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
        Page 7
        Page 8
        Page 9
        Page 10
        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





R. Clegg Hooks
Richard L. Kilmer


Economic Information
Report 151


Estimated Cost of Picking and
Hauling Fresh Florida Citrus,
1979-80 Season


Ii


November 1981


Food and Resource Economics Department
Agricultural Experiment Stations
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
University of Florida, Gainesville 32611


'


















ABSTRACT


Florida citrus picking and hauling cost estimates for the 1979-80
season are presented. Data used to develop the estimates were collected
from 15 citrus handling firms, representing 12.5 percent of Florida's
citrus production.
Orange picking and roadsiding costs in the 1979-80 season were 123
cents per box--an increase of 2.2 percent from the figure estimated for
the 1978-79 season. Grapefruit, tangerine and tangelo picking and
roadsiding costs were estimated to be 93, 218 and 147 cents per box
respectively.
Hauling costs for all types of fruit were estimated to be 21.8
cents per box, an increase of about 10.7 percent from 1978-79 levels.
Total citrus picking and hauling costs increased slightly in
1979-80 and were higher than in any preceding season. Total picking and
hauling costs for oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos were
higher by 3.4, 4.2, 15.3 and 7.4 percent respectively from 1978-79
season estimates. Overall picking and hauling cost for the 1979-80
season increased to new highs.


Key words: citrus picking, 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 1979-80
season are presented. Data used to develop the estimates were collected
from 15 citrus handling firms, representing 12.5 percent of Florida's
citrus production.
Orange picking and roadsiding costs in the 1979-80 season were 123
cents per box--an increase of 2.2 percent from the figure estimated for
the 1978-79 season. Grapefruit, tangerine and tangelo picking and
roadsiding costs were estimated to be 93, 218 and 147 cents per box
respectively.
Hauling costs for all types of fruit were estimated to be 21.8
cents per box, an increase of about 10.7 percent from 1978-79 levels.
Total citrus picking and hauling costs increased slightly in
1979-80 and were higher than in any preceding season. Total picking and
hauling costs for oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos were
higher by 3.4, 4.2, 15.3 and 7.4 percent respectively from 1978-79
season estimates. Overall picking and hauling cost for the 1979-80
season increased to new highs.


Key words: citrus picking, 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.




















TABLE OF CONTENTS


LIST OF TABLES .. ...............................

SUMMARY.. .................................

SAMPLE FIRMS... .................................

DATA COLLECTED AND COST DISTRIBUTION PROCEDURES.

PICKING AND HAULING COST ESTIMATES..............

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

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

LIST OF TABLES


Page
.........ii

..........1

..........1

..........2

..........4

..........6

.........12


Table


Page


1 Estimated average cost per box for picking and hauling
citrus fruits for fresh packing and processing,
1979-80 season ....................................... .5

2 Average cost per box for picking and hauling citrus
fruits, 30 seasons, 1950-51 to 1979-1980..................7

3 Relationship of picking and hauling cost to the per-
box price of oranges used for concentrate, 21 seasons
1960-1980 ...............................................8

4 Index of citrus picking and hauling cost, 1960-61
through 1979-80 seasons (1960-61 1964-65 = 100).........9

5 Changes in the cost items that make up estimated
total picking and hauling costs for oranges,
20 seasons, 1960-61 through 1979-80 (Index = 1960-61
to 1964-65 average).................................... 10













COST OF PICKING AND HAULING FLORIDA CITRUS, 1979-1980 SEASON
R. Clegg Hooks, A.H. Spurlock and Richard L. Kilmer


