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Copyright 2005, Board of Trustees, University
of Florida

114
R. Clegg Hooks

Economic Information
Report 214

Estimated Cost of Picking
and Hauling Florida Citrus,
1982-83 Season

HUME LIBRARY
FtA E b o 'iobo
I.F.A.S. Univ. of Florida

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

December 1985

ABSTRACT

Florida citrus picking and hauling cost estimates for tiie 1982-8i
season are presented. Data used to develop the estimates were col-
lected from 13 citrus handling firms, representing 12.5 percent of
Florida's citrus production.

Orange picking and roadsiding costs in the 1982-83 season were
131 cents per box, a decrease of 5.8 percent from the figure estimated
for the 1981-82 season. Grapefruit, tangerine, and tangelo picking
and roadsiding costs were estimated to be $1.01, $2.17, and $1.64
cents per box, respectively.

Hauling costs for all types of Cruit were estimated to be 26.0
cents per box, a decrease of 5.8 percent from 1981-82 levels.

Total citrus picking and hauling costs decreased for 1982-83 in
all varieties. Total picking and hauling costs estimates for oranges,
grapefruit, tangerines, and tangelos were lower by 6.2, 0.4, 0.7 and
4.8 percent from their 1981-82 levels respectively.

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

TABLES OF CONTENTS

Page

SUMMARY......................... .. .* .......****........1

SAMPLE FIRMS........................... .......*.............*...... 2

DATA COLLECTED AND COST DISTRIBUTION PROCEDURES.....................2

PICKING AND HAULING COST ESTIMATES............................... 4

COST TRENDS .......................... ............................ ...6

SELECTED REFERENCES.................... ........................ 12

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1 Estimated average cost per box for picking
and hauling citrus fruits for fresh packing
and processing, 1982-83 season.......................o....... 5

2 Average cost per box for picking and hauling
citrus fruit, 33 seasons, 1950-51 to 1982-83.................7

3 Relationship of picking and hauling cost to
the per-box price of oranges used for concentrate,
24 seasons, 1960-1983............ ............................ 8

4 Index of citrus picking and hauling cost,1960-61
through 1982-83 seasons (1960-61 1964-65 = 100)............9

5 Changes in the cost items that make up estimated
total picking and hauling costs for oranges,
23 seasons 1960-61 through 1982-83
(Index = 1960-61 to 1964-65 average)..................... ..11

ESTIMATED COST OF PICKING AND HAULING FLORIDA CITRUS
1982-83 SEASON

R. Clegg Hooks

SUMMARY

Florida citrus picking and hauling cost estimates for the 1982-83
season are presented. Data used to develop the estimates were col-
lected from 13 citrus handling firms, representing 12.5 percent of
Florida's citrus production.

Orange picking and roadsiding costs in the 1982-83 season were
131 cents per box--a decrease of 5.8 percent from the figure estimated
for the 1981-82 season. Grapefruit, tangerine, and tangelo picking
and roadsiding costs were estimated to be 101, 217, and 164 cents per
box, respectively.

Hauling costs for all types of fruit were estimated to be 26.0
cents per box, an increase of 5.8 percent from 1981-82 levels.

Total citrus picking and hauling costs decreased in 1982-83 in
all varieties. Total picking and hauling cost estimates for oranges,
grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos were lower by 6.2, 0.4, 0.7, and
4.8 percent respectively from 1981-82 season estimates.

R. Clegg Hooks is an Assistant in Food and Resource Economics.

SAMPLE FIRMS

Estimates of the cost of picking, roadsiding and hauling oranges,
grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos were developed by summarizing
accounting records available from 13 citrus handling firms. Of the 13
firms in the sample, 12 were located in the Interior and one was
located in the Indian River area. Two of the firms were independent
citrus dealers and 11 were packinghouses and/or processors. The
larger firms in the sample handled fruit from throughout the citrus-
producing regions.

Picking cost information was available on 23.5 million boxes of
fruit or approximately 12.5 percent of total Florida production [4, p.
7]. Hauling cost information was available on 27.4 million boxes of
fruit or approximately 14.5 percent of total Florida production [4, p.
7]. Picking cost information was provided on an average of 1.85 mil-
lion boxes per firm and hauling cost information was provided on an
average of 2.1 million boxes per firm.

Most firms contracted with other operators to pick and haul some
of their total volume. The costs of contract crews, if data pertain-
ing to them could be separated, were not included because it was dif-
ficult 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 the sample were accounting
information from their auditors' reports. Some auditors reports pro-

vided cost information for picking and a separate series of costs ror
hauling. Other auditors' reports included only the combined costs of
picking and hauling. Only four 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
operations, it was first necessary to allocate picking expenses by
type of fruit. Hauling costs per box were assumed not to vary by type
of fruit hauled.

In general, the allocations of expenses between picking and haul-
ing among types of fruit r-re 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 Table 1. None of the sample
firms provided information in a f orm 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
comparisons.

Distance [21, hauling methods [I], truck size [1] and other

factors have been documented to 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 costs 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 firns properly represent the industry
distribution of type of fruit by method or destination.

Picking costs include all amounts paid for direct labor for pick-

ing 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, 2.50 for tangerines and 2.00
for tangelos. Expenses in this group include licenses and taxes,
depreciation, insurance, miscellaneous items and administrative ex-
pense.

PICKING AND HAULING COST ESTMIATES

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 share of total boxes harvested by the firm).

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 in-
cluded in the information obtained from a few firms.

The largest item in the cost of picking citrus is labor. All
labor costs including payroll taxes and workmen's compensation
insurance constituted 80.2 percent of the total cost of picking and
loading oranges, 81.1 percent fur grapefruit, 86.2 percent for
tangerines and 84.2 percent for tangelos. The amount paid the fruit
picker was approximately 64.6 percent of the labor cost.

Table 1. Estimated average cost per box for picking and hauling citrus fruits for fresh packing and
processing, 1982-83 season.

Service Performed and Commodity
Service Performed and Commodity

Picking and Roadsiding

Oranges Grapefruit Tangerines

Hauling
to
Tangelos Plant or
Packinghouse

Total Pick and Haul

Oranges Grapefruit Tangerines Tangelos

Number of Operators 13 13 12 9 13
Average Volume 1,359,418 310,632 70,431 106,832 2,104,093
(1 3/5 bu. boxes)

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

Labor
Supervisorya 0.1034 0.0827 0.1406 0.1498 0.0000 0.1034 0.0827 0.1406 0.1498
Pickers 0.6872 0.4820 1.2523 0.8703 0.0000 0.6872 0.4820 1.2523 0.8703
Loaders & Drivers 0.0706 0.1342 0.1857 0.1416 0.0000 0.0706 0.1342 0.1857 0.1416
Semi-drivers 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0543 0.0543 0.0543 0.0543 0.0543
Other labor 0.0152 0.0089 0.0229 0.0159 0.0102 0.0254 0.0192 0.0332 0.0262
Subtotal 0.8764 0.7078 1.6015 1.1777 0.0645 0.9410 0.7723 1.6660 1.2422
Payroll taxes 0.1717 0.1121 0.2700 0.1987 0.0160 0.1877 0.1280 0.2860 0.2146
Total Labor 1.0482 0.8199 1.8715 1.3763 0.0805 1.1287 0.9004 1.9520 1.4569
Other Costs
Fuel & oil 0.0365 0.0322 0.0361 0.0368 0.0454 0.0819 0.0776 0.0815 0.0822
Repairs & maintenance 0.0633 0.0550 0.0534 0.0581 0.0610 0.1243 0.1160 0.1144 0.1191
Licenses & taxes 0.0032 0.0017 0.0062 0.0033 0.0056 0.0087 0.0073 0.0118 0.0089
Depreciation 0.0292 0.0191 0.0547 0.0387 0.0277 0.0569 0.0468 0.0824 0.0663
Insurance 0.0092 0.0062 0.0208 0.0073 0.0063 0.0156 0.0126 0.0271 0.0136
Supplies 0.0115 0.0067 0.0117 0.0157 0.0057 0.0173 0.0124 0.0174 0.0214
Equipment rental 0.0092 0.0019 0.0034 0.0049 0.0026 0.0118 0.0045 0.0060 0.0075
Migratory labor exp. 0.0055 0.0015 0.0028 0.0039 0.0000 0.0055 0.0015 0.0028 0.0039
Miscellaneous 0.0055 0.0036 0.0104 0.0054 0.0031 0.0086 0.0067 0.0135 0.0085
Total Other Costs 0.1732 0.1279 0.1995 0.1740 0.1575 0.3306 0.2854 0.3570 0.3315
Administrative 0.0851 0.0627 0.1010 0.0847 0.0216 0.1068 0.0844 0.1226 0.1064
Total Costs 1.3065 1.0105 2.1720 1.6351 0.2596 1.5661 1.2701 2.4316 1.8947

Range in costs--low 0.7531 0.5422 1.4563 1.0344 0.0841 0.8372 0.6263 1.5404 1.1185
-high 1.6701 1.1993 3.1118 2.2054 0.4410 2.1111 1.5641 3.4350 2.5286
Standard deviation 0.2647 0.1893 0.4216 0.3356 0.0947 0.3247 0.2499 0.4748 0.4020

aIncludes foremen.

bAlso includes workmen's compensation and fringe benefits.

cIncludes management and office salaries, office supplies, auto
advertising, dues and subscriptions, donations and telephone an(

travel and entertainment, interest paid, legal and audit,

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.

The hauling operation refers to the transportation of fruit from
the roadside to the processing plant or fresh packinghouses. Labor,
including payroll taxes and workmen's compensation insurance,
accounted for 31.0 percent of the total hauling cost. Other items of
cost were repairs 23.5 percent, depreciation 10.7 percent, fuel 17.5
percent and administration 8.3 percent. Hauling cost for 1982-83
decreased 5.8 percent from the previous season.

The combined picking and hauling costs for 1982-83 (Table 1) were
obtained by adding the picking cost for each type of fruit to the
hauling cost. Labor costs accounted for 72.1, 70.9, 80.3, and 76.9
percent of the total picking and hauling costs for oranges,
grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos, respectively.

COST TRENDS

Citrus picking and hauling costs increased during the 1982-83
season (Table 2). Total picking and hauling costs for oranges, grape-
fruit, tangerines and tangelos increased 6.2, 0.4, 0.7, and 4.8 per-
cent from the 1981-82 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 longterm trend shows that costs have increased
steadily over the past 33 seasons (Table 2).

Orange picking and hauling costs decreased relative to the deliv-
ered-in value of oranges for 1982-83 (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 25.4 percent of
the delivered-in price. In 1982-83 season, picking and hauling costs
represent 23 percent of the delivered-in value of the fruit.

Table 2. Average cost per box for picking and hauling citrus fruits, 33 seasons, 1950-51

to 1982-83.a

Picking & Loading
Season Hauling Oranges Grape- Tanger- Tangelosb
fruit ines

Total Picking,
Loading & Hauling_
Oranges Grape- Tanger- Tangelosb
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
1968-69
1969-70

1970-71
1971-72
1972-73
1973-74
1974-75

1975-76
1976-77
1977-78
1978-79
1979-80

1980-81
1981-82
1982-83

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
21.80

24.01
27.59
25.96

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

85.36
94.00
105.50
120.77
123.41

133.91
139.44
130.65

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
93.17

102.54
99.93
101.05

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

124.51
140.46
147.15
158.09
158.23

157.82
174.16
185.65
188.66
218.45

208.80
217.33
217.20

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
145.21

157.92
167.03
156.61

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
114.97

126.55
127.52
127.01

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
240.25

232.81
244.92
243.16

129.89
148.25
157.40
169.06

190.66
199.08
189.47

the seasons prior to 1981-82 are from Hooks [5].

bprior to 1976-77 pick, load and haul costs were not calculated for tangelos.

112.70
130.07
137.70
147.26

166.65
171.49
168.51

aData for

- --

Table 3. Relationship of picking and haIliig cost to the per-box price of oranges used
for concentrate, 24 seasons, 1960-83

Delivered-in per box Estimated per box pick Picking and hauling cost
Season ending price for oranges used and hatul cost for as a percentage of
in July for concentratea orangesb delivered-in price
(column 1) (column 2) (column 3) (column 4)

1960
1961
1962
1963
1964

1965
1966
1967
1968
1969

1970
1971
1972
1973
1974

1975
1976
1977
1978
1979

1980
1981
1982
1983

- - Dollars

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
2.59
5.42
6.42

5.16
5.55
6.49
6.96

- Percent -

al3, p. 10A]

bFrom Table 1.

COol. 4 = (col.3/col.2) X 100.

per box -
0.4518
0.4613
0.4419
0.5621
0.5711

0.5516
0.5825
0.5744
0.6724
0.7026

0.7438
0.7838
0.8429
0.9741
1.0741

1.0041
1.0132
1.1143
1.2423
1.4022

1.4528
1.5828
1.6726
1.5723

Table 4. Index of citrus pickin-r and h, : i ,os,- bi-bl thc,:-;;;i k 92-3L
seasons (1960-61 196:+-65 5- iP!)

Total picking Loadinrg and hauling index for
Season Oranges Grapefri tt Tangerine

-----------Iex -

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
1979-80 285 260 227

1980-81 310 308 222
1981-82 328 312 234
1982-83 307 310 232

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 1982-83 season,
orange and grapefruit picking and hauling costs are 3.07 and 3.10
times the levels during the base period, while tangerine costs are
estimated to be 2.32 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 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 1982-83 were
307 percent of the base-period levels, 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 105.7 cents and picking labor costs have increased 46.4
cents; that is, 43.9 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.

Table 5. Changes in the cost items that make up e-timated total picking and nailing
costs for oranges, 24 seasons, 1960-61 through 1982-83 (Index = 1960-61 to
1964-65 average)

Picking Labor

1960-61
1961-62
1962-63
1963-64
1964-65

1965-66
1966-67
1967-68
1968-69
1969-70

1970-71
1971-72
1972-73
1973-74
1974-75

1975-76
1976-77
1977-78
1978-79
1979-80

1980-81
1981-82
1982-83

c/box
18.90
19.64
22.50
24.24
26.38

28.54
29.53
33.42
37.51
38.54

38.70
40.91
52.60
57.86
51.87

50.61
54.96
58.96
65.76
67.82

72.92
73.64
68.72

Other Labora

Index
85
88
101
109
118

128
132
150
168
173

173
183
236
259
232

227
246
264
294
304

327
330
308

c/box
12.52
12.17
13.29
14.17
13.35

14.43
13.79
16.96
15.69
17.00

17.99
22.34
22.00
23.10
22.87

25.52
27.60
33.46
40.31
39.60

44.37
46.56
44.14

Fuel, Oil, Repairs,
Depreciation

Index
96
93
101
108
102

110
105
129
120
130

137
171
168
176
175

195
211
255
308
302

339
355
337

c/box
8.37
7.56
9.98
10.33
9.72

9.88
8.42
10.88
10.82
12.32

12.75
13.38
15.06
16.57
16.53

17.38
19.29
20.34
23.32
25.47

26.83
28.43
26.31

Administrative
and other

Index
91
82
1J09
112
106

107
92
118
118
134

139
146
164
180
1830

189
210
221
254
277

292
309
286

c/box
0.34
4.83
6.74
8.03
5.64

5.23
5.25
6.15
5.73
6.44

8.46
7.83
7.20
9.21
8.25

7.20
9.34
10.92
11.08
12.32

13.80
18.40
17.43

aIncludes supervisory, loaders, drivers, semi-drivers, miscellaneous and payroll
workmen's compensation.

taxes and

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

Season

Index
100
76
107
127
89

83
83
97
91
102

134
124
114
146
131

114
148
173
175
195

218
291
276

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,
1981-82 Season. Winter Haven: 1983.

[4] Florida Division of Fruit and Vegetable Inspection. 1981-82
Season Annual Report. Winter Haven: 1982.

[5] Hooks, R. Clegg, A. H. Spurlock and Richard L. Kilmer.
Estimated Costs of Picking and Hauling Florida Citrus
Fruits, 1980-81. Food and Resource Economics Department
Economic Information Report 188. Gainesville: University
of Florida, June 1983.

	Historic note
	Front Cover
	Abstract
	Table of Contents
	Main
	Reference