Historic note
        Unnumbered ( 1 )
    Title Page
        Title Page
    Abstract
        Page i
    Acknowledgements
        Page i
    Table of Contents
        Page ii
    Main
        Page 1
        Page 2
        Page 3
        Page 4
        Page 5
        Page 6
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        Page 11
    Reference
        Page 12

HISTORIC NOTE


The publications in this collection do
not reflect current scientific knowledge
or recommendations. These texts
represent the historic publishing
record of the Institute for Food and
Agricultural Sciences and should be
used only to trace the historic work of
the Institute and its staff. Current IFAS
research may be found on the
Electronic Data Information Source
(EDIS)

site maintained by the Florida
Cooperative Extension Service.






Copyright 2005, Board of Trustees, University
of Florida





1. Clegg Hooks
lichard L. Kilmer


-^conomic Information
Report 134


Estimated Costs of Picking and
Hauling Fresh Florida Citrus,
1978-79 Season


:ood and Resource Economics Department
Agricultural Experiment Stations
r-stitute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
University of Florida, Gainesville 32611


May 1980
















ABSTRACT


Florida citrus picking and hauling cost estimates for the 1978-79
season are presented. Data used to develop the estimates were collected
from 17 citrus handling firms.
Orange picking and roadsiding costs in the 1978-79 season were
121 cents per box-an increase of 14.5 percent from the figure
estimated for the 1977-78 season. Grapefruit, tangerine and tangelo
picking and roadsiding costs were estimated to be 91, 189 and 138
cents per box respectively.
Hauling costs for all types of fruit were estimated to be 19.7
cents per box, an increase of about 8.4 percent from 1977-78 levels.
Total citrus picking and hauling costs increased slightly in
1978-79 and were higher than in any preceding season. Total picking
and hauling costs were higher by 13.6, 10.1, 2.2 and 6.2 percent
respectively from 1977-78 season estimates. Overall picking and hauling
cost for the 1978-79 season increased to new highs.


Key words: citrus pickiny, citrus hauling, picking costs,
hauling costs, citrus.






ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to express our appreciation to the participants for their
excellent cooperation, and to Mrs. Theresa Zerr for her clerical and
secretarial assistance.
















ABSTRACT


Florida citrus picking and hauling cost estimates for the 1978-79
season are presented. Data used to develop the estimates were collected
from 17 citrus handling firms.
Orange picking and roadsiding costs in the 1978-79 season were
121 cents per box-an increase of 14.5 percent from the figure
estimated for the 1977-78 season. Grapefruit, tangerine and tangelo
picking and roadsiding costs were estimated to be 91, 189 and 138
cents per box respectively.
Hauling costs for all types of fruit were estimated to be 19.7
cents per box, an increase of about 8.4 percent from 1977-78 levels.
Total citrus picking and hauling costs increased slightly in
1978-79 and were higher than in any preceding season. Total picking
and hauling costs were higher by 13.6, 10.1, 2.2 and 6.2 percent
respectively from 1977-78 season estimates. Overall picking and hauling
cost for the 1978-79 season increased to new highs.


Key words: citrus pickiny, citrus hauling, picking costs,
hauling costs, citrus.






ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to express our appreciation to the participants for their
excellent cooperation, and to Mrs. Theresa Zerr for her clerical and
secretarial assistance.
















T BLE OF CONTENTS


LIST OF TABLES . . . ....

SUM SRY .a .............

SAMPLE FIRMS . .. ......

DATA COLLECTED AND COST DISTRIBUTION PROCEDURES .

PICKING AND HAULING OST ESTIMATES . ..

COST TRENDS ... . .. ..........

SELECTED REFERENCES ................


. . *

. . a

0


LIST OF TABLES

Table
1 Estimated average cost per box for picking and hauling
citrus fruits for fresh packing and processing,
1978-79 season . . . .

2 Average cost per box for picking and hauling citrus
fruits, 29 seasons, 1950-51 to 1978-79 . . .

3 Relationship of picking and hauling cost to the per-
box price of oranges used for concentrate, 20 seasons,
1960-1979 . . . ... ....... .

