Logistics processes in a group of agricultural producers: a case study

In recent years, there has been an increase in the growth and importance of producer groups. The organization of farm owners into producer groups aims to adapt the production carried out by the members of the producer group to market requirements, joint marketing of goods, in particular preparation for sale, centralization of sales, and delivery to wholesale buyers. Activities enabling the movement of goods from the producer to the buyer constitute the essence of logistics.The purpose of this article is to attempt to identify the logistics processes and activities taking place in a group of agricultural producers in the field of crop production.
The article uses information collected during an individual interview with the president of an Agricultural Producer Group, which for the purposes of this article has been designated as Producer Group “X”.
The essence and tasks of logistics
Logistics is defined as a “spatio-temporal” system of transformation of goods.[2] Logistics should create such technological and economic conditions that the recipient receives the product in accordance with their expectations.
The tasks set for logistics in an enterprise are:
− streamlining the management of flow and storage processes, − including the design and construction of logistics chains in the development strategy, − subordinating activities related to logistics processes to customer expectations, − reducing the costs of logistics processes [1].
In agribusiness-related enterprises, the logistics function is particularly important due to the specific characteristics of the sector:
− large temporal imbalance between the supply and demand of agricultural products resulting from the seasonality of production, particularly significant in crop production, − low transport and storage susceptibility of agricultural products, − numerous and independent intermediate links in the supply chain [5]. (…)

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