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PureHarvest · April 19, 2016

KLorentz, the agronomy side of the equation is the fun stuff about growing that we all love.

But please make sure you have a business plan to go along with your crop plans.

At the very least you should make a crop enterprise budget for each crop you are gonna grow.

I can send you a really easy to use template for crop budgeting that could be a really big eye opener for you to know what it will cost for you to go from seed to harvest. Here is a copy and paste example of a greenhouse tomato operation:

Prepare Soil: NOTES: Labor at 12.55/hr.
On each line: 1st number is Labor, second is Machine cost, 3rd is Product Cost
Spread ferts/compost 25.10 0 120.00
(4 yards compost, 50 lbs fertilizer)

Rototill (1hr) 12.55 3.00 0

Rake, handwork (2hrs) 25.10 0 0

Set drip lines, patch (2hrs) 25.10 0 25.00
($40 drip lines/2 uses plus fittings)

Install mulch and anchor 12.55 0 28.00
($200 weed mat/10 yds, anchors)

Tighten greenhouse, other 25.10 0 0

Heat, vent, alarm ready 25.10 0 0

Seed/Transplant:
Cost of transplants 0 0 243.00
(450 plants needed/greenhouse, $0.54/3.5" pot)

Transplanting labor (4hrs) 50.20 0 0

Cultivation:
Drop strings 25.10 0 5.00

Clip strings 25.10 0 0

Prune and trellis 7x 329.44 0 0
(Average: .75 hr/row, 3.75 hrs each time = 26.25 hrs total)

Weed holes, edges 3x 75.30 (6 hrs total) 0 0

Prune leaves, sweep up 3x 112.95 (9 hrs total) 0 0

Top plants 9/1 37.65 (3 hrs total) 0 0

Roll up and down sides 58.99 0 0
(4 mins/time x 70 days = 4.7 hrs)

Labor Machinery Product
Pre-harvest subtotal: 865.33 3.00 421.00= 1289.33

Harvest:
Total yield for greenhouse = 300 15-lb boxes at 10 lbs marketable fruit/plant (450 plants)

Total hours to harvest greenhouse 60 hrs. Average: five 15-lb boxes/hr.

Labor Machine Product
Field to pack house 753.00 (60 hrs) 0 0

Pack house to dock 376.50 0 0
(at 10 boxes/hr sorting and folding up boxes)

Bags, boxes, labels 0 0 321.00 ($1.00/box, $0.07/label: 300 at $1.07)

Delivery 30.12 9.60 0

Post Harvest:
Detrellis and remove 75.30 (6 hrs total) 0 0

Sweep and fold mulch 12.55 0 0

Move drip lines 12.55 0 0

Labor Machine Product
Post-harvest subtotal: 2125.35 12.60 742.00 = 2,879.95 Harvested cost for greenhouse

Marketing Costs: Labor Machine Product
Labor: sales calls. Average 10 mins/week for 12 weeks = 2 hrs/season (for this crop only) 25.10

Farmers’ mkt expense 60.24 4.70 9.00

Total Crop Costs: 2210.69 17.30 751.00 = 2,978.99

Greenhouse & Overhead Costs: 3227.00
(Greenhouse annual expenses: $830; greenhouse overhead allocation: $2397.)

Total Costs:
Crop & Overhead Total: 6205.99

Sales: # of units Price per unit Total $
Retail: 100.00 48.75 4875.00
Wholesale: 200.00 36.00 7200.00

Total units 300.00
Total Sales: 12075.00

Net Profit:
Total sales – total costs = 5869.01

Net Profit/Acre: Not applicable

Cost/Unit: 20.69 Total cost/total units

Net Profit/Unit: 19.56 Net profit/total units

April 19, 2016	#11
PureHarvest Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Mid-Atlantic right on the line of Zone 7a and 7b Posts: 1,369	KLorentz, the agronomy side of the equation is the fun stuff about growing that we all love. But please make sure you have a business plan to go along with your crop plans. At the very least you should make a crop enterprise budget for each crop you are gonna grow. I can send you a really easy to use template for crop budgeting that could be a really big eye opener for you to know what it will cost for you to go from seed to harvest. Here is a copy and paste example of a greenhouse tomato operation: Prepare Soil: NOTES: Labor at 12.55/hr. On each line: 1st number is Labor, second is Machine cost, 3rd is Product Cost Spread ferts/compost 25.10 0 120.00 (4 yards compost, 50 lbs fertilizer) Rototill (1hr) 12.55 3.00 0 Rake, handwork (2hrs) 25.10 0 0 Set drip lines, patch (2hrs) 25.10 0 25.00 ($40 drip lines/2 uses plus fittings) Install mulch and anchor 12.55 0 28.00 ($200 weed mat/10 yds, anchors) Tighten greenhouse, other 25.10 0 0 Heat, vent, alarm ready 25.10 0 0 Seed/Transplant: Cost of transplants 0 0 243.00 (450 plants needed/greenhouse, $0.54/3.5" pot) Transplanting labor (4hrs) 50.20 0 0 Cultivation: Drop strings 25.10 0 5.00 Clip strings 25.10 0 0 Prune and trellis 7x 329.44 0 0 (Average: .75 hr/row, 3.75 hrs each time = 26.25 hrs total) Weed holes, edges 3x 75.30 (6 hrs total) 0 0 Prune leaves, sweep up 3x 112.95 (9 hrs total) 0 0 Top plants 9/1 37.65 (3 hrs total) 0 0 Roll up and down sides 58.99 0 0 (4 mins/time x 70 days = 4.7 hrs) Labor Machinery Product Pre-harvest subtotal: 865.33 3.00 421.00= 1289.33 Harvest: Total yield for greenhouse = 300 15-lb boxes at 10 lbs marketable fruit/plant (450 plants) Total hours to harvest greenhouse 60 hrs. Average: five 15-lb boxes/hr. Labor Machine Product Field to pack house 753.00 (60 hrs) 0 0 Pack house to dock 376.50 0 0 (at 10 boxes/hr sorting and folding up boxes) Bags, boxes, labels 0 0 321.00 ($1.00/box, $0.07/label: 300 at $1.07) Delivery 30.12 9.60 0 Post Harvest: Detrellis and remove 75.30 (6 hrs total) 0 0 Sweep and fold mulch 12.55 0 0 Move drip lines 12.55 0 0 Labor Machine Product Post-harvest subtotal: 2125.35 12.60 742.00 = 2,879.95 Harvested cost for greenhouse Marketing Costs: Labor Machine Product Labor: sales calls. Average 10 mins/week for 12 weeks = 2 hrs/season (for this crop only) 25.10 Farmers’ mkt expense 60.24 4.70 9.00 Total Crop Costs: 2210.69 17.30 751.00 = 2,978.99 Greenhouse & Overhead Costs: 3227.00 (Greenhouse annual expenses: $830; greenhouse overhead allocation: $2397.) Total Costs: Crop & Overhead Total: 6205.99 Sales: # of units Price per unit Total $ Retail: 100.00 48.75 4875.00 Wholesale: 200.00 36.00 7200.00 Total units 300.00 Total Sales: 12075.00 Net Profit: Total sales – total costs = 5869.01 Net Profit/Acre: Not applicable Cost/Unit: 20.69 Total cost/total units Net Profit/Unit: 19.56 Net profit/total units Last edited by PureHarvest; April 19, 2016 at 10:53 AM.