4 Index of citrus picking and hauling cost, 1960-61
through 1978-79 seasons (1960-61 1964-65 = 100) .

5 Changes in the cost items that make up estimated total
picking and hauling costs for oranges, 19 seasons,
1960-61 through 1978-79 (Index = 1960-61 to 1964-65
average) . . ..


1

1

2

4

6

12



Page


5


7



8


9




10


















COST OF PICKING AND HAULING FLORIDA CITRUS, 1978-79 SEASON

R. Clegg Hooks, A. H. Spurlock and Richard L. Kilmer

SUMMARY

Florida citrus picking and hauling cost estimates for the 1978-79
season are presented. Data used to develop the estimates were collected
from 17 citrus handling firms.
Orange picking and roadsiding costs in the 1978-79 season were
121 cents per box--an increase of 14.5 percent from the figure estimated
for the 1977-78 season. Grapefruit, tangerine and tangelo picking
and roadsiding costs were estimated to be 91, 189 and 138 cents per
box, respectively.
Hauling costs for all types of fruit were estimated to be 19.7
.cents per box, an increase of 8.4 percent from 1977-78 levels.
Total citrus picking and hauling costs increased slightly in
1978-79 and were higher than in any preceding season. Total picking and
hauling costs estimates for oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and
tangelos were higher by 13.6, 10.1, 2.2 and b.2 percent respectively
from 1977-78 season estimates. Overall picking and hauling cost for
the 1978-79 season increased to new highs.

SAMPLE FIRMS


Estimates of the cost of picking, roadsiding and hauling oranges,
grapefruit and tangerines were developed by summarizing accounting

R. CLEJG HOOKS is an assistant in Agricultural Economics,
A. H. SPURLOCK is emeritus professor of Food and Resource Economics
.and RICHARD L. KILMER is an assistant professor in Food and Resource
Economics.







records available from 17 citrus handling firms. Of the 17 firms in
the sample, 16 were located in the Interior and one was located in the
Indian River area. Two of the firms were independent citrus dealers
and 15 were packinghouses and/or processors. The larger firms in the
sample handled fruit from throughout the citrus-producing regions.1
The five firms with the largest picking volume in the sample were
responsible for 59.4 percent of the total boxes of fruit represented
in the sample. The five firms with the largest hauling volume in the
sample accounted for 55.4 percent of the fruit represented in the
sample and the five firms with the lowest hauling volume accounted
for only 10.1 percent of the fruit represented in the sample.
Picking cost information was available on 27.0 million boxes of
fruit or approximately 11.9 percent of total Florida production [4, p.8].
Hauling cost information was available on 37.6 million boxes of fruit
or approximately 16.6 percent of total Florida production [4, p. 8].
Picking cost information was provided on an average of 1.69 million
boxes per firm and hauling cost information was provided on an average
of 2.2 million boxes per firm. Four firms provided data on less
than one million boxes while eight firms provided data on over 2
million boxes.
Most firms contracted with other operators to pick ana haul same
of their total volume. The costs of contract crews, if data pertaining
to them could be separated, were not included because it was difficult
to determine the services performed, the kind of fruit and the number
of boxes hauled. However, in many firms, costs for contracting were
inseparably mixed with the information on services performed by the
firm's own crews; therefore, the averages include total costs for
contract and company crews and equipment.


DATA COLLECTED AND COST DISTRIBUTION PROCEDURES


The data supplied by most firms in tue sample were accounting
information from their auditors' reports. Sane auditors' reports

'Sane firms were responsible for picking and hauling more fruit
than was represented in the sample.
procedures described are the same as those described by Hooks [5].








