Mechanical Harvesting and the California Tomato Industry: A Simulation Analysis

Jon A. Brandt and Ben C. French

American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 1983, vol. 65, issue 2, 265-272

Abstract: Simulation analysis based on an econometric model was used to compare processing-tomato industry performance with and without the development of mechanical harvesting and under differing wage scales. Expanded production under mechanical harvesting increased requirements for preharvest, seasonal and off-season cannery, and assembly labor relative to continued hand harvest. This offset much, but not all, of the reduction in seasonal harvest labor. Employment shifted more toward jobs of higher skill and pay. Product prices were lower. Economic surplus measures suggest consumers have been the primary long-run benefactors of mechanical harvest adoption.

Date: 1983
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:ajagec:v:65:y:1983:i:2:p:265-272.

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