Discuss your tips, tricks and experiences growing and selling vegetables, fruits, flowers, plants and herbs.
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#1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Greenville, South Carolina
Posts: 3,099
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We had our annual meeting for my main market last night and this year ALL growers are required to do a crop plan. I have never done one and it looks a lot more involved than I like to get. Do any of you know a program, preferably free, that I could use or any info to help me get started? I normally just kinda grow everything at once and decide what to plant in empty spots as the need arises. I think a plan would help me be more focused but I hate spreadsheet type work with a passion. Help
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#2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: AL
Posts: 1,993
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Not sure if you have seen this or if it is even what you are looking for. Thought it might help. You can always tailor to your needs.
http://rodaleinstitute.org/sample-sp...reek-farm-csa/ |
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#3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Mid-Atlantic right on the line of Zone 7a and 7b
Posts: 1,369
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I highly recommend 'The Organic Farmer's Business Handbook' by Richard Wiswall.
It comes with a CD you can put into your computer. It has an easy to follow enterprise budget for each crop you might grow. There is no getting around using some form of data management for planning. Usually this means a spreadsheet. But, with the tool mentioned above, the sheet is already built, and you plug in your own history or projections. I found it easy to use, considering that I had found all previous templates confusing or not based it reality. The cool thing is that it forces you to come up with a base land unit for your scale, and assign values to each material or labor step. For example, your base unit might be a 50' row. You then assign values to every step you do for that unit. You can then evaluate what each crop costs you to grow and which crop makes you the most money because you are using the same base land unit. Last edited by PureHarvest; February 10, 2016 at 08:30 AM. |
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#4 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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![]() My guess is they just want to know who is growing what how much and when. Worth |
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#5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
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My question would be, what are they going to do with the information? It could easily be used to influence a member's decisions, if they come back to you with your own report and say, "well we like these things, but these other crops you want to grow are oversupplied at our market, so you shouldn't grow them." That could be just as illegal as fixing prices.
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#6 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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I think it is BS from a bunch of blanks that have no business even asking. My wife a few years ago had to go to jury duty. That wanted to know how many guns we had and what kind. They even threatened everyone if they didn't fill it out. Worth Last edited by Worth1; February 10, 2016 at 06:29 PM. |
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#7 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: AL
Posts: 1,993
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Tomatoes.... Assorted varieties from small to large Beans ... Pole type beans Carrots ... Long orange types and go on like that. I agree with Cole Robbie that giving more than basic info could possibly cause problems down the way. Yes, I can understand how the market may want to have things a bit more professional, but I don't think they need to know exactly how much, what, and your prices for stuff. I would hate to see you put in a whole crop of something and then them come back later and say , " Oh we have too many bean sellers at the moment, you have to wait on your crop." We all know that crops wait for no person. And what happens when bugs, varmints or weather conditions cause a loss of crops and you plant something else? Will you not be able to take your yield to the market if it is not on your plan? I would contact the head person that said you need a plan and ask him exactly what he wants on that paper, then I would decide exactly what info your willing to share. Than if you really want to see how your doing, you can get something more professional. |
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#8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Zone 6a Denver North Metro
Posts: 1,910
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Even the absolute worst review implies the software is worth the $30.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Organic-Fa.../dp/1603581421 |
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#9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Mid-Atlantic right on the line of Zone 7a and 7b
Posts: 1,369
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There will always be a negative review, lol.
The estate planning and tax stuff is not what i found valuable. His crop budget templates are/were gold to me. It forces you to assign values to repetitive labor steps and cost of materials. You then plug yours into the cells and they calculate for you. It also forces you to really think about every step you take/make so you get the true cost of production. You can the plug in different yields and sale prices to project what your think revenue will be. Then the calculations are automatic and you see your net. In the end you can rate crops against each other in your system, and you might be shocked to see what is a money maker or loser. |
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#10 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Mid-Atlantic right on the line of Zone 7a and 7b
Posts: 1,369
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#11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Mid-Atlantic right on the line of Zone 7a and 7b
Posts: 1,369
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Big van, perhaps this is overkill for the purpose of your original query, but you should consider this for your own internal use.
For the market police, you could just list out a production schedule on a Word Doc. Just break it down by crop: Lettuce: 10' rows, sowing 5' each date Sowing dates: March 1, 10, 21, 30 April 1, 9, 15, 29 Projected harvest: April-May, 20 heads per week. |
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#12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Greenville, South Carolina
Posts: 3,099
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Thanks all, I found this. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...#gid=813085863 Seems pretty simple, thoughts?
Pureharvest I would like to have a program that keeps track of everything because lets face it, if I am going to make a run at this seriously I need to do it right. I just wish I had know sooner so I could have started planning for it. Last edited by BigVanVader; February 10, 2016 at 09:52 AM. |
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#13 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake
Posts: 1,244
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That is what I would submit as my crop plan... With a note that it will be about the same as last year. And that it is impossible to predict how crops are going to grow...
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#14 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Greenville, South Carolina
Posts: 3,099
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#15 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Mid-Atlantic right on the line of Zone 7a and 7b
Posts: 1,369
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Their Harvest guide will blow your mind with detail too:
(I have no affiliation with this farm. This was mind blowingly detailed for anyone seriously considering going beyond a hobby level and planning a farm as a business, as it should be done) http://sfc.smallfarmcentral.com/dyna...%20version.pdf Example (this is a cut and paste by me, the presentation in the link is top notch visually and easier to follow): Basil Yield ⅓ lbs per foot at 6500 lbs to the acre Value $2.50 per lbs at $16,250 per acre Standards Harvesting: 4 bins per hour @ approximately 150 hrs per acre plus the time to load and unload boxes out of field to packing area Basil is not washed Tools needed Scissors, knives, regular 1⅓ bushel boxes Ready to Harvest Indicators and Quality Plants 10-15 inches tall, deep green, without holes due to eating damage by Japanese beetle or black spots (downy mildew). Basil downy mildew is a new problem. Purple varieties are less susceptible. Harvest before frost. Do not harvest flowering stems. Harvest and Cleaning Procedures Basil is harvested in standing up and bending over position. Basil is one of the last things we harvest in the morning. To avoid damage basil is harvested in the same box it is distributed in. If desired, eave 3-4 inches behind for re-growth; plants can be cut the height of the box (up to 12"). Place green box on end and stack stems so the leaves are facing you. When the box is full, the stems will be standing up straight in the bin. Hold the stems with one hand & cut with the other. Before placing the basil in the box remove all yellow and dead leaves. Do not get wet. Do not harvest in the rain, since leaves will turn black in storage. Cleaning in the field Pull off dead or yellow leaves. Avoid plants that are eaten by Japanese beetle or with black spots (downey mildew) on the leaves. Packing in the field Loosely fill regular (1⅓ bushel) green box, all leaves up, stems down Packing for delivery Regular (1⅓ bushel) Green box Storage At 41° F, 95 -100% humidity but needs good air circulation, don’t pack in closed containers for long-term storage. Do not put in cooler |
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