COSTS OF HARVESTING. PACKING AND STORING APPLES FOR THE FRESH 

 MARKET WITH REGIONAL AND SEASONAL COMPARISONS 



by 



h Podany and I lilarius Kuchs 

 Agricultural Economists 

 Economic Research Service 

 Commodity Economics Division 



ABSTRACT: Harvesting, storing and packing ir fresh apples during the L97 



season were obtained in a regional survey of apple grower-packers and packers. These 

 results were compared with costs from a similar survey conducted during the 1969 70 

 season. Total harvesting cost in 1972 73 varied from 16 cents per bushel for Winesap 

 apples in the Northwest to 75 cents for Mcintosh in the Northeast. In all major production 

 regions except the Northeast, a comparison of the surveys indicated lower or constant 

 charges lor regular and controlled atmosphere storage. Total packing and selling charges 

 during the 1972 m for tray packed Red Delicious apples ranged from $1 30 per 



carton in the Lake States to $1.83 in the Northwi 



KEY WORDS: Apples, costs, harvesting, storing, packing, selling. 



This article reports the findings of a regional mail 

 survey of fresh apple grower-packers and packers for 

 the 197'J 73 season. The respondents, contacted 

 during the summer of 1973, were chosen from a list of 

 firms which had provided complete and consistent 

 information in a similar survey performed during 

 197() ; . Data on costs of harvesting, storing, [jacking 

 and selling fresh apples were collected in both 

 surveys for the major U.S. apple production 

 regions— the Northeast, Appalachia. Lake States 

 and the Northwest. The 1970 survey also included 

 information for California, whereas the 197:1 survey 

 did not. 



' I KS publications resulting from or related to the survey 

 have included: (a) Regional Costs of Harvesting. Storing 

 and Packing Apples, ERS- 196 reprinted from the Marketing 

 and Transportation Situation, November 1971; 

 Interregional Intertemporal Activity Analysis Model of the 

 I '.S. Apple Industry, a paper presented at the Tilth Annual 

 Meeting of the American Society for 1 lorticultural Science, 

 North Carolina State University, Raleigh, August ,20, 197.1; 

 and (c) Harvesting, Storing, and Parking Apples fur the 

 Fresh Market: Regional Practices and Costs. MRR 1009, 

 September HiT.'l. 



The 197H and 197:* surveys differed in two other 

 respects: 1 1 1 no varietal information was obtained in 

 1971); in 1973, costs for Red Delicious apples were 

 requested in each region as well as for Mcintosh 

 apples in the Northeast. Jonathans in the Lake 

 States, and Winesap in the Northwest, and (2) the 

 1973 survey concentrated on obtaining a more 

 detailed breakdown on harvesting and packing costs. 

 Therefore, the data from the two surveys are not 

 directly comparable but, where possible, 

 comparisons are included to indicate the nature of 

 changes in costs. 



Regional cost estimates in this report are weighted 

 averages derived from the respondents' cost and 

 volume statistics. Harvesting costs and storage 

 charges were weighted by each firm's total sales of 

 apples while packing costs and selling charges were 

 weighted by the individual firm's volume packed of 

 the particular varieties surveyed. 



Harvesting Costs 



Harvesting expenditures include costs associated 

 with picking, bins (rental or depreciated value) and 

 hauling apples from the orchard to the packing or 



TFS-191. JULY 1974 17 



