storage facility. Picking is further subdivided into 

 picking labor, supervision and fringe benefits (i.e., 

 social security payments and the cost of providing 

 housing for temporary workers). In the 1973 survey, 

 total harvesting costs varied from 46 cents per bushel 

 for Winesap apples in the Northwest to 75 cents for 

 Mcintosh in the Northeast (table 1), adifferenceof 29 

 cents per bushel. Harvesting costs for Red Delicious 

 apples in these same two regions differed by 27 cents. 

 The data indicate virtually no variations in 

 harvesting costs between varieties within any region. 

 The only exception was a 1-cent spread in picking 

 labor costs in some regions that may be attributed to 

 the handling characteristics of the varieties. 



Regional differences in harvesting costs are to be 

 expected. These result from the types of trees 

 harvested (standard, semi-dwarf and dwarf), the 

 availability of and demand for picking labor, and the 

 amount of labor housing necessary. High density 

 plantings of semi-dwarf and dwarf trees (relatively 

 more prevalent in the Northwest) lend themselves to 

 more efficient picking since workers are able to 

 harvest a greater proportion of apples from the 

 ground. Picking costs are tempered by a number of 

 factors which vary by region. These factors include: 

 the size of the apple crop, alternative crop picking 

 opportunities, and the mix of types of labor (local 

 versus migrant) ordinarily used within a locale. 

 Much of the variation in harvesting costs between the 

 Northwest and Northeast is a result of differences in 

 fringe benefits. Growers in the Northeast apparently 

 have made rather large investments in labor housing 

 in recent yearsTx) furnish living facilities for their 

 migrant picking labor force (about 80 percent of 

 pickers in the Northeast were migrants in the 

 1969/70 apple crop year). The Northwest relies much 

 more heavily on local labor (only about 56 percent 

 were migrants in 1969/70) and thus incurs a much 

 smaller total housing fringe benefit cost. 



A comparison of picking costs per bushel with 

 those for the 1969/70 season is as follows: 



Picking cost per bushel 





1969/70 



1972/73 



Abso- 



Percent- 



Region 



All 



Deli- 



lute 



age 





apples 



cious 



increase 



increase 





Cents 



Cents 



Cents 



Percent 



Northeast 



JO 



5 b 



L9 



53 



Lake States 



37 



.1 / 



10 



27 



Appalachia 



33 



36 



3 



9 



Northwest 



24 



3 b 



11 



■10 



All regions experienced increases in picking costs. 

 The Appalachia area, which relies heavily on 

 Jamacian labor, had the smallest increase. An 

 increase in labor housing costs as well as higher 

 picking rates accounted for most of the Northeast's 53 

 percent rise in total picking costs between 1969/70 

 and 1972/73. 



Bin rental (or depreciation) costs are rather 

 uniform among the regions at 7 to 8 cents per bushel 

 except in the Northeast where they are about 10 cents 

 (table 1). No 1969/70 figures are available for 

 comparison. Hauling costs approximated those in 

 1969/70 with the Northeast hauling expenditure 

 being considerably above those in other regions. If 

 the bin and hauling costs are added for each of the 

 regions, total hauling costs are higher in the 

 Northeast relative to other regions. 



Storage Charges 



Fresh apples are stored in two types of cold storage 

 facilities: regular atmosphere (RA) and controlled 

 atmosphere (CA). Although CA is about twice as 

 expensive as RA storage, it has become increasingly 

 popular and currently represents slightly more than 

 one-third of all apples placed in storage. The 

 popularity of CA storage results from its 

 effectiveness in maintaining apple quality during 



Table 1.— Apple harvesting costs per bushel by variety, four major production regions, 1972/73 season 



Region 



Picking 



labor 



Fringe 

 benefits' 



Super- 

 vision 



Other 



Total 

 picking 



Bin 



Hauling 



Total 

 hauling 



Total all 

 harvesting 



Northeast 



Red Delicious 



Macintosh 



Cents Cents Cents Cents Cents Cents Cents Cents Cents 



30 14 9 2 55 10 9 19 74 



31 14 9 2 56 10 9 19 75 



37 45 1 47 8 6 14 61 

 37 4 5 1 47 8 6 14 61 



28 3 4 1 36 7 6 13 49 



29 3 2 1 35 7 5 12 47 

 28 ^ ' i ^i i = i-> " = 



Lake States 



Red Delicious 



Jonathan 



Appalachia 



Red Delicious 



Northwest 



Red Delicious 



Winesap 























Includes Social Security payments and housing for temporary non-local workers. 



18 TFS-191, JULY 1974 



