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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] head lettuce growers

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  • From: John Ferree <john AT seldomseenfarm.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] head lettuce growers
  • Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:02:12 -0500

we're in the process of deciding whether to drop rests. i feel a bit
torn by it. financially I want to, but I've also really enjoyed working
with (most) of our current accounts. my wife and I made the decision in
06 to stop trying to 'take over the world' of produce here, and cut back
to mostly our labor. the system worked well, but our marketing hasn't
caught up with that choice. if you've got crazy volume or a limited
retail market, rests/wholesale does have a place, but they seem to be
dragging us down $ wise. i won't miss two 70 mile, 3 hour delivery
trips each week. I will miss working with chefs to supply odd ball
stuff that has made me a better grower.
john


maury sheets wrote:
> John,
>
> You may want to look at how you sell and not so much what you sell. I have
> pretty much given up on wholesale direct (restaurants and small stores). I
> am mainly doing farmers markets year-round. The difference between
> wholesale and retail is amazing. Take for example a case of Kale. I can
> sell that wholesale (12 bunches) for about $18.00, but I can get $42.00 for
> it retail at the farmers markets. Nice difference for just 4 hours work and
> a lot less driving.
>
> Maury
>
>
> Sustainable agriculture in southern New Jersey
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of John Ferree
> Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 9:03 AM
> To: Market Farming
> Subject: Re: [Market-farming] head lettuce growers
>
> i just did a week by week comparison. we're able to get ~24 weeks of
> salad mix, at worst heads would be around 22. second cuts are ok in
> spring and fall, but july-early sept they are awful. for 1375sf we're
> getting ~150# avg/week. the total cost of salad mix is pretty high. . .
> we're cutting/processing at 10-15#/hr depending on the quality of plants
> in the field. i would imagine that heads require much less labor, so
> net would be higher.
>
> summer salad mix is probably the root of my frustration. yields drop
> significantly, and we end up supplying resturaunts first (low $) and
> shorting our markets. we're running drip only for lettuce. overhead
> irrigation might help, but our aquifer won't let us. (20gpm on a 100'
> well)
>
>
>
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>
>
>





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