Market Farming

[John Hendrickson <jhendric AT wisc.edu>]

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