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market-farming - Re: Blackberries

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  • From: mckemie AT inetport.com
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Blackberries
  • Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2001 06:27:39 -0500


> There was mention on the list as to whether the blackberries would sell
> well. We sold a small amount last year (that was all we had) at $3-$4/
> pint
> (depended if it was raining). Most berry growers here sell them at
> $6.00+/lb. I'm not sure but that sounds like might good $$$ for a heavy
> producing plant! Jacqueline

You reduce your price if it is raining at the farmers market? Or you
sell "rained on" berries cheaper?

You don't say where you are; we are in central Texas where berries grow
wild and domestic berries thrive. But, here are my experiences with
blackberries. When I started growing berries, around 20 years ago,
they were cheap; classified newspaper ads offered them as cheap as $1
per gallon PYO. I've sold them as cheap as $5 a gallon at farmers
markets; we thought we were in high cotton when we started getting $1 a
pint at farmers markets. Over the years, we've gotten the prices up to
more attractive levels; my plantings have declined, so my limited supply
allowed me to maintain a minimum price of $3/pint at farmers markets last
season and I expect about the same this year, even though competitors
have sold as low as $2. Organic growers demand higher prices. In past
years, my volume has peaked at around 120 gallons a day; last year it
was about 15 gallons a day.

Recommendations: Start small, do not plant more than 1/4 acre;
determine your demand and potential volume before you make a larger
planting. As you no doubt know, berries are extremely perishable. Be
prepared to cool them as soon as they are picked; they should be sold
the day they are picked or the day after. In order to market
your entire crop, you probably cannot depend on retail sales, either
PYO or farmers markets; these sales decline in inclement weather, but
berry production does not. We have good demand from grocery stores and
many times we short our retail outlets to satisfy, and maintain good
relationships with, our grocery store customers. As with most crops,
most of the production cost is the harvest and we do not have a good
handle on the other costs. I try to get prices that give me at least 4
times the harvest cost. I consider 7 times harvest cost to be good
pricing. I suggest you estimate your harvest costs not with your own
labor but with real hired labor. I can go out and pick maybe three
gallons in an hour, but my hired labor, that works at that task all
day, averages closer to 1 gallon an hour.

--
Onward! Through the Fog!
Willie
http://austinfarm.org/homegrown




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