Note: Computed by dividing the total costs allocated to handling (both receiving and loading out) by the quantity representing grain which cleared through the warehouse, both in and out, during the year. EXHIBIT 3 GRAIN & FEED DEALERS NATIONAL ASSOCIATION Accountants' Report dated March 28, 1960 based on review, without audit, of 183 survey reports of country warehouses included in "Commercial Grain Storage Survey" conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture in the Fall of 1959 and reported upon in tables released by the Department of Agriculture in January and February 1960 Comments and schedules regarding utilization of survey cost information by the Country Elevator Committee of the Grain & Feed Dealers National Association for purpose of developing rate structure to be included in revision of Uniform Grain Storage Agreement to become effective July 1, 1960 PEAT, MARWICK, MITCHELL & CO. CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS PEAT, MARWICK, MITCHELL & Co. CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS NORTHWESTERN BANK BUILDING MINNEAPOLIS 2, MINN. March 28, 1960 Mr. Alvin E. Oliver, Executive Vice-President 400 Folger Building Washington 5, D. C. Dear Mr. Oliver: In connection with our engagement to assist the Country Elevator Committee of the Grain & Feed Dealers National Association in developing information for use by the Committee in negotiating the rate structure to be included in the revision of the Uniform Grain Storage Agreement to become effective July 1, 1960, we have reviewed, without audit or examination of the underlying data, 183 reports of the "Commercial Grain Storage Survey" conducted by representatives of the United States Department of Agriculture, Commodity Stabilization Service Grain Division, in the Fall of 1959. The 183 reports included in our review involved 55% in number and 58% in capacity of the 331 country warehouses with storage capacity available for others of 65,328,564 bushels, reported upon in tables released by the Department of Agriculture in January and February 1960. We received 211 reports but eliminated 28 from our review because of incomplete data therein or because they appeared to cover terminal facilities excluded from the scope of our review. We did not investigate the basis of selecting sample locations included in the Government survey. Without at any time disclosing identity of individual survey reports, we reported orally to representatives of the Country Elevator Committee at a meeting held in Chicago on December 9, 1959 our comments on the first 57 survey reports received prior to that date and rendered further oral reports at meetings with representatives of the Country Elevator Committee held in Washington, D. C. on February 9 and 10 and on March 14, 1960 on our review of additional reports received and our comparison of data therein with the tables released by the United States Department of Agriculture in January and February 1960. We have previously reported to you orally that, on the basis of our review, without audit or examination of the underlying data, we have no reason to believe that the information included in the tables released by the United States Department of Agriculture is not reasonably representative of the information disclosed in survey reports reviewed by us. In the accompanying comments and schedules, as listed in the index on the immediately following page, we set forth our views regarding the usefulness of the cost information disclosed by the survey, for the purpose of developing the rate structure to be included in the revision of the Uniform Grain Storage Agreement to become effective July 1, 1960, and describe factors which we believe should receive consideration in utilizing cost information ap- It will be appreciated that since we have not audited or otherwise examined the accounting or statistical records maintained by individual country warehouses included in the survey and have not investigated the basis of selecting sample locations included in the survey, we are not in a position to express a professional opinion regarding the accuracy of aggregate or per bushel storage and handling costs or bushel quantity figures disclosed by such reports or regarding the possible extent of sample error. Yours very truly, Peat, Marivesd Mitchell Co. |