The Fresh Market Vegetable Farm

“Growing produce is not the biggest hurdle facing most fresh market vegetable growers; earning a reasonable living poses the greatest challenge.”  That is how a report from the University of Wisconsin begins.  The researchers of this report followed 19 vegetable growers for three years.  Their farms ranged from 1 to 70 acres.  The report compiled information over the three years including labor data (number of employees, cost, hours worked), equipment data (type of equipment, cost and suggested equipment list per farm size), crop data and the marketing approaches used by the farms.

In addition to the useful data the report contains, it is also full of useful conclusions correlated from the data.  One such conclusion is that smaller farms earn greater gross sales by planting in higher densities, providing more care and attention to crops, growing high value crops, planting more than one crop per season and using season extending technology like hoop houses.

The report also contains many benchmarks that a grower could use to compare his operation to the 19 followed in this report.  For instance, this research confirmed that organic vegetables can gross $8,000 to $12,000 per acre.  An aspiring grower will also find these benchmarks useful in developing a business plan for a new venture.  Your local Small Business Development Center consultant can help you develop a business plan.

There is also a section on the quality of life which is the reason many small scale growers chose to get into business.

The study concludes with a section listing the special challenges for the grower and ten keys for success.  One of these keys is to develop a marketing plan.  Your local Small Business Development Center consultant can also help you develop a marketing plan.

The appendices of the report are also very exhaustive.  The only caveat that needs to be mentioned when examining this report is that the data was collected between 2002 and 2004 so some of it may be a little dated.  Even so, the report can be used together with other sources to get a good view of the fresh market vegetable farm.

http://www.cias.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/grwr2grwr.pdf

Mark Yarick is a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) consultant in Live Oak, Florida.  The SBDC has been helping businesses grow and succeed for more than 35 years, providing consulting at no charge, group training and market research for business owners.