Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Viewers also liked
Viewers also liked (9)
Similar to The 10 Essentials To Profitable Urban Farming - Presented by Curtis Stone
Similar to The 10 Essentials To Profitable Urban Farming - Presented by Curtis Stone (20)
More from DiegoFooter
More from DiegoFooter (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
The 10 Essentials To Profitable Urban Farming - Presented by Curtis Stone
- 1. The 10 Essentials to Profitable Urban Farming Tweet! @greencityacres with Curtis Stone
- 2. The 10 Essentials to Profitable Urban Farming Tweet! @greencityacres with Curtis Stone
- 3. 1/3 acre (15K SF) Kelowna, BC
- 17. 1. Follow your ideology, but keep it in your back pocket
- 22. Small compromise with a huge effect!
- 23. 2. Be an early adopter!
- 24. 3. Start small, keep your overhead low!
- 25. 4. Source high grade information
- 26. 5. Focus on the tasks that pay
- 28. Avoid weeding! Be pro-active! Tarps Flame weeding Landscape fabric Stale seedbed
- 29. Stream line processing tasks
- 31. Optimize harvest time by harvesting on multiple days to spend less time processing
- 34. Crop Crop Type Quick or Steady Avg DTM from seed date DS/T R Bed Size Walk way width When to DS When to TRN Jang Roller EW Plate Rows /Bed TRN in row spacing inches Plugs/2 5' bed Plants/F oot Seed per 25' bed ML Seed per 25' bed Grm Avg Yield/ 25' bed total Avg Yield/ Ft. lbs or Bunch # of cuts / bed greens Profit per 25’ bed Profit per ft. Mtd. of Hrvst Market stream Res Pric per or un Arugula greens Q 35 ds 25 6"+ mar-oct - F24 - 9 - 30 21 20 0.8 lbs 1 - 3 $200 $8.00 QGH rest $ Bok choy veg Q 50 ds/tr 25 6"+ june apr-may, aug-sep - - 5 4 375.00 15.00 5 5 100 4 lbs - $300 $12.00 knife rest/mark Cilantro herbs Q 50 ds 12 6"+ apr-sep - G12 - 9 - 225 78 300 12 bunch 1 - 3 $600 $24.00 razor rest/mark Dill herbs Q 60 ds 12 6"+ apr-aug - MJ24 - 9 - 24 200 8 bunch 2 - 3 $400 $16.00 razor rest/mark Hakurei roots Q 38 ds 25 6"+ apr-sep - YYJ24 - 9 - 5 5 100 4 bunch - $300 $12.00 pick rest Lettuce greens Q 45 ds 25 6"+ mar-oct - F24 - 9 - 55 28 60 2.4 lbs 2 - 4 $540 $21.60 QGH rest/mark Lettuce Salanova greens Q 45 ds 25 6"+ mar-oct - - - 4 6 200.00 8.00 55 28 60 2.4 lbs 2 - 4 $540 $21.60 QGH rest/mark Mizuna (for mixes) greens Q 35 ds 25 6"+ mar-sep - F24 - 9 - 30 22 30 1.2 lbs 2 - 4 $270 $10.80 QGH rest/mark Mustard (for mixes) greens Q 35 ds 25 6"+ mar-sep - F24 - 9 - 70 46 30 1.2 lbs 2 - 4 $270 $10.80 QGH rest/mark Parsley herbs Q 70 ds 12 6"+ june-aug - MJ24 - 9 - 15 235 9.4 bunch 3 - 4 $470 $18.80 razor rest/mark Pea shoots (6' bed) micros Q 14 ds 25 6"+ may-sep - - - - - 2660 10 0.4 lbs - $150 $6.00 razor mark $ Pea shoots (flat) micros Q 14 ds 25 6"+ any - - - - - 332 0.85 0.034 lbs - $13 $0.51 razor mark $ Radish roots Q 28 ds 25 6"+ mar-sep - F24 - 7 - 30 20 80 3.2 bunch - $200 $8.00 pick rest Radish shoots (6' bed) micros Q 12 ds 25 6"+ may-sep - - - 12 - 700 532 8 0.32 lbs - $160 $6.40 razor rest/mark $ Radish shoots (flat) micros Q 12 ds 25 6"+ any - - - 12 - 80 56 1 0.04 lbs - $20 $0.80 razor rest/mark $ Red Russian Kale (baby) greens Q 40 ds 25 6"+ apr-sep - F24 - 9 - 25 17 40 1.6 lbs 4 - 6 $320 $12.80 QGH rest Spinach greens Q 45 ds 25 8"+ mar-oct - - chard 5 - 100 54 35 1.4 lbs 1 - 3 $245 $9.80 knife rest/mark Sun shoots (6' bed) micros Q 12 ds 25 6"+ may-sep - - - 12x3 - 1360 10 0.4 lbs - $150 $6.00 razor mark $ Sun shoots (flat) micros Q 12 ds 25 6"+ any - - - 12x3 - 170 1 0.04 lbs - $15 $0.60 razor mark $ Tatsoi (for mixes) greens Q 35 ds 6"+ mar-may, sep-oct - F24 - 9 - 25 17 30 1.2 lbs 2 - 4 $270 $10.80 QGH rest/mark Basil herbs S 70 tr/ds 25 1'+ july-aug apr-jun YYJ24 - 4 4 300.00 12.00 6 6 25 1 lbs - $250 $10.00 pick rest/mark $ Beet Greens (for mixes) greens S 40 ds 25 8"+ may-aug - - chard 7 - 180 83 30 1.2 lbs 4 - 6 $240 $9.60 pick rest Beets (Golden) roots S 72 ds/tr 25 8"+ june-aug apr-may - chard 4 3 400.00 16.00 196 90 150 6 bunch - $450 $18.00 pick rest Beets (Red) roots S 68 ds/tr 25 8"+ june-aug apr-may - chard 4 3 400.00 16.00 180 84 150 6 bunch - $450 $18.00 pick rest Carrots (baby-medium) roots S 70 ds 25 1'+ apr-aug - XY24 - 7 - 15 7 75 3 lbs - $200 $8.00 fork rest Kale greens S 80 tr 25 1'+ - apr/aug - - 3 10 90.00 3.60 - 115 4.6 lbs - $575 $23.00 pick market Summer Squash veg S 60 tr 25 18"+ - may - - 1 18 16.67 0.67 - 80 3.2 lbs - $320 $12.80 pick rest Scallion veg S 70 ds/tr 25 6"+ may- apr F24 - 3 0.00 0.00 35 15 75 3 lbs - $600 $24.00 fork rest/mark Swiss chard greens S 65 tr 25 1'+ - apr - - 3 10 90.00 3.60 - 65 2.6 lbs - $325 $13.00 knife rest Tomatoes (Cherry) veg S 145 tr 25 18"+ - may - - 1 10 30.00 1.20 - 180 7.2 lbs - $720 $28.80 pick rest Tomatoes (Oxheart) veg S 165 tr 25 18"+ - may - - 1 10 30.00 1.20 - 330 13.2 lbs - $825 $33.00 pick rest $ Tomatoes (San Marzano) veg S 172 tr 25 18"+ - may - - 1 10 30.00 1.20 - 138 5.52 lbs - $414 $16.56 pick rest Spread sheets
- 35. F. Market & Restaurants Crop Product Category Value Unit Mar 30-Apr 5 6 - 12 13 - 19 20 - 26 Apr 27 - May 3 # $ Lbs. # $ Lbs. # $ Lbs. # $ Lbs. # $ Lbs. Ancient Blend (MRK) sprouts $2.50 0.25 20 $50.00 20 $50.00 20 $50.00 20 $50.00 20 $50.00 Arugula Arugula greens $10.00 1 0 $0.00 20 20 20 30 Arugula Spicy Mix (MRK) greens $2.50 0.25 Arugula Spring Mix (Rest) greens $9.00 1 Arugula (MRK) Arugula greens $2.50 0.25 0 36 36 36 36 Basil herbs $10.00 1 0 Basil (MRK) herbs $2.50 0.25 0 0 0 0 0 Beet Greens (for mixes) Spring Mix (Rest/MRK) greens $2.50 0.25 0 Beet Greens (for mixes) (MRK) Spring Mix (Rest/MRK) greens $9.00 1 0 Beets (Red) roots $3.00 0.75 0 Beets (Golden) roots $3.00 0.75 0 Beets (Red) (MRK) roots $3.00 0.75 0 Beets (Golden) (MRK) roots $3.00 0.75 0 Bok choy veg $1.25 0.25 0 100 Bok choy (MRK) veg $2.50 0.5 0 40 Broccoli Sprouts (MRK) sprouts $2.50 0.1875 20 20 20 20 20 Carrots (baby-medium) roots $4.00 1 0 Carrots (baby-medium) (MRK) roots $3.00 0.75 0 Carrots (rainbow) roots $4.00 1 0 Carrots (rainbow) (MRK) roots $3.00 0.75 0 Crop Plan (Base plan)
- 36. Planting dates Date (M/D) Crop Location (plot/sg#/bed#) Crop Variety Bed Size NS, PT, DS, TR TRN Date (M/D) DOE (M/D) DTH (M/D) DTM Bed Rows Plug # Seed Vol. Seed Wgt. notes 2015/03/04 arugula tunnel 2 50 ds 2015/03/06 2015/04/06 2015/05/07 64d 11 jang f-24 2014/03/04 hakurei tunnel 1 50 ds 9 jang-xy-24. 2014/03/04 lettuce tunnel 2 25 ds 9 jang f-24 2014/03/04 lettuce tunnel 2 50 ds 9 jang f-24 2014/03/04 mizuna tunnel 2 25 ds 9 jang f-24 2014/03/04 mustard tunnel 2 25 ds 11 jang f-24 2014/03/04 radish ee tunnel 1 50 ds 4 jang mj-24 2014/03/04 radish fb tunnel 1 50 ds 3 jang mj-24 2014/03/04 red russian tunnel 2 50 ds 11 jang f-24
- 37. Date Crop Location (plot/sg#/bed#) Yield lbs./bun Area/Flat s Hrv. Yield Ratio (fl/ft) Crop # Date Planted DTH Notes 2014/04/10 arugula mels 2/5 7.25 25 0.29 2014/03/05 36d 2014/04/10 crunchy bean 7 2014/04/10 kale 14.25 2014/04/10 lettuce 24 2014/04/10 spicy mix 7 2014/04/10 sun shoots 17 15 1.13 2014/04/17 arugula tunnel 2/1 25.25 25' 101.75 Yields
- 38. Date Customer Items Order Units Short Unit Oz's Unit Wgt Lbs. Total Weight Lbs Price Value Unsold Product Units sold Profit Loss Total Sold Category (LO,TR) Notes 2015/4/5 resto sale spinach 4 4 0 6 2.5 10 $17.50 $70.00 $70.00 2015/4/5 resto sale spring mix 6 5 1 6 2.5 12.5 $22.50 $112.50 $112.5 0 2015/4/5 resto sale radish 40 34 6 8 0.5 17 $2.50 $85.00 $85.00 2015/4/5 resto sale arugula 2 2 0 6 2.5 5 $25.00 $50.00 $50.00 2015/4/5 resto sale total sale $317.5 0 $317.50 short on spring mix and radish 2015/4/1 farmers market 1 spinach 50 6 0.35 17.5 $2.50 $125.00 13 37 $92.50 $32.5 0 2015/4/1 farmers market 1 spring mix 100 4 0.25 25 $2.50 $250.00 20 80 $200.0 0 $50.0 0 bringing too much 2015/4/1 farmers market 1 radish 40 8 0.5 20 $2.50 $100.00 10 30 $75.00 $25.0 0 2015/4/1 farmers market 1 arugula 65 4 0.25 16.25 $2.50 $162.50 5 0 $0.00 $162. 50 bring more next week 2015/4/1 farmers market 1 total sale $367.5 0 $367.50 123.25 $270. 00 $685.00 Date Customer Items Order Units Short Unit Oz's Unit Wgt Lbs. Total Weight Lbs Price Value Unsold Product Units sold Profit Loss Total Sold Category (LO,TR) Notes 2015/4/10 farmers market 2 (plan) arugula 80 4 0.25 20 $2.50 $200.00 $0.00 $200. 00 2015/4/7 resto sale on order arugula 2 2 0 6 2.5 5 $25.00 $50.00 $50.00 2015/4/10 farmers market 2 (plan) radish 40 8 0.5 20 $2.50 $100.00 $0.00 $100. 00 2015/4/7 resto sale on order radish 40 40 0 8 0.5 20 $2.50 $100.00 $100.0 0 2015/4/10 farmers market 2 (plan) spinach 50 6 0.35 17.5 $2.50 $125.00 $0.00 $125. 00 2015/4/7 resto sale on order spinach 4 4 0 6 2.5 10 $17.50 $70.00 $70.00 2015/4/10 farmers market 2 (plan) spring mix 90 4 0.25 22.5 $2.50 $225.00 $0.00 $225. 00 2015/4/7 resto sale on order spring mix 6 6 0 6 2.5 15 $22.50 $135.00 $135.0 0 2015/4/10 farmers market 2 (plan) total sale $205.0 0 $205.00 2015/4/7 resto sale on order total sale $410.0 0 $410.00 Weekly Orders
- 41. 7. Focus on high yield crops and market streams
- 42. Crops better suited for the city should have at least 3 of these 1. DTM (85 or less) 2. Yield (high per square foot) 3. Price (higher per Lb. or unit) 4. Season (longest harvest period possible) 5. Popularity Crop Value Rating (CVR)
- 43. High Value market streams 1. 2. 3. 4.
- 44. 8. Organize crops and land by zones
- 45. The Land Hierarchy Hi-Rotation Bi-Rotation 2 rotations / season Average $400 / bed 3-6 rotations / season Average $800 / bed $20,000 in 2000 square feet. On average $10 / square foot of area. More constant labour. $10,000 in 2000 square feet. On average $5 / square foot of area. Far less constant labour. Zoning your farm
- 47. 9. Diversify your products and or market streams
- 48. 10. Develop systems that can be easily replicated and taught
- 49. Photo credit Andrew T. Barton www.profitableurbanfarming.com $50 off the online course if you purchase a $35 PUF data package. Course launch price $497 email curtis@theurbanfarmer.co for your discount
- 50. Web: greencityacres.com Twitter & Instagram: @greencityacres Youtube: theurbanfarmer.co Email: curtis@theurbanfarmer.co Facebook: facebook.com/greencityacres
Editor's Notes
- Start timer by clicking next
- Very exited to be here… thank you Diego and all the volunteers… These are my best 10 tips for helping you be more successful with small or urban farming “First, just a little introduction…”
- BLAST THROUGH THESE! 10 mins or less Brief on GCA and what I do. 5 urban plots, 1/3 acre. $80,000 in an 8 month season Total of 60 man hours/week to run farm I teach a method called Profitable Urban Farming - Online course coming out this month, and a book call “The Urban Farm” out in November With this system it’s possible to make $120,000 / half acre with 2 experienced full time people - I’ve consulted for dozens of farmers over the years, and the main things I see people struggle with is business development, marketing, and profitable production
- 5ii. Satellite farms Standardization of layout Standards for plot zones
- I live on a quarter acre lot
- Path to growth. year 4, near 250k in sales, 8 staff, exceeded demand…
- early spring; by hand for poly low tunnels, or peel back the tunnels in the late day to run sprinklers. Cover afterwards spring time; morning, 2 times a week, depending on weather summer; evening, every day, but not the night before I harvest greens. I may offset that day to harvest late morning.
- employee hours
- talk about focusing in on the top crops and market streams. worked less, made more money…
- Talk about picture Hard line stance on your ideology is the biggest barrier to making a good living farming for farmers like us. - Ideology in back pocket. When I started my farm, I did it strictly by bikes…turned beds by hand, no plastic, made all my own fertility.. Physical breakdown
- this ideology worked well for marketing
- A small compromise
- Talk about picture (hand digging every bed) - As farmers, we can’t solve all the worlds problems at once… keeps you from getting started. A-B not A-Z
- I can turn over 50 beds in less than a day hand digging those would take a week I only till in the spring
- Go to places where nobody else is doing it - There’s never been a better time to get into urban ag, or even farming in general. So much land out there, so few farmers. Less than 2% of North Americans are directly involved in farming, where 80 years ago, it was 50% Average age of farmer in North America is around 60. There’s not enough farmers getting in, to replace those leaving. This is basic supply and demand economics. The world needs more farmers, and food prices will inevitably go up for this basic reason. Forget everything about peak oil, climate change, and diminishing arable land, lack for farmers in an indisputable fact! Supply and demand maybe the biggest factor on how prices are set in the market place. - Huge marketing advantage with urban and small farms. They’re unique. “People want to hear your story, share it often, talk about what you do, and you’ll get better at it.”
- avoid debt if you can. A half acre urban farm can be started on as little as $7000, that’s what I started with grow incrementally, and recapitalize as you go. Scale your farm to market demand. Don’t expand on what you think the market will bare. Grow when you actually see demand change. Sweet spot between expansion and profit margins. You always want to have just a little more demand than you can meet. Mention my expansion to 2.5 acres, then to 1/3 acre. Labour, gas guzzling vehicles, and inefficient equipment, can eat up your profits very fast - To start, best suited for owner/operators. “Once you have enough demand to grow, more labour will be necessary, but not so much at the beginning”
- “You don’t have to to go to university to learn to farm” expedite your learning curve. “Other’s have suffered on your behalf, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel” Find mentors. Local farmers, conventional and organic. Conventional farmers still know a lot about your bioregion, plant and pest cycles as well as production. Don’t disregard conventional farmers as ignorant, they still have a lot of valuable knowledge to share. Organic growers know more about soil biology - Pay for consulting from people who are where you want to be down the road. Paying for $1000 of consulting can save you thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of wasted time
- 85% needed for good quality. 15% glass of water fills up from the tap. I used to work myself into the ground by setting unrealistic expectations.. most people can’t tell the difference between 85-100%.
- Spend most of your time on harvesting, planting, and marketing. These tasks have an easily measurable yield. If I plant these beds, I can expect to sell them for this much…, If I harvest these beds of lettuce, I can expect yield this amount.., and if I deliver to this many restaurants, or spend 6 hours at a farmers market, I can make this much…
- - Spend less time on weeding by using proactive methods for dealing with them before they become a problem. Stale seed beds, using tarps for smothering, landscape fabric for perimeters, and flame weeders. With all these combined, you should barely ever have to pull weeds. Our farm spends less than 8 hours a season pulling or managing weeds. Deal with them before they become a problem and always get them before they go to seed!
- Automate tasks like spinning, and processing greens. Modified washing machines and drying tables
- Don’t waste time thinning! This does not pay. If you have to, sell your thinnings. “micro carrots, micro turnips, and beets. