Learned a valuable farm economics lesson today

JBMac · Jul 6, 2009

So, looks my venture into to small scale, locally sold vegetables is starting out as a failure. I've got 2 acres of Okra, very popular here in the South, and, prices are up $2.00 a half bushel. This morning myself and two high school kids picked an acre in three hours. Pods were in between: some were too big, the rest too small. We only managed a bushel of fancys. I was out- picking these two kids two rows to their one! Sent them home after telling them they were slow and getting outworked by a man twice their age! Took the okra into the market and got paid $20!! Only spent $40 on labor, plus mine (free), and $10 in fuel. By my math, I don't think this will work so well. The only way this will succeed is if I get some much faster pickers and "train" the okra to produce on a better schedule. Thought I'd share the first part of this saga. I'll keep ya'll posted as to how things move ahead.

Jahaze · Jul 6, 2009

The secret to adjusting to those losses is to add more volume (maybe plant 20 acres next year). At your rate, it will take many years to loose enough money to call yourself a "real" farmer.

big fred · Jul 6, 2009

Maybe you qualify for some stimulus money? ;o)

thurlow · Jul 6, 2009

Economy of scale, i.e., you gotta have more acres; local peddler went into the bank where my wife is COO; saw a loan officer, "Need to borrow some money for a truck". Officer said, well, explain what you're doing. "I've got this old one-ton truck; I drive down to Southern Mississippi, around Hattiesburg and buy a load of watermelons; bring 'em back home and peddle 'em on the side of the road; a load every 5 or 6 days." "What are you paying for 'em". "They're a dollar a melon, whether you buy one or ten thousand." "What are you selling them for?" "A dollar each, that's what everybody gets for 'em. I gotta get a bigger truck so I can haul more melons.........probably a 2-ton."

E.B. Haymakin' · Jul 6, 2009

I"m glad I"m not the only one that feels like I can"t make a go of anything, but thats why I never quit my day job. I can"t see where I"m making any money on my side projects either.

Jeff-oh · Jul 6, 2009

$2.00 for a half bushel??? Where are you selling on the wholesale market. To make it as a small producer you need to develop your own market for your premium local/organic product and sell directly to the consumer who'll pay a lot more than $2.00 a bushell and probally take a wider range of product. Are there local restruants that favor locally produced product where you can deliver fresh each morning as needed.

A local farmers market where you can sell a quart container for $2.00.

Sounds like your in the wrong competition game. Hired help keeping up to 1/2 the owners speed sounds like good help... Ain't no one gonna work as hard as you for your business. Instead of by the hour pay by the basket picked.

Have you talked to the local extension office for marketing ideas?

Best of luck to you... education is not always free.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 6, 2009

Was at one of my customers this morning he has growing 586 acres of okra here within 30 min of the shop said that was not his big operation somewhere in Mexico he grows over a thousand acres a year.. Lots of okra anyway you look at it.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 6, 2009

Consult your local ag extension office for free help.

I think you will need to pick daily to get more of your crop graded as "fancies". The stuff grows fast. Then you will need to figure out a way to sell at the retail or specialty level rather than at the wholesale level. Look around for a farmers market or a health food store that wants to sell fresh-picked fancy okra.

Larger producers sell to three major markets: frozen/canned food packers, fresh - grocery store wholesalers, and soup companies.

twopop · Jul 6, 2009

btdt.we used to raise vegetables on ten acres.had two 14 year olds that picked 2.40 worth in 4 hrs.
3years ago just before we quit we sold okra at our farm for 3.00lb and people glad to get it.

big fred · Jul 6, 2009

With business sense like that, he's just a tax evasion away from being named Commerce Secretary.

flying belgian · Jul 6, 2009

Welcome to farming.

WhiskyDog · Jul 6, 2009

Down here in northwest Georgia even the deer will give a buck and maybe some doe for okra. I try to sell it by the pound usually get a buck a pound..

Phil in Pa · Jul 6, 2009

Two things are critical, based on the farmers around me.

1) Sign up for government subsidies. (I've read the list, everyone that owns any acreage in the county is on it)

2) A 4 wheeler, roof, windshield, preferably camo.

Not sure how to help otherwise.

kyplowboy · Jul 6, 2009

You learned sevral lessons today, good help is hard to find and produce has to be picked in a timely manner. You might want to look into paying your pickers by the pound or bushel. Then it's a fixed cost and the same no matter how long they take. A good starting point would be to figure out how much you can pick in an hour and pay them $10 or $12 for picking that amount. Last few years I have not been able to find good tobacco barn labor for $10/hour.

Dave

redtom · Jul 6, 2009

I've been trying a similar venture with asparagus for 12 yrs. A half acre which can produce about 400 lbs @1.00/lb. Minus roundup, sevin, plus labor picking sometimes twice daily. I think I'm up to .50 hr for my time.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 6, 2009

The camo four wheeler is usually for a different sort of cash (only) crop. When did the gubmint start subsidizing cannabis?

Ron Anderson · Jul 6, 2009

Reminds me of the years we raised cucumbers. Sure went through a lot of kids. Seems like they just couldn't get it in their heads they could make some decent money but not by complaining about how hard work it was.
I finally hired some mexicans and thought that was a good deal until they harvested my garden too. After that Gerney quit picking them up where we hauled them. Ghent, Minn. Got to know the Silver Dollar quite well.

Walnutguy · Jul 6, 2009

Looking through some old Scientific American magazines (1880"s) I saw an article that really surprised me - showed what some grocery prices were, such as dozen eggs, milk, etc. and as a percent of a person"s income, prices were MUCH higher back then. In fact, some of that stuff was almost same price back then as it is now. Adjusted for inflation, a dozen eggs today is basically free.

No wonder you can"t make a living with a small farm anymore, forget about it.

GeneMO · Jul 7, 2009

Ya need a bigger truck!

Gene

GeneMO · Jul 7, 2009

Old farmer won 2 million in the state lottery. The local news channel interviewed him and the news babe asked him what he was going to do will all his winnings.

The old farmer thought awhile and finally said, "Well, I guess I'll just farm with it till it's all gone"

A true story, Gene

banjo · Jul 7, 2009

I sell okra $3.00 a quart at the farmers market.Sounds like you need to raise your price.I would'nt plant it for $2.oo a half bushel.

mtgummibear · Jul 7, 2009

Hey Ron your post made me smile. Spent many a young and reckless nights in Ghent going to Wedding Dances and when I was hold enough the bars.

Born and raised a few miles west and north of there between Green Valley and Cottonwood.

Don"t get home much since the folks have died so it"s good to feel nostalgic once and a while when I see a post from the home front so to speak.

Larry

Ron Anderson · Jul 7, 2009

Hi Larry, Graduated from Cottonwood in 63.
Lots of history in little town of Ghent- Rolle Bowle etc.

JBMac · Jul 7, 2009

Thanks for all the comments. I actually meant that the price went up $2.00 per half bushel, from $8 to $10. In high school, me and a buddy planted two acres of it on a dry lakebed and made plenty of gas money for the boat. It's still alot of work for $10! I think you guys are right about selling it by the pound. We have a big local farmers market here on Saturdays that is very busy. Booth set up is free (sponsored by the extension agency). The produce store that I sold mine to had a lower quality product inside for $3.00 per pound. That would make it worth $60 to me for a bushel or $30 for a half-bushel. By God we might be on to something!

Mike (WA) · Jul 7, 2009

Had a newspaper from 1938 awhile back- cut over timber land was selling for a dollar an acre for the stuff not suitable for clearing and farming. There were also some grocery store ads- so it turned out you could buy an acre for the price of 3 dozen oranges, or 5 boxes of Kellogg's All Bran cereal.

Kruse · Jul 7, 2009

We have a few farmers here that do pumpkins every year. A couple of weeks before Halloween, they open up their farms and the customers come to them. They have done this for many years and make a pretty good profit.

Learned a valuable farm economics lesson today

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