SUMMARY


Florida citrus picking and hauling cost estimates for the 1979-80
season are presented. Data used to develop the estimates were collected
from 15 citrus handling firms, representing 12.5 percent of Florida's
citrus production.
Orange picking and roadsiding costs in the 1979-80 season were 123
cents per box--an increase of 2.2 percent from the figure estimated for
the 1978-79 season. Grapefruit, tangerine and tangelo picking and
roadsiding costs were estimated to be 93, 218 and 147 cents per box,
respectively.
Hauling costs for all types of fruit were estimated to be 21.8
cents per box, an increase of 10.7 percent from 1978-79 levels.
Total citrus picking and hauling costs increased slightly in
1979-80 and were higher than in any preceding season. Total picking and
hauling cost estimates for oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos
were higher by 3.4, 4.2, 15.3 and 7.4 percent respectively from 1978-79
season estimates. Overall picking and hauling cost for the 1979-80
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. CLEGG 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 15 citrus handling firms. Of the 15 firms in the
sample, 14 were located in the Interior and one was located in the
Indian River area. Two of the firms were independent citrus dealers and
13 were packinghouses and/or processors. The larger firms in the sample
handled fruit from throughout tne citrus-producing regions.
The five firms with the largest picking volume in the sample were
responsible for 58.3 percent of the total boxes of fruit represented in
the sample. The five firms with the largest hauling volume in the
sample accounted for 58.8 percent of the fruit represented in the sample
and the five firms with the lowest hauling volume accounted for only
14.5 percent of the fruit represented in the sample.
Picking cost information was available on 34.8 million boxes of
fruit or approximately 12.5 percent of total Florida production [4,
p. 7]. Hauling cost information was available on 41.2 million boxes of
fruit or approximately 14.8 percent of total Florida production [4,
p. 7]. Picking cost information was provided on an average of 2.32
million boxes per firm and hauling cost information was provided on an
average of 2.2 million boxes per firm. Two 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 and haul some 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 con-
tract and company crews and equipment.


DATA COLLECTED AND COST DISTRIBUTION PROCEDURES


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










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 informa-
tion 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 much of each expense
item should be allocated to picking and to hauling. Then it was neces-
sary to allocate picking expenses among type 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
among types of fruit are based on personal knowledge of a firm's opera-
tion 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 among types of fruit
depends on information provided by the firms that do provide compari-
sons.
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
methods and truck sizes. Also, fruit delivered to processors is handled
differently than fruit delivered to packinghouses. 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 grape-
fruit, 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
sales are omitted. Costs such as telephone and auto 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 infor-
mation 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 81.8
percent of the total cost of picking and loading oranges, 81.0 percent
for grapefruit, 85.0 percent for tangerines and 84.6 percent for
tangelos. The amount paid the fruit picker was approximately 65.8
percent of the labor cost.
The hauling operation refers to the transportation of fruit from
the roadside to the processing plant or fresh packinghouse. Labor,
including payroll taxes and workmen's compensation insurance, accounted
for 29.4 percent of the total hauling cost. Other items of cost were
repairs 24.9 percent, depreciation 11.7 percent, fuel 19.9 percent and









Table 1.--Estimated average cost per box for picking and hauling citrus fruits for fresh packing and processing, 1979-80 season.


Service Performed and Comaodity

Picking and Roadsiding Hauling Total Pick and Haul
to
Oranges Grapefruit Tangerines Tangelos plant Oranges Grapefruit Tangerines Tangelos

Number of operators 15 15 15 10 15
Average volume 1,654,183 435,179 129,053 148,656 2,743,901
-------------------------------Cents per box ---- ---- --------------------
Labor
Supervisory 8.59 6.76 12.13 10.41 .07 8.66 6.83 12.20 10.48
Pickers 67.82 45.16 130.85 81.27 -- 67.82 45.16 130.85 81.27
Loaders & Drivers 7.17 11.46 12.46 12.57 -- 7.17 11.46 12.46 12.57
Semi-drivers -- -- 4.59 4.59 4.59 4.59 4.59
Other Labor 1.91 1.04 1.96 1.67 .63 2.54 1.67 2.59 2.30
Subtotal 5.49 Z T42 15~4 l0- 7 76 -7T 192 .02 T 1T
Payroll taxes 15.51 11.01 28.20 18.69 1.13 16.64 12.14 29.33 19.82
Total labor 10i1. 75.43 185.60 124.61 42 107.42 81.85 192.02 13E~