provided cost information for picking and a separate series of costs
for hauling. Other auditors' reports included only the combined
costs of picking and hauling. Only three firms in the sample provided
infoLmation by type of fruit. For those firms providing only total
dollar amounts for each expense item for picking, roadsiding and
hauling operation, it was first necessary to determine how nuch
of each expense item should be allocated to picking and to hauling.
Then it was necessary to allocate picking expenses among types of
fruit. It was assumed that hauling cost per box did not vary by
type of fruit hauled.
In general, the allocations of expenses between picking and
hauling and among types of fruit are based on personal knowledge of
a firm's operation or on information provided by other firms in the
sample. Quite often it was also necessary to separate a total labor
figure into the five labor categories shown in the following tables.
None of the sample firms provided information in a form comparable
with that shown in Table 1. Therefore, the validity of the comparison
anong types of fruit depends on information provided by the firms
that do provide comparisons.
It has been documented that distance [2], hauling methods [1],
truck size [1] and other factors affect picking and hauling costs.
The data used to develop the averages presented in this report were
not provided in sufficient detail to analyze the effects of these
factors on total picking and hauling cost because the auditor's
report for each firm summarizes the cost results for a variety of
distances, hauling metnods and truck sizes. Also, fruit delivered
to processors is handled differently rhan fruit delivered to packing-
houses. It is not known if the sample firms properly represent the
industry distribution of type of fruit by method or destination.
Picking costs include all amounts paid for direct labor for
picking and delivery to the roadside, field truck and tractor expense,
and a portion of overhead and administrative expenses. Picking
labor costs, when not available by type of fruit, were allocated to the
various types of fruit by estimated piece rates. Fuel and repairs
were allocated equally per box for all kinds of fruit picked. Certain
other expenses, which do not fluctuate directly with changes in








volume: were distributed such that the per-box costs would be in the
ratio of 1.00 for grapefruit, 1.50 for oranges and 3.00 for tangerines.
Expenses in this group include licenses and taxes, depreciation,
insurance, miscellaneous items and administrative expense.

PICKING AND HAULING COST ESTIMATES

Picking and loading refers to all activities involved in getting
the fruit from the tree to roadside. Itemized average picking costs
per box for oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos and hauling
costs are shown in Table 1. The numbers reported in the tables are
calculated by summing the total dollars spent for each item by the
sample firms and dividing by the total boxes of fruit harvested by the
sample firms (i.e., the averages are weighted averages where the
weights are the number of boxes picked by the firms).
Buyers salaries, commissions and expenses for fruit procurement
and sale are omitted. Costs such as telephone and auuo expenses,
which are associated with selling as well as harvesting operations, are
difficult to assign to specific operations and may still be included in
the information obtained from a few firms.
The largest item in the cost of picking citrus is labor. All
labor including payroll taxes and workmen's compensation insurance
was 82.5 percent of the total cost of picking and loading oranges,
80.2 percent for grapefruit, 87.0 percent for tangerines and 84.9 percent
for tangelos. The amount paid the fruit picker was approximately 65
percent of the labor cost.
The hauling operation refers to the transportation of fruit
from the roadside to the processing plant of fresh packinghouse.
Labor, including payroll taxes and workmen's compensation insurance
accounted for 32.8 percent of the total hauling cost. Other items of
cost were repairs 26.7 percent, depreciation 11.9 percent, fuel 14.0
percent and administration 7.1 percent. Hauling cost for 1978-79 increased
8.4 percent from the previous season.
The combined picking and hauling costs for 1978-79 (Table 1)
were obtained by adding the picking cost for each type of fruit to the
hauling cost. Labor costs accounted for 75.5, 71.7, 81.9 and 78.4









Table 1.-Estimated average cost per box for picking and hauling citrus fruits for fresh packing and processing,
1978-79 season

Service performed and commodity
Picking Hauling Total Pick and LHul
Oranges Grapefruit Tangerines Tangelos ant Oranges Grapefruit Tangerines Tangelos

