Long long response

Posted by ShepFL on January 17, 2008 at 15:29:51 from (155.14.81.5):

In Reply to: O/T What would you farm on 25 acres? posted by JBMac on January 17, 2008 at 07:59:21:

FWIW here are my long winded observations and comments.

I was in very similar situation 4 yrs ago. I have since diversified - I am now into 2nd year of CSA, silviculture (planted pines for pulp & saw lumber) and aquaculture (catfish pond = $1.00 / lb of fish caught).

Given all the haying equipment you have you may just want to stay with that and do square bales for the horse crowd. If you just want to keep the Ag Exemption with out much labor consider leasing as pasture or pulp wood. On the other hand if you are close enough I am looking for my local tractor club to to install a Corn Maize for annual BSA fund raiser. :D Then end of yr. we could all chop and sell the silage for rent of the land.

Back To The Topic

I tried the U-PICK and unless you live next to major hard road FORGET IT! BTDT! Majority of the public is VERY LAZY! They will not come and pick your veggies - they want you to grow it, pick it, clean it and then deliver it. One year I had to plow under 10 acres of sweet corn. Beyond that you cannot anticipate the public's appetite for fresh produce and trying to grow only small amounts dilutes your focus not including the additional time for each component.

If you still insist on doing a U-PICK focus on select an item like Blueberries. They grow well in N. FL acidic soil and require little maintenance and little tillage work. Easy picking and you can sell by the pound. Good family fun also.

Next I tried CO-OP for local neighboring families and it was mildly successful. Had some exposure due to 3 families dropping out. Risk here is that if you have a bad crop year (drought, flood, etc) you are still on the hook for delivery. Guess what - that corn or watermelon you thought you were going to sell for $3 ears is now going to cost you the current market value on top of all your existing labor and growing costs just to meet your original CO-OP customer obligations. Same thing applies to subscription farming - bad yr. leaves you exposed for replacement crops at market value and if popular item low supply equals higher costs. One bad season can really dampen your desires.

What is working for me is CSA. This is Consumer Supported Agriculture. Google it on the web and you will get lots of information. The County Extension Offices are also great resources. Also use this link for FL specific production http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu If you can get your hands on a Vegetable Production Handbook for Florida published by University of Florida-IFAS Extension, Gainesville, Florida - it may be available thru CitrusandVegetable.com

The CSA concept and practice is to get customers that want to share with you the production costs and labor of raising crops they specifically desire. You provide the land, tractor and grow only what your customers pre-pay for i.e. X lbs of fresh produce weekly for family of 4. This approach mitigates the traditional risk with "truck farming" because the customers understand that if it is a bad year it is a bad year for all. We all share the loss not just the producer. If it is a good year I get to play with my tractors, play in the dirt (theraputic stress relief for me :D ) and customers get farm fresh seasonal produce on a weekly basis.

My day job is Sr. Mgmt for IT firm and I have a niche market due to all the Hindu Indian and Singaporeans. They get a kick out of coming to "farm" and helping out during harvest time; some just pay extra for weekly delivery. To improve my marketing approach this yr. I have swapped web design & hosting for produce. I hope to get an interactive web site and I get to focus on grow the veggies!

My Hindu/Asian customers have already pre-paid for first session 2008. Majority of what they want is squash flowers and their traditional herbs (exotic to me). Herbs are generally very easy to grow and they will pay premium prices - I sell in clear little clamshells for $5.00 per shell. As the yr. progress we move into eggplant, peppers (HOT and mild), snake squash, fresh beans, field peas and okra aka Lady Fingers and punkins.

Last year I brought in sweet corn and the Indians went NUTS over it, they are used to traditional corn i.e. Indian corn aka maize etc. used for flour. They never had it before. Not much call for spuds or tomatoes but I love them so we grow alot of them for canning. See this link for veggie producton in FL http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VH021

Another twist I am adding this year is planting for cut flowers Zinnias, Gladiolus, Sunflower, Butterfly Weed and Blue Spiraea hoping to sell to CSA customers and local florists before Mother's Day. Got the idea from County Ext. Office as I was thinking meat goats but I don't have the time to do build fences, etc.

On the subject of ORGANIC -

If you do consider 100% ORGANIC it is a very lengthy and expensive path to get certified. Your Ext. Agent can give you more details on the levels of ORGANIC. (see this link http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/CV/CV11800.pdf)

This yr. I am working on +70% Organic due to split farm production i.e. organic and convential products. While ORGANIC demands higher market prices you need to expect heaps and heaps of admin work, more labor and equipment time in the field until you get your practices "dialed in" not to mention the "blemished" produce and reduced yields. The benefits are I can label and sell CSA products as ORGANIC per NOP rules. While this is a tough road the returns are better than average for reasons I really don't understand - perhaps the "greening" cycle we are going thru as a nation.

So there you have it from one N. Florida part time grower to another. I am in Sanderson, FL. Where are you? My email is greg underscore sheppard at APL dot com if I can help any.

Good Luck and Keep the Faith!

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