Other Costs
Fuel & Oil 3.88 3.67 3.86 3.86 4.34 8.22 8.01 8.02 8.74
Repairs & maintenance 6.76 6.51 5.84 6.14 5.42 12.18 11.93 11.26 11.56
Licenses & taxes .24 .21 .69 .29 .42 .66 .63 1.11 .71
Depreciation 2.53 1.51 7.23 3.84 2.54 5.07 4.05 9.77 6.38
Insurance 1.01 .65 2.80 .88 .73 1.74 1.38 3.53 1.61
Supplies 1.18 .49 1.11 .71 .13 1.29 .60 1.22 .82
Equipment Rental .45 .29 1.07 .15 .19 .64 .39 1.26 .34
Migratory labor expense .23 .06 .14 .12 -- .23 .06 .14 .12
Miscellaneous .77 .37 1.82 1.07 .46 1.23 .83 2.28 1.53
Total other costs 13.67 4.56 6 IT~W 1421T 3 2788 37 7T T~

Adninistrativec 5.36 4.07 5.05 5.05 1.17 6.53 5.24 9.46 6.22

Total costs 123.41 93.17 218.45 147.26 21.80 145.21 114.97 240.25 169.06

Range in costs--low 98.74 72.71 184.66 111.65 10.63 118.85 92.82 240.77 126.28
--high 184.92 131.47 327.92 227.25 30.29 209.02 155.57 309.63 251.35
Standard deviation 19.93 13.99 37.01 28.82 6.08 21.74 16.84 40.82 32.51

alncludes foremen.
bAlso includes worklen'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.









administration 5.4 percent. Hauling cost for 1979-80 increased 10.7
percent from the previous season.
The combined picking and hauling costs for 1979-80 (Table 1) were
obtained by adding the picking cost for each type of fruit to the
hauling cost. Labor costs accounted for 74.0, 71.2, 80.0 and 77.5
percent of total picking and hauling costs for oranges, grapefruit,
tangerines and tangelos, respectively.

COST TRENDS


Citrus picking and hauling costs increased during the 1979-80
season (Table 2). Total picking and hauling costs for oranges, grape-
fruit, tangerines and tangelos increased 3.4, 4.2, 15.3 and 7.4 percent
from the 1978-79 season. Some of the season-to-season variation in the
cost for each service is due to changes in the firms in the sample.
However, the long-term trend shows that costs have increased steadily
over the past 30 seasons (Table 2).
Orange picking and hauling costs increased relative to the de-
livered-in value of oranges for 1979-80 (Table 3). During the first
five seasons reported in Table 3, picking and hauling costs average 29.6
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 1979-80 season, picking and hauling costs
represented 28 percent of the delivered-in value of the fruit.
Table 4 shows how total 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 1979-80 season,
orange and grapefruit picking and hauling costs are 2.85 and 2.8 times
the levels during the base period, while tangerine costs are estimated
to be 2.3 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












Table 2.--Average cost per box for picking and hauling citrus fruits, 30 seasons,
1950-51 to 1979-80a


Season Sample Haul- Picking & Loading Total picking
firms ing loading & hauling
Oranges Grape- Tanger- Oranges Grape- Tanger-
fruit ines fruit ines
No. ----------------Cents per box-------------
1950-51 9 10.31 28.36 18.62 56.93 38.67 28.93 67.24
1951-52 26 9.81 38.42 19.51 61.93 38.23 29.32 71.74
1952-53 29 9.71 29.12 21.98 59.62 38.83 31.69 69.33
1953-54 37 9.61 28.87 20.58 60.86 38.48 30.19 70.47
1954-55 36 9.38 28.93 20.91 64.72 38.31 30.29 74.10

1955-56 36 9.47 30.52 21.73 66.39 39.99 31.20 75.86
1956-57 34 9.27 31.36 23.46 73.96 40.63 32.73 83.23
1957-58 34 11.31 33.30 24.09 75.35 44.61 35.40 86.84
1958-59 32 11.46 33.30 24.16 74.90 44.76 35.62 86.36
1959-60 33 11.23 34.17 25.16 83.68 45.40 36.39 94.91

1960-61 37 11.17 34.96 26.69 83.53 46.13 37.86 94.70
1961-62 33 10.41 33.79 25.75 81.66 44.20 36.16 92.07
1962-63 32 12.90 39.57 28.32 95.97 52.51 41.26 108.91
1963-64 30 13.73 43.04 31.47 100.71 56.77 45.20 114.44
1964-65 29 11.66 43.43 33.08 102.63 55.09 44.74 114.29

