirements of Rural Communities in Massachusetts. (A. 



A. Brown.) Attention has been concentrated under the study towards the de- 

 velopment of truck conservation programs In the dairy field. 



Studies of operations have been completed in four major markets: Worcester, 

 Boston, Brockton, and Fitchburg. Studies are continuing in Springfield and 

 Lowell-Lawrence. 



