ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF CITRUS-FRUIT GROWING IN FLORIDA 29 
COST OF PRODUCTION OF CITRUS FRUIT 
Good management is reflected in the methods and practices of 
those whose profits over a period of years are satisfactory. The 
grower who hopes for success must know the details concerning his 
‘business, especially the factors affecting his profits. These factors 
are many and are constantly increasing, and the grower must do 
much testing to discern whether or not he is continuing along profita- 
ble lines. Much of this testing may be done with the aid of the cost- 
of-production data. Every grower should know at the outset that 
to be successful he must produce as cheaply as possible and still 
maintain a high yield of good variety and good quality fruit. 
The methods of analysis used in this bulletin were considered the 
most practical way of getting the important information. The 
cost system here used represents a minimum of effort in gathering 
and preparation and offers a maximum of useful information. The 
charges for picking, hauling, and packing the fruit are borne by the 
buyer and not included in production costs. 
Fic. 6—Fruit is harvested by the purchaser (a growers’ association or a private buyer). The 
grower is thus relieved of the problem of harvesting and marketing his fruit and the price he 
receives is net price on the tree 
The costs were divided into two main groups, cash and noncash. 
In the cash cost group are placed all actual cash expenditures for the 
year and in the noncash group are those items of depreciation, value 
of grower’s and the grower’s family labor, and interest on capitaliza- 
tion (Table 24). In arriving at the net cost of producing fruit, the 
cost of caring for young groves and receipts from sources other than 
fruit were deducted from the total cost of operating the farm. The 
first deduction shown in Table 24 is the cost of caring for young 
groves. This figure represents that part of the total expenditures 
for labor and materials put on the young grove the value of which 
remains on the place in the form of added capital. The value of the 
young grove was deducted from the total capitalization and interest 
was figured at 8 per cent on the remainder. The other deductions 
made were for receipts from other crops and for outside labor per- 
formed by the operator. 
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