[Market-farming] Why do it II

JOHN A HENDRICKSON jhendric at wisc.edu
Fri Apr 25 09:11:22 EDT 2008


Certainly much is possible and it is very encouraging that this type of research is being conducted.  I would never say that $90K per acre is impossible.  However, Bill's hypothetical tomato example and comments are well-reasoned and on target.  A tremendous amount of product and even sales can be generated per acre for horitcultural crops.  As Bill notes, the $90K and $5K figures are not "profit" but gross sales.  Expenses on a fruit and vegetable farm are very high, especially labor...and especially labor on the type of crops the Ohio researcher is investigating (berries, asparagus, etc.).  Net income may be as low as 15-25% of gross for some vegetable operations.  Net might also be has high as 50-60% of gross.  It is also worth mentioned that upfront investment (equipment, facilities, plant stock, etc.) can also be considerable.

It has been mentioned before on this list, but for an economic look at some real life examples of organic vegtable farms, see: http://www.cias.wisc.edu/pdf/grwr2grwr.pdf

-John


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