During the 2000 growing season, Organic Agrosystems Research at Summit Farm investigated the economic feasibility of growing lesser value crops using row cover technology for direct market sales (e.g. farmer’s market, PYO, farmstands, CSA). Armed with a need to expand our early sales, an idea to solve the problem and a small grant from the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture, we designed an on-farm applied research project.

After reviewing our farmers’ market sales records from the past few selling seasons, it was obvious we needed to make June a more active sales month. July, August, September, and October were relatively good sales months but June needed help. How could we boost our June sales? If we could offer a larger selection of vegetables, earlier in the season (when other vendors have a meager selection) we could possibly expand our sales and generate much-needed early income. The problem was to grow a greater variety of vegetable crops, earlier in the growing season. After evaluating some of the alternatives, row cover technology was chosen as the most cost-effective agrosystem to help solve this problem.
The growing of vegetable crops under row covers is not new, nor is it innovative. For many years, high-value crops such as melons and tomatoes have been successfully grown using row cover methods. The economic and environmental benefits of using this agrosystem to grow high-value crops is well documented. From an economic perspective, row covers are an added expense in both time and materials but these costs can be offset during most favorable growing seasons by producing earlier marketable crops with higher yields and improved quality. Sounds too good to be true? Well in fact, there are some drawbacks to using this fabric and, in my opinion, the inability to recycle this stuff leads the list in the problem department. The only salvation is to try and use the same material as many seasons as possible. This requires careful and gentle removal of the fabric from the field and includes storage in a location were further degradation does not occur.

With increasing numbers of consumers no longer having a seasonal concept of local food production and with supermarkets offering a wide array of fruits and vegetables all year long, consumers have become conditioned to expect the availability of out-of-season crops. We have all experienced customers asking for out-of-season fruits, vegetables, and flowers. This makes it very important for direct-market farmers to have an early selection of product containing both high and lesser valued crops and to begin selling at market as early as possible.

If a greater selection of vegetables in June would significantly help our early sales, why not grow lesser value crops under row covers to increase our sales selection? Lesser value crops do not command high unit prices and consequently, are not typically grown using the more expensive row cover methods. The crops of lesser value selected to be researched during the 2000 season were broccoli, kale, lettuce, onions, chard, cabbage, beets, and carrots.
Easier said than done. In the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts where Summit Farm is located, April is an inhospitable month for crop production outside of the greenhouse. So transplants were started in the greenhouse and scheduled to be planted outside in beds when the weather moderated. All of the research beds were transplanted except for the carrot bed which was direct seeded. Research beds were 150 feet long and contained 3 crop rows (16 inches apart). Each bed was created using the same methods and soil amendments as our standard vegetable production beds. The use of row cover fabric was the only difference between the standard and research beds. All of the research beds were more or less identical with one exception. The onion bed received wire hoops (constructed from #9 wire) over it to support the fabric and protect the somewhat delicate onion seedlings. This added an extra $13 (26 hoops @ $.50/hoop) and some hoop installation and removal time to the production costs of the onion bed. At farmers’ market, early season, fresh onions with sizable bulbs are in demand. The price charged for these early season onions reflected this demand and justified the extra production costs.

The bed creation and transplanting costs were a constant in this research. The variable costs included the purchase price of the row cover material and the added labor costs associated with its installation and removal. A 150-foot bed was covered with 83-inch-wide fabric at a cost of $23.50 per bed and a total installation time for two people of 15 minutes. Two-person installation was found to be faster and more efficient than a one-person placement, especially under windy conditions. Installation and removal costs will vary depending on the hourly wages of the employees doing the work. Both the placement and removal processes are relatively easy and require very little training.

The harvested crops from the research beds were sold at farmers’ market at retail prices. Records were kept as to the amount of a certain research crop that was sold at the market, the price per unit (e.g. pound, bunch, pint, etc.) and the date sold. The big monetary winners were the “cut and come again” crops like kale and chard. The chard bed with a 1 foot transplant spacing within the row produced $518.25 of early season revenues while kale with 2 feet between plants came in second at $396.00. Even though kale is not a great seller at our market, over the early season that one bed of kale did quite well. The other experimental beds produced about the same income as our standard production beds that were harvested later in the season. The costs (purchase price, installation and removal) associated with row cover technology is minimal compared to the potential revenues that can be generated through early season direct market sales.

How much is it worth to have a reputation for growing quality vegetables (flowers?) and offering them early in the season? In my opinion, the best method for small farmers to maximize profits is to directly sell their goods to the public. If small farmers use direct marketing venues, then the extra costs associated with using row covers to grow crops of lesser value can be justified.

How much is it worth to have an abundant display early in the season at a farmers’ market or other direct market? An abundant display with a wide variety from which to choose will surely catch the eye of many a potential customer. Hopefully, these new customers will be blinded by the abundant, expanded selection, and get caught in the web of quality produce, not to escape until the end of the selling season. Sounds like subversive selling to me and a good way to broaden your customer base.

Ed Stockman is a farmer-agrobiologist and director of Organic Agrosystems Research located in Plainfield, MA. He can be contacted at 413-634-5024