GROWERS' RETURNS AND MARKETING COSTS
 AT EACH STAGE OF THE
 VERTICAL MARKET SYSTEM FOR CITRUS


 Daniel S. Tilley and Richard L. Kilmer


 INTRODUCTION


 The United States Department of Agriculture has published the
farmer's share of the consumer's food dollar on commodities for many
years. The recent increase in food prices has stimulated an interest
in the cost of marketing functions performed between the producer and
consumer. The purpose of this report is to look at the costs associated
with each level in the fresh and processed citrus marketing channel. In
this paper (1) grove production prices and value of production, (2)
picking and hauling costs, (3) fresh citrus packing and selling costs,
(4) citrus processing, warehousing and selling costs, and (5) the whole-
saling and retailing stage in the citrus production/marketing process
are examined.


 TRENDS IN PRODUCTION, VALUE OF PRODUCTION,
 AND ON-TREE PRICES


 Since 1970-71, total citrus acreage in Florida has declined.
Increases in grapefruit acreage have been offset by decreases in orange
acreage (Table 1). Prior to 1970-71 orange acreage had been rapidly
increasing while grapefruit acreage had remained relatively stable.



 DANIEL S. TILLEY is a research economist in the Economic Research
Department, Florida Department of Citrus and assistant professor in the
Food and Resource Economics Department. RICHARD L. KILMER is an assis-
tant professor in the Food and Resource Economics Department.