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  • From: John Hendrickson <jhendric AT wisc.edu>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Why do it
  • Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:26:08 -0500

Thanks Bill and others for recommending my Grower to Grower publication. As Bill said, it reports and discusses financial data from a collection of farms in the Upper Midwest. It is available on-line (http://www.cias.wisc.edu/pdf/grwr2grwr.pdf) but we also have lots of hard copies if people would like one mailed to them. $3 for postage and handling. CIAS, UW-Madison, 1535 Observatory Drive, Madison Wisconsin 53706.

The only thing I would add is that I would greatly appreciate hearing feedback from folks who have differing (or similar) experiences in terms of income figures from market farming. The sample size in my research was necessarily small given the nature of the project. We invited growers to meetings where they openly shared and discussed income and expenses figures as well as talked about quality of life issues. Obviously, a small group where folks trusted one another was paramount. I continue to add farms to my "database" so that I can develop a clearer and more representative picture of income as it relates to scale of operation. All data is held is the strictest confidence. What I have done with some growers since the report was published is collect some basic numbers from them and then met or talked or emailed with them about how their numbers compare with various trends and tendencies. If this appeals to you I would encourage you to contact me off list.

-John

Bill Shoemaker wrote:
John is a member of this list and may want to comment on his publication. But I also want to note that besides his appointment with the University, John is also a market farmer. His publication was also based on the results from other market farmers in Wisconsin, so there is a very strong reality check associated with John's publication. I think most of us on the list could benefit from reading it.
Bill Shoemaker, Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
University of Illinois - St Charles Horticulture Research Center
www.nres.uiuc.edu/faculty/directory/shoemaker_wh.html <http://www.nres.uiuc.edu/faculty/directory/shoemaker_wh.html>

Lynn - Check out this publication:

Grower to Grower: Creating a livelihood on a fresh market
vegetable farm
By John Hendrickson, University of Wisconsin
PDF: http://www.cias.wisc.edu/pdf/grwr2grwr.pdf

I had the same question and this study offers a lot of numbers and
insights. It was especially interesting to see how the scale of
the farm influenced the farmer's dollars-per-hour. There are also
valuable appendices with lists of equipment that might be needed
by farms of various sizes and how much they cost then. Check it
out. Hope this helps.

Krystle
Salem, OR
http://www.selfmadefarmer.com

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--
John Hendrickson
Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1535 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706
608-265-3704
www.cias.wisc.edu





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