Market Farming

[Steve Diver <steved AT ncat.org>]

Oldtimin -

You got a roto-tiller at 24" and draft equipment.

Don't know where you live and thus all kinds of geographical
implications, what kinds of implements you got to go along
with all that draft equipment, what your field layout and cropping
pattern looks like.  Do you have a wheel hoe and attachments?
Do you have hundreds of bales of straw and a thousand
linear feed of plastic mulch and geotextile mulch along with
irrigation?  Do you have a rolling dibble marker for transplants?

The question is worth exploring and it can go a lot further.

The production side of growing has plenty of options.
It can be achieved with bounty and quality.  It is harvest,
post-harvest, and marketing of all that volume
that is more challenging in relation to time and labor.

We know draft powered farms raising 10 to 30
acres of sweet corn, melons, and pumpkins.   
It also makes a difference on how much
you've got planted in "perishable" vs. "storage"
crops terms of harvesting and marketing.

Have you seen a geotextile curcubit patch at
30' x 300' + drive row + 30' x 300' +
drive row + 30' x 300'?   You can grow
all the butternuts, kabochas, pumpkins,
and melons that you want..... in a super
low-maintenance production system.
30' x 100' or 30' x 200' might be more
suitable depending on location.

Irrigation and pest control and "picking"
is all it amounts to once you've set out
your transplants..... since weeds, nor
cultivation, nor more weeding and more
weeding is required.

Steve Diver