MARCH 2003
VOLUME 13, NUMBER 3
Production Cost Findings

Excerpted from an article appearing in "Onion World," January 2003.


    he new National Onion Association president, Bob Sakata, shared personal research comparing various production costs 50 years ago versus now. The following are some of his findings:
Tractor: 40 hp IHM, $2,400=$60 per hp; today 40 hp JD, $46,000=$1,150 per hp;
multiplier: 19
Minimum wage: 30 cents per hour; today $5.15 and moving higher;
multiplier: 17
Pickup truck: $750; today $12,000;
multiplier: 22
Seed: $4.50 per pound; today $100;
multiplier: 22
Land: $200 per acre; today $4,000;
multiplier: 20
75 cents per bag (1950), times the multiplier of 19=$14.25 per bag
“American consumers certainly should appreciate the ingenuity of our onion producers,” Sakata continued. “Without their efforts they would be paying two and one-half times more than what they are paying today.”

However, the major concern today, the grower continued, is whether additional efficiencies can be found to offset continuing cost increases. He said he worries that the industry may have reached the ‘road of no return’ as far as increasing efficiency is concerned.

Despite the multitude of challenges facing the U. S. onion industry, it continues to contribute to the economy, both national and local, he said.


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