Costs of production and fresh market preparation of Manitoba potatoes, 1968

Abstract

The potato industry in Manitoba has expanded during the past decade. Development of mechanized harvesting and handling methods, along with contract production for processing firms, have combined to encourage the establishment of large production units on soils of a texture suited to modern methods of harvesting. As changes such as these take place, the importance of cost of production and market preparation information increases, particularly as the ranges in size of enterprizes and methods of production become large. The objectives of the study were to determine the cost of inputs required to produce potatoes for various sizes of production units, to determine the costs of storage, preparation and delivery of table stock and seed potatoes to market, and to review the resource requirements and cultural practices employed by producers in Manitoba. Information was collected from sixty producers,selected on the basis of stratified random sample. This sample included growers ranging in size from four to 1,540 acres. Five strata were used in the analysis of production costs; three in the analysis of market preparation costs. Implicit as well as explicit costs were included in the analysis...