Number of operators 16 15 15 10 17
Average volume 1,224,564 352,776 79,388 84,343 2,214,326
Cents per box------------
Labor
Supervisory 8.38 7.41 12.44 11.73 .06 8.44 7.47 12.50 11.79
Pickers 65.76 44.41 110.08 76.55 65.76 44.41 110.08 76.55
Loaders & Drivers 5.68 6.90 9.54 7.43 5.68 6.90 9.54 7.43
Semi-drivers 4.59 4.59 4.59 4.59 4.59
Other Labor 1.65 .99 2.23 .93 .54 2.19 1.53 2.77 1.47
Subtotal .47 59.71 134.29 98.16 5.19 86.66 64.90 139.48 103.35
Payroll Taxes 18.14 12.98 29.91 18.73 1.27 19.41 14.25 31.18 20.00
Total labor 99.61 72.69 164.20 116.89 6.46 106.07 79.15 170.66 123.35
Other Costs
Fuel & Oil 2.81 2.94 2.80 3.16 2.76 5.57 5.70 5.56 5.92
Repairs & maintanence 7.55 7.06 5.56 5.50 5.26 12.81 12.32 10.82 10.76
Licenses & taxes .32 .33 .50 .43 .47 .79 .80 .97 .90
Depreciation 2.60 2.74 4.61 3.38 2.34 4.94 5.08 6.95 5.73
Insurance 1.05 .83 1.62 1.44 .60 1.65 1.43 2.22 2.04
Supplies .98 .49 .85 .79 .10 1.08 .59 .95 .89
Equipment Rental .19 .09 .26 .11 .13 .32 .22 .39 .24
Migratory labor expense .29 .12 .11 .31 .29 .12 .11 .31
Miscellaneous .25 .24 .23 .32 .19 .44 .43 .42 .51
Total other costs 107 14.84 16.54 15.44 11.85 27.89 M26. 28.39 27.29
Administrative 5.12 3.10 7.92 5.37 1.39 6.51 4.49 9.31 6.76
Total costs 120.77 90.63 188.66 137.70 19.70 140.47 110.33 208.36 157.40

Range in costs-low 90.10 0U.14 152.06 113.47 12.86 103.24 83.28 166.78 126.61
-high 151.68 131.44 273.24 178.15 36.96 173.97 139.34 299.71 203.60
Standard deviation 19.31 14.79 35.50 22.14 6.26 140.41 19.14 39.32 25.89
aIncludes foremen.
Also includes workmen's compensation
CIncludes management and office salaries, office supplies, auto travel and entertainment, interest paid, legal and
audit, advertising, dues and subscriptions, donations and telephone and telegraph.
dA range of one standard deviation above and below the mean usually includes about two-thirds of the observations.
Ninety-five percent of the firms are within the range of two standard deviations from the mean.









percent of total picking and hauling costs for oranges, grapefruit,
tangerines and tangelos, respectively.

COST TRENDS

Citrus picking and hauling costs increased significantly during
the 1978-79 season (Table 2). Total picking ana hauling costs for
oranges, grapefruit and tangerines increased 13.6, 10.1 and 2.2
percent fran the 1977-78 season. Same of the season-to-season
variation in cost for each service is due to change in the firms
in the sample. However the long-term trend shows that costs have
increased steadily over the past 23 seasons (Table 2).
Orange picking and hauling costs decreased relative to the
delivered-in value of oranges for 1978-79 (Table 3). During the first
five seasons reported in Table 3, picking and hauling costs average
16.4 percent of the per-box delivered-in price of oranges. During
the last five-year period, picking and hauling costs averaged 32 percent
of the delivered-in price. In the 1978-79 season, picking and
nailing costs represented 22 percent of the delivered-in value of fruit.
Table 4 shows how tocal picking and hauling costs have changed
compared with the average reported figure for the 1960-61 through
1964-65 seasons-the base year. With few exceptions, the increases
for all types of fruit have been very steady. For the 1978-79 season,
orange and grapefruit picking and hauling costs are 2.8 and 2.7 times
the levels during the base period, while tangerine costs are estimated
to be 2 times the base period.
Table 5 shows how the components of total orange picking and
hauling costs have changed in absolute magnitude and relative to their
base-period levels. Note that other labor, the largest component,
has shown the greatest increase relative to the base period. While
Table 4 shows that total picking and hauling costs for oranges in
1978-79 were 276 percent of the base-period levels, other labor
has increased to 308 percent of the base period. From the base period
(1960-61 through 1964-65), total picking and hauling costs for oranges
are estimated to have increased 89.6 cents and picking labor costs








Table 2.--Average cost per box for picking and hauling citrus fruits,
29 seasons, 1950-51 to 1978-79


