Eastern VA. No such thing as too many Magnums. | Be glad you're not in the produce business this year. No commercial growers are bragging right now. This year has been a real kick in the teeth so far. I'll probably lose $250+ per acre on the whole 650 acres of sweet corn unless something really odd happens in the next 3 weeks. We're skipping harvest on a lot of acreage because it's so bad. But vegetables are like the wind, never know what next week will bring.
We have 3 full time salesman and we steer clear of brokers if possible. We deal with chains and primary vendors. Find a commercial grower and see if he will sell yours for a flat commission. We sell for about 15 other growers from Maryland to Florida. A strategic alliance is best, but I don't know what kind of acreage you're thinking of. Also, don't sell all your fancy stuff yourself and then try to get a broker to sell all your seconds. That will be bad for the relationship and won't make you money. Be aware that you can lose money in any kind of farming, but you can lose big money fast with vegetables. There are a lot of crooks and whores in the produce biz. If you think growing vegetables is going to be a sure money maker, a year like this will school you. Corn and beans are much more stable and at least you can insure them. |
Question to fruit and vegtable raisers
