Excerpts from the report: This study describes the 1955-56 margins and operating costs of processors of chicken fryers and fowl shipping into the Chicago, Ill., and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., metropolitan areas, the margins and costs of poultry wholesalers, and the margins of chain and independent retailers in those areas. The "marketing margin" is the difference between the price per pound the consumer pays for chicken and the payment the farmer receives for an equivalent quantity of live chicken. About 72 percent of the live chicken reaches the consumer ready to cook. Therefore, the price the farmer receives for approximately 1.4 pounds of live chicken is the equivalent of what the consumer pays for 1 pound of ready-to-cook chicken. The marketing margin includes all charges for procurement, slaughtering, eviscerating, packaging, and distributing chickens. The payment received by the farmer is called the "farm value."