1965-66 27 11.96 46.12 37.77 107.47 58.08 49.73 119.43
1966-67 29 10.74 46.25 37.65 113.47 56.99 48.39 124.21
1967-68 29 13.32 54.09 41.45 118.46 67.41 54.77 131.78
1968-69 29 11.98 57.77 42.99 120.55 69.75 54.97 132.53
1969-70 26 13.18 61.12 46.98 129.82 74.30 60.16 143.00


1970-71 29 13.04 64.86 48.61 124.51 77.90 61.65 147.55
1971-72 25 13.61 70.86 52.41 140.46 84.47 66.02 154.07
1972-73 23 14.70 82.16 59.11 147.15 98.86 73.81 -161.85
1973-74 25 15.66 91.08 69.37 158.09 106.74 85.03 173.75
1974-75 21 15.36 84.16 67.94 158.23 99.52 83.30 173.59

1975-76 19 15.45 85.26 69.05 157.82 100.71 84.50 173.27
1976-77 20 17.19 94.00 73.62 174.16 111.19 90.81 191.35
1977-78 20 18.18 105.50 82.07 185.65 123.68 100.25 203.83
1978-79 17 19.79 120.77 90.63 188.66 140.47 110.33 208.36
1979-80 15 21.80 123.41 93.17 218.45 145.21 114.97 240.25


aData for seasons prior to 1979-80 are from Hooks [5].














Table 3.--Relationship of picking and hauling cost to the per-box price
of oranges used for concentrate, 21 seasons, 1960-1980


Season ending
in July
(col. 1)


Delivered-in
per box price
for oranges used
for concentratea
(col. 2)


Estimated per
box pick and
haul cost for
oranges
(col. 3)


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


1960
1961
1962
1963
1964

1965
1966
1967
1968
1969

1970
1971
1972
1973
1974

1975
1976
1977
1978
1979

1980


2.54
3.47
2.26
2.71
5.25

3.37
2.28
1.29
2.76
2.70

1.94
2.07
2.91
2.36
2.58

2.41
3.11
S2.59
5.28
6.42

5.16


Picking and
hauling cost as
a percentage of
delivered-in price
(col. 4)

-----Percent-----

18
13
19
21
11

16
25
44
24
26


.74
.78
.84
.97
1.07

1.00
1.01
1.11
1.24
1.40

1.45


a[3, p. 10A]
bFrom Table 1.
CCol. 4 = (col. 3 col. 2) X 100.













Table 4.--Index of citrus picking and hauling costs, 1960-61 through
1979-80 seasons (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
1979-80 285 280 227






Table 5.--Changes in the cost items that make up estimated total picking and hauling
20 seasons, 1960-61 through 1979-80 (Index = 1960-61 to 1964-65 average)


costs for oranges,


Fuel, oil Administrative
Season Picking Labor Other Labora repairs, Administrat
depreciation

i/box Index p/box Index p/box Index f/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 40.91 183 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
1979-80 67.82 304 39.60 302 25.47 277 12.32 195

alncludes supervisory', loaders, drivers, semi-drivers, miscellaneous and payroll taxes and workmen's
compensation.
blncludes licenses, taxes, insurance, supplies, equipment rental, migratory labor expense and
miscellaneous costs.









base-period levels. Note that 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 1979-80 were 285
percent of the base-period levels, labor has increased to 304 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
94.3 cents and picking labor costs have increased 45.5 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 REFERENCES


[1] Bowman, Earl K., A.H. Spurlock, Scott Hedden and William Grierson.
Modernizing Handling Systems for Florida Citrus from 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 Optimal Number, Size and
Location of Orange Packing and Processing Plants in Florida.
Unpublished M.S. thesis, University of Florida, Gainesville,
1969.

[3] Florida Citrus Processors Association. Statistical Summary, 1979-80
Season. Winter Haven: 1981.

[4] Florida Division of Fruit and Vegetable Inspection. 1979-80 Season
Annual Report. Winter Haven: 1980.

[5] Hooks, R. Clegg, A.H. Spurlock and Richard L. Kilmer. Estimated
Costs of Picking and Hauling Florida Citrus Fruits, 1978-79.
Food and Resource Economics Department Economic Information
Report 134. Gainesville: University of Florida, March 1980.



















This public document was promulgated at an annual cost of $964.00 or
$0.96 per copy to report citrus harvesting research results to county
agricultural directors and firms and agencies in the citrus industry.