Season Sample Haul-
firms ing


Picking & loading


Orans Grape- Tanger-
Oranges fruit ines


Total picking,
loading & hauling

Oranges Grape- Tanger-
Oranges fruit ines


----------- Cents per box -


1950-51
1951-52
1952-53
1953-54
1954-55
1955-56
1956-57
1957-58
1958-59
1959-60
1960-61
1961-62
1962-63
1963-64
1964-65
1965-66
1966-67
1967-68
1968-89
1969-70
1970-71
1971-72
1972-73
1973-74
1974-75
1975-76
1976-77
1977-78
1978-79


No.
9
26
29
37
36
36
34
34
32
33
37
33
32
30
29
27
29
29
29
26
29
25
23
25
21
19
20
20
17


10.31
9.81
9.71
9.61
9.38
9.47
9.27
11.31
11.46
11.23
11.17
10.41
12.90
13.73
11.66
11.96
10.74
13.32
11.98
13.18
13.04
13.61
14.70
15.66
15.36
15.45
17.19
18.18
19.79


28.36
38.42
29.12
28.87
28.93
30.52
31.36
33.30
33.30
34.17
34.96
33.79
39.57
43.04
43.43
46.12
46.25
54.09
57.77
61.12
64.86
70.86
82.16
91.08
84.16
85.26
94.00
105.50
120.77


18.62
19.51
21.98
20.58
20.91
21.73
23.46
24.09
24.16
25.16
26.69
25.75
28.32
31.47
33.08
37.77
37.65
41.45
42.99
46.98
48.61
52.41
59.11
69.37
67.94
69.05
73.62
82.07
.90.63


56.93
61.93
59.62
60.86
64.72
66.39
73.96
75.35
74.90
83.68
83.53
81.66
95.97
100.71
102.63
107.47
113.47
118.46
120.55
129.82
134.51
140.46
147.15
158.09
158.23
157.82
174.16
185.65
188.66


38.67
38.23
38.83
38.48
38.31
39.99
40.63
44.61
44.76
45.40
46:13
44.20
52.51
56.77
55.09
58.08
56.99
67.41
69.75
74,30
77.90
84.47
98.86
.106.74
99.52
100.71
111.19
123.68
140.47


aData for seasons prior to 1977-78 are from Hooks [5].


28.93
29.32
31.69
30.19
30.29
31.20
32.73
35.40
35.62
36.39
37.86
36.16
41.26
45.20
44.74
49.73
48.39
54.77
54.97
60.16
61.65
66.02
73.81
85.03
83.30
84.50
90.81'
100.25
110.33


67.24
71.74
69.33
70.47
74.10
75.86
83.23
86.84
86.36
94.91
94.70
92.07
108.91
114.44
114.29
119.43
124.21
131.78
132.53
143.00
147.55
154.07
161.85
173.75
173.59
173.27
191.35
203.83
208.36


~-~----~








Table 3.--elationship of picking and hauling cost to the per-box price
of oranges used fcr concentrate, 20 seasons, 1960-1979

Delivered-in Estinated per Picking and
Season ending per box price box pick and hauling cost as
in July for oranges used haul costbfor a percentage of
(col.l) for concentrate oranges delivered-in price
(col. 2) (col. 3) (col.4)

----Dollars per box -Percent-----

1960 2.54 .45 18
1961 3.47 .46 13
1962 2.26 .44 19
1963 2.71 .56 21
1964 5.25 .57 11

1965 3.37 .55 16
1966 2.28 .58 25
1967 1.29 .57 44
1968 2.76 .67 24
1969 2.70 .70 26

1970 1.94 .74 38
1971 2.07 .78. 38
1972 2.91 .84 29
1973 2.36 .97 41
1974 2.58 1.07 41

1975 2.41 1.00 41
1976 3.11 1.01 32
1977 2.59 1.11 43
1978 5.28 1.24 23
1979 6.42 1.40 22

a13, p. 10A]

bFrc Table 1.

CCol. 4 = (col 3 + col. 2) X 100.









