Lancaster Farming. Saturday. August 24. 1974 50 (Continued from Rate 49| counted for: Farmer. He got on the average about 5y 2 -cents from a 27V2-cent pound loaf last year. For the pre vious 6 years, he received from 3.3 cents to 3.8 cents. Still, farmers got a smaller share of the price of a loaf of bread than in the 1947-49 pe riod—2o percent compared with 25 percent. Millar, The miller’s share has bounced around over the past quarter of a century from 0.5 cent as recently as 1970 to its high of 1 cent as recently as last year. Over the years, the miller has not played as big a role in price in creases as the baker or the retailer. In fact, his 3Vi-percent share of the price of a pound loaf of bread last year was 1 percentage point less than it was in 1947-49. "Other." ERS lumps the cost of several minor nonfarm ingredients and charges for relatively minor functions under “other spreads.” These charges have fluctuated over the years, but reached a high last year of 1.7 cents. They represent the difference between the cost to the baker for all ingredients and what the miller and farmer get. Baker. The baking industry last year got a little better than half the price of a loaf of bread —14 cents. Back in 1947-49, bakers were receiv ing a little less than half the total. About half of the baker margin Kmco- ' PAGE 41 MEMO HAY, STRAW and EAR CORN SALE EVERY MONDAY AT 11 A.M. New Holland Sales Stables, Inc. Phone 717-354-4341 Lloyd H. Kreider, Auct. the DOTZ ■ BARN CLEANER RUGGED, DE >ENDABLE! under all operating conditions >r * See your PATZ Dealer today CALL 717 272 0871 MARVIN J. HORST Dairy Equipment and Amana Appliances E.D. No. 1 (Iona) Lebanon, Pa. Located on Route 897 between Schaefferstown and Lebanon, over 30 years in business at same place riK‘lVk-0 of Bread goes for wages and salaries, includ ing fringe benefits. Over the years, output per man hour in bakeries has not kept up with wage increases, resulting in higher labor costs per loaf. Hourly earnings for production workers in bakeries in 1972 were about $3.70, or about triple the $1.15 average in 1947-49. In general, the costs of baking and selling bread are trending up. With costs increasing, the baking in dustry has increased mechanization to raise output per hour of produc tion labor used. For example, bulk methods of handling flour have largely replaced bag handling meth ods. Bread can now be delivered in bulk by train or truck and moved by air pressure through tubes into stor age bins where, In many instances, it is moved into an automated bread production line. Profits after taxes per dollar of sales have trended down slightly over the years, according to a large sample of bakery firms. In 1955, they were nearly 3 percent and have gradually declined to 1.3 percent in 1973. However, profits after taxes as a percent of stockholders’ equity have trended up in the industry much of the time since 1961. For example, returns to equity were at the rate of 8.4 percent in 1961 and rose to 12 percent in 1967. But the rate of re- :«■' : x : '.4 ’ .<S- -y? ..-'ft Siy" -x* 1 Are You Ready? fiMftb , nsveopf ■3k.*. v Ik 1 g 1 KEW /' t \ | i ■ I■ 9 ■ ■ WHIRL-A-FEEDBLOWERS I ■ Mi The exclusive whirling table on Models 25 and H H 27 give the material a "running start" into the S I" blower fan. This means less drag on the fan, M more efficient use of horsepower and high capa- M ■ city. We have these blowers in stock now ... in m a size to fit your needs. Drop m soon to see H «■* Models 25 and 27. jm % I Your HOLLAISD I Quarryville, Pa. Phone: 786-2895 FSEW HOLLAIVD New concept in silage handling! C. E. WILEY & turn dropped sharply in the first half of 1973 to an unusually low 6.5 percent. Retailor. Over the past 25 years, the retailer has taken a slightly larger share of the price of bread. Last year, he received 5.4 cents, more than double the 2.2 cents he averaged in 1947-49. His share of the total rose to 20 percent. Indications are that the retailer's share is smaller for bread sold un der a store’s own label than for wholesale bakery brands. This would be attributable to lower prices, the larger volume sold by supermarkets, and the streamlined distribution system of bakeries serving them. Viewpoints America is the greatest force that God has ever al lowed to exist on his footstool —Dwight D Eisenhower ..Sf -x-y s'y- FORAGE HARVESTER head, coupled with a revolutionary P.T.O. power sharpener to keep these knives razor sharp, means clean cutting, fine cutting, uniform cutting with less power required. When it comes to capacity, horsepower efficiency and chopping ability. New Holland "770" forage harvesters stand out above the rest. They give you uniform silage with or without a recutter screen. Dealer I\£W HOLLAIXD MODELS 770 & SUPER 717 AVAILABLE NOW The country's only 12-knife cutterhead! SON INC. Not Out of Line Sharp though it seems, the jump in bread prices in recent years has been no greater than the increase in consumer prices of all foods. During the 32 months of price controls—from August 18, 1971, to April 30, 1974—the average price of a 1-pound loaf of white pan bread rose 37 percent, where as consumer prices of all foods as measured by the market basket index went up 38 percent. The farm value for ingredients in this loaf of bread increased 123 percent. The miller’s spread, difference between what he paid for the wheat and the price he got for the flour, advanced 129 percent; the baker-wholesaler spread by 18 percent; and retailer spread by about 13 percent. Much of the bulge in the value of farm ingredients (mainly wheat) was due to higher farm prices and to the pricing flexi bility of millers operating under the “volatile price” ruling. In ef fect, this special rul.'na permitted millers to charge whatever the market would bear, putting them in a position to pay wheat farm ers competitive prices and to pass on the increase and then some. Probably the hardest hit by price controls were the bakers, who were caught between the highly competitive pricing condi tions in their own industry and the unique pricing provisions ac corded the flour millers. [Based on material by Charles O’Dell, Commodity Economics Di vision, Wheat Situation, WS-228, May 1974.] # !■/ AS a I 5 A v v A-X
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers