Market structure of buying firms and practices of strawberry growers in the new Cumberland Mountain area of Tennessee, 1954

Previous research on strawberry marketing in West Tennessee⁸ disclosed that the major market defect was the inability of producers and the marketing firm to deal in such a manner that the true relationships of supply and demand were brought into action. It was found that theoretically the individual farmer had a chance to deal with each buyer but in reality the buyers were not in active competition for strawberries. At the present, farmers wield little or no influence in the market as individuals. They have the major alternative of shifting to another market outlet if they are dissatisfied, but this can generally be done only with the inconvenience of driving some distance. Additional quality and price data from the West Tennessee research revealed serious quality defects. Only 20 per cent of the West Tennessee strawberries that were sold in 1953 graded U. S. No. 1. Price variations among the market firms were rather large in the U. S. No. 1 and U. S. Combination grades. The range in prices paid for the U. S. No. 1 grade of strawberries amounted to at least $1.50 per crate on most days. This same amount of variation was evident in the U. S. Combination grades. These differences between prices paid by firms for the same grades are important. After evaluating the findings and importance of the strawberry market research data on market structure and the factors influencing quality it is considered feasible to conduct research in the New Cumberland Area to determine the competitive structure of the markets, and whether the price incentives for higher quality are awarded. Furthermore, since the experience of producers in the New Cumberland Mountain Area is five years or less, it is logical to examine their strawberry marketing practices to determine whether the practices meet the optimum standards of the College of Agriculture, University of Tennessee and the United States Department of Agriculture. An additional need for this study is the fact that only a very small percentage of previous strawberry crops have been sold for the fresh markets. It is believed that as the strawberry acreage increases in this new area, a closely supervised educational program will need to be conducted by the Agricultural Extension Service. This program will be to teach producers the correct procedure to produce, harvest, pack and market a high quality strawberry that will measure up to the high standards established by consumer preference and which will result in maximum returns to producers.