In the last few years, various reports have dealt with costs of operation of turkey-processing plants. Through these reports and through their own experiences, processing plant managers are well aware of the existence of economies of large-scale operation and the reduction in costs possible from operating at or near capacity. Although the significance of economies of large-scale operation for the individual plant manager is well understood, the significance of these economies for an entire marketing system or for an entire turkey-production region has not been systematically investigated.