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| A lot of specialty crops I’ve done consulting on have a sweet spot date for big dollars and missing it is largely out of your control.
Say watermelons, you need to have them shipped in time for July 4th week sales in stores. If you hit that window with a picking it’s 2 pickings of money easily. But plant too early and freeze may get em. Plant too late and they won’t be ready. Just have the wrong weather and they are slow there’s not a thing you can do.
Pumpkins are similar but there’s no market if your late and they may be in decline if your early.
Input costs aren’t as big of a deal with specialty crops. You have huge profit potential compared to commodity crops. There’s more emphasis on sound agronomy so you have the crop to sale. Having a good relationship with your broker is the most important aspect of marketing. The price of a specialty crops can vary wildly based on quality so having trust in your broker is everything. I’ve seen guys ship watermelons thinking .20/lb and getting .06 just because they weren’t dealing with honest folks.
Edit to add. Having labor available when needed can be huge also. Do you need a hoe crew? Planting crew, Harvest crews, and so on.
Edited by SamT 9/19/2025 11:32
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What’s your process for selling, buying inputs, or risk calls in specialty crops?
