Achieving Profitability with Fruits and Vegetables

An important step in building a successful farm business is to take time and analyze the profitability of each of your marketing channels. The end of the growing season is a good time to calculate the net return for each sales outlet, and make decisions for the following year. Experienced farmer and educator Ryan Pesch will share some tips for evaluating your farm’s market channels, and he’ll help beginning farmer Natasha Hegmann think about her sales outlets after her first two growing seasons.

• Natasha Hegmann owns and operates Turkey River Farm near Elkport, Iowa, with her partner Peter Kerns. She grows vegetables for a delivery CSA, farmer’s market, restaurants, and a market-style CSA. She is completing her second year farming on her own.
• Ryan Pesch grows certified organic vegetables at Lida Farm near Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, with his wife Maree. He sells his produce through local farmer’s markets, an on-farm stand, a nearby grocery store and to the local school. Ryan is also an extension educator in community economic development.