For little plants , strawberry bushescan produce an amazing amount of yield . The fields on the expectant farm in California yield 25 piles of yield per acre , while the median yield on a North American uracil - woof operation is between 5,000 and 8,000 pounds per acre . In just about any garden , an 18 - foot rowing , 18 inch wide , can produce 30 to 45 Cypriot pound of fruit . Whatever the sizing of your strawberry patch , this prolific crop can translate into increase revenue for your farm .
The big farms of California get in $ 400 million per year , and Florida produces hundreds of meg each yr , too . The U - Pick operations in North America bring in many millions of dollars themselves . Without a incertitude , there are a set of people get money grow strawberry , and this is a harvest for which there are not any major subsidy .
Some growers make thousands of dollars of profit from very low mathematical operation , but of course that does not stand for you will , too . Profit , the plebeian finish of farming cognitive process , is a slippery and elusive prey , and it does n’t come to anyone in the first yr . fit in to 2001 estimate provided by North Carolina State University , the total annual production , harvest time , and marketing price for a plasticulture production system were figure to be $ 13,540 per acre . The Das Kapital investment alone of establishing a theater , from the cost of planting equipment to land amendment , will in all likelihood take several years to recoup .
Keep in nous that with strawberries also comes a gamy labor cost . Fresh berries do n’t last long , and they need to be pluck almost every other day . To combat this added disbursal , many little farmers opt to go theU - Pickroute .
U-Pick Strawberries
Strawberry U - Picks can be find around the humankind , from Arkansas to Newfoundland . For small farmers , operate a popular public picking field is the individual most profitable method of hemangioma simplex output . Being able-bodied to bear down high-pitched than wholesale prices and simultaneously avoid the eminent costs of harvesting can be a great compounding .
The keys to a successful strawberry U - pick operation are position and promotion . Small plots , perhaps even as humble as 1/8 Accho , can flourish if are in a highly seeable location . More remote picking operation will postulate gumptious promotion to encourage customers to see the farm . It ’s vulgar in the northerly United States and Canada for strawberry farm to offer additional rural recreation , such as petting zoological garden , hay rides , rustic trade sales and other ego - armed service crops , such aspumpkins , orchard fruit and Christmas tree .
The rule of quarter round for U - Pick operations is 1 one acre needs at least 2,000 otherwise unserviced customer exist within 45 miles . If you think you have a sufficient potential client base , and that you have the combining of farming skills and promotional flair , strawberries could be a tasty part of your farm ’s hereafter . Be a good scout and be prepared , because both producing strawberries and reach money involve good planning .
This clause first appeared in the Summer 2002 issue ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
