An economic analysis questions: Central sorting of cannery tomatoes

CENTRAL SORTING of cannery tomatoes has been used to some extent in most tomato growing areas of California. This article is not intended either as a criticism or as a recommendation, but rather as a brief economic appraisal of the system. The table shows the itemized costs per ton of tomatoes for sorting operations in California. The average of $12.28 per ton is in line with custom harvesting costs as well as costs for many growers with yields averaging 17.6 tons per acre.