Posts Tagged: cost

Spanish Translation of the New Cost and Return Study for Strawberries on the Central Coast Now Available

We've just completed a Spanish translation of the the newest UC ANR sample cost and return study on conventional strawberry and attached it here.

Gracias a professional translator sine pari Diego Celes of Transagro, we have a clear, easily readable and super accessible translation, so even more people can take advantage of the valuable information presented in this cost and return study.

I am really, very, very happy to have been able to do this.

Hat tip to colleague Laura Tourte, who decided that we should do this and made it happen.

Spanish translation of new cost and return study for strawberries on the Central Coast now available.

New Cost and Return Study Now Available: Sample Costs to Produce and Harvest Strawberries

We've just completed the newest UC ANR sample cost and return study on conventional strawberry and attached it here.

Giant effort on the part of colleague Laura Tourte along with Jeremy Murdock and Daniel Sumner from the Agricultural Issues Center with UC ANR.

HUGE round of applause for the growers who worked with us to true our work - many hours spent poring over this document with so much great advice and input.  Thanks all!!

Document is posted below, crack it open and learn what it takes these days to grow and harvest a crop of conventional strawberries on the Central Coast with all of the new challenges included and updated.

 

Cost and return study for conventional strawberries now available.

Is Miracle Gro a Viable Alternative for Fertility in Strawberry?

This question was floated at our recent Plant Nutrient lunch.  In view of the fact that Miracle Gro is such a great fertilizer in home gardens and similar settings, would it be worth the while to use it in strawberries?  Excellent solubility, fast plant response, good concentrations of the macronutrients and a complete diet of micronutrients to boot.

Going to the 2011 Cost and Return study for strawberries, we see that total nitrogen use for strawberries is 140 lbs, consisting of 500 lbs of 18-8-13 slow release and another 350 lbs of CAN17 (by the way this is NOT a recommendation for fertilizer use in strawberries, these two materials are simply to be used as a general guide to obtain cost information).  In order to obtain the same level of nitrogen out of Miracle Gro (24-8-16), we would need to use 625 lbs which, since it is a soluble fertilizer, would be injected through the drip tape and spread over the life of the crop.  

Total cost of 18-6-13 pre-plant and CAN17 works out to be $488, or 1% of the total operating cost per acre to produce strawberries.  Miracle Gro, on the other hand, retails for $20 per 10 lb carton on Amazon (checked Alibaba, more expensive at $11.55 - 13.55 per 5 lb carton, minimum 40 carton pallet out of Malaysia from what seemed to be sort of a sketchy operation), meaning our total cost would be $1166 (0.24 x 583 lbs = 140 lbs; 583 lbs x $2 per lb = $1,166) or 4% of the total operating cost for an acre of berries.  

It is hard to believe that the plant response to Miracle Gro, even if markedly improved over current practices, will make it anything worth the near 3x rise in cost, so it is probably not worth the while to pursue this idea any further.

What about Miracle Gro as a fertilizer for strawberries?

Organic Cost and Return Study Now Available

We proudly announce the posting of our newest addition to the cost and production studies for berries on the Central Coast.  Following some extensive review of grower practices, costs and returns, including some seriously close scrutiny and input by local experts, this study on organic fresh market strawberries is now ready.

First go to

http://coststudies.ucdavis.edu/current.php

and then scroll down to organic, fresh market strawberries for Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties.

 

 

The newest organic fresh market strawberry cost and return study is now available from UCCE.

Fresh Market Blackberry Cost and Return Study Now Available from UC Cooperative Extension

The new edition of "Sample Costs to Establish and Produce Fresh Market Blackberries Study" is now available from UCCE. 

http://coststudies.ucdavis.edu/files//2013/09/30/blackberrycc2013.pdf

This is another great cost and return study in berries authored by Laura Tourte, Rich De Moura, Karen Klonsky, and yours truly.   

We certainly weren't in alone in writing this study, and this work could not have been accomplished without the substantial input and contributions from local blackberry growers - thank you all!

 

2013 Cost and Return Study now available for fresh market blackberries on the Central Coast.

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