Table 4.-Index of citrus
1978-79 seasons


picking and hauling costs, 1960-61 through
(1960-61 1964-65 = 100)


Total picking, loading and hauling
Season index for

Oranges Grapefruit Tangerine

.----. Index

1960-61 91 92 90
1961-62 87 88 88
1962-63 103 101 104
1963-64 111 110 109
1964-65 108 109 109

1965-66 114 121 114
1966-67 112 118 118
1967-68 132 133 126
1968-69 137 134 126
1969-70 146 147 136

1970-71 153 150 141
1971-72 166 161 147
1972-73 194 180 154
1973-74 210 207 166
1974-75 195 203 166

1975-76 198 206 165
1976-77 218 221 182
1977-78 243 244 194
1978-79 276 269 197









Table 5.--Changes in the cost items that make up estimated total picking and hauling costs for
oranges, 19 seasons, 1960-61 through 1978-79 (Index = 1960-61 to 1964-65 average)


Fuel, oil
Season Picking Labor Other labor repairs, Administrat've
depreciation and other

/box Index box Index /box Index 1960-61 18.90 85 12.52 96 8.37 91 6.34 100
1961-62 19.64 88 12.17 93 7.56 82 4.83 76
1962-63 22.50 101 13.29 101 9.98 109 6.74 107
1963-64 24.24 109 14.17 108 10.33 112 8.03 127
1964-65 26.38 118 13.35 102 9.72 106 5.64 89
1965-66 28.54 128 14.43 110 9.88 107 5.23 83
1966-67 29.53 132 13.79 105 8.42 92 5.25 83
1967-68 33.42 150 16.96 129 10.88 118 6.15 97
1968-69 37.51 168 15.69 120 10.82 118 5.73 91
1969-70 38.54 173 17.00 130 .12.32 134 6.44 102
1970-71 38.70 173 17.99 137. 12.75 139 8.46 134
1971-72 40.92 183 22.34 171 13.38 145 7.83 124
1972-73 52.60 236 22.00 168 15.06 164 7.20 114
1973-74 57.86 259 23.10 176 16.57 180 9.21 146
1974-75 51.87 232 22.87 175 16.53 180 8.25 131
1975-76 50.61 227 25.52 195 17.38 189 7.20 114
1976-77 54.96 246 27.60 211 19.29 210 9.34 148
1977-78 58.96 264 33.46 255 20.34 221 10.92 173
1978-79 65.76 294 40.31 308 23.32 254 11.08 175


aIncludes supervisory, loaders,
and workmen' s canpensation.


drivers, semi-drivers, miscellaneous


and payroll taxes


bIncludes licenses, taxes, insurance, supplies, equipment rental, migratory labor
expense and miscellaneous costs.





11


have increased 43.5 cents; that is, 48.5 percent of the increase is
accounted for by picking labor cost increases. Labor costs have
increased relatively more than any other component and also account for
a major share of the total absolute increase.













SELECTED REFEENCES


[1] Bowman, Earl K., A. H. Spurlock, Scott Hedden and William Grierson.
Modernizing Handling Systems for Florida Citrus fran Picking
to Packing Line. USDA Marketing Research Report No. 914.
Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, December 1971,
pp. 54.

[2] Chern, Wen-Shyong. Determination of the Optal Number, Size and
location of Orange Packing and Processing Plants n Florida.
Unpubl d M. S. thesis, 1University of Florida, Gainesville,
1969.


[3] Florida Citrus Processors Association.
Season. Winter Haven: 1980.


Statistical Sunmary, 1978-79


[4] Florida Division of Fruit and Vegetable Inspection.
Annual Report. Winter Haven: 1979.


1978-79 Season


[5] Hooks, R. Clegg, A. H. Spurlock and Richard L. Kilmer. Estimated
Costs of Picking and Hauling Florida Citrus Fruits, 1977-78.
Food and Resource Econamics Department Economic Information
Report 109. Gainesville: University of Florida, March 1979.
















This public document was promulgated at an annual cost of $856.90 or
$0.86 per copy to report citrus harvesting research results to country
agricultural directors and firms and agencies in the citrus industry.