Costs of Packing Colorado Peaches in 1956

Excerpts from the report: This study of the costs of packing Colorado peaches was undertaken at the invitation of the Mesa County Peach Board of Control in conjunction with the Colorado State Department of Agriculture. In order to determine labor costs, the time required for performing each of the various packing shed operations from receiving the bulk fruit to loading out the packed containers was measured. In each case the time requirement was based on the total man-minutes put in that day by the workers engaged in the operations under observation. Unit time requirements were obtained by dividing total man-minutes by the number of packed containers produced during the day. Labor costs were obtained by multiplying the unit time requirements for the various packing shed operations try the wage rate paid for each job. Overhead and materials costs were obtained through personal interview with packing shed owners and managers at the close of the packing season. For the central sheds, the overhead and materials costs were taken from the accounting records of the firm. Most of the ranch sheds did not maintain detailed records, so most of the values for plant and equipment were the owners' estimates of the market or replacement value, while the charges for electricity, telephone, and other variable costs were also estimates based on previous experience.