storage, thus making it possible to store apples into 

 the summer. This capability provides the consumer 

 with year-round fresh apples and the producer with 

 expectation of higher returns and greater flexibility 

 in his marketing decisions. 



In all regions except the Northeast, thesurvey data 

 show lower or constant RA and CA charges between 

 L969 70 and 1972/73. These data are consistent with 

 recent trends in apple production and storage spate. 

 U.S. apple production has fallen consistently below 

 the 1969 70 record crop with about a 950 million 

 pound smaller crop in 1972 73. At the same time 

 estimates of cold storage space indicate a rather 

 steady increase in capacity. Thus, there has 

 little pressure toward rising storage chai 



Cold storage charges per bushel for an 

 entire season 







Region 













196 l 



















• 



33 



4 | 







Lake States . . . 



29 









Appalachia . . . 



30 







- 



Northwest 



35 









Storage charges in the North 1 ichia 



i considerably from respond indent 



while in the other regions they w erally 



consistent. The variations in the Nortl 



Appalachia show dit ietitive 



conditions as to - other 

 storable commodities 



Packing Costs and Selling Charges 



Apples usually enter the packing plant in bulk bins 

 from the orchard or storage facility. Th> i mped 



onto a conveyor or lowered into a water trough from 

 which they move to m< chanii al sizers and then are 

 graded by hand. They are then placed into bags, trays 

 or boxed bulk using one of many combinations of 

 hand labor and laborsaving devices. Once th' 

 packed in their master container they usually are 

 loaded directly onto a truck (rail shipments are only 

 important in the Northwest where the dista 

 market may involve a cross-country haul) or 

 temporarily placed into holding rooms to provide 

 inventories for later selection of specific vaneti> 

 packs. Selling activities may be performed by the 

 individual packer but are increasingly being done by 

 large cooperatives or selling organizations. 



This study defined packing costs to include labor, 

 containers and other supplies, and overhead 

 expenditures. Each is discussed separately. 



Labor Costs 



Labor was subdivided into hourly and piece 

 workers, supervisory personnel, and fringe benefits. 

 Labor costs for packing fresh apples ranged from 33 

 cents for bagged cartons of Delicious and Jonathans 

 in the Lake States to 57 cents for Winesaps tray 

 packed in the Northwest (table 2). In the Northwest, 

 labor costs for [Kicking Winesaps in tray pack cartons 

 ,i 2 cents per carton higher than they were 

 for Red Delicious. 



This \ arietal difference in cost may have prev ailed 

 larger quantity of Red Delicious can I 

 per hour. Red Delicious are hauled in larger lots and 

 also longer runs can be made since they are produced 

 in greater volume In addition there is a greater 

 cullage of Winesaps because th< generally 



i in RA Morale rather than ('A. Supervisory 

 labor i ither consistent among regions and 



among varieties. Fringe benefits varied from 3 cents 

 for Red I >elicious in Appalachia to 8 cents for bagged 

 Jonathans and Red Delicious in the Lake States. 



Container and Other Supply Costs 



Con) id other supply costs include expenses 



for molded trays, bags, master carton, liners, labels, 

 staples, am! appli of fungicide and wax. The 



total i i nut. oners and other supplies for tray 



packed appli nts per carton for 



: its for Delicious in 



the I However, the cost for 



hacked apples varied little between regions. Regional 



ire due to each region's buyer 



requirements (fungicide and waxing), varying 



quality of packaging supplies and the distance to 



t (the longer the distance, the more protection 



I). Only minor diffi in container and 



supply costs w id among similar it ray or bag) 



packs for alternative varieties. A varietal variation in 



rred in the Northwest for tray [lacked Red 



and Winesap which can be attributed in 



Total container and supply costs per carton excluding 

 those tor wax and fungicide 





l 

 Tray 



Lake States 



Appalachia 

 Tray . . . . 



Northwest 

 Tray . . . . 



All 



58 



All 



ADSO 





( ■ Percent 



53 

 46 



50 



bS 



/l 

 59 



72 



56 



69 



6 3 



1 J 



1 i 



19 



10 



19 



22 



28 



)6 



?? 



J8 



I 5 



TFS-191, JULY 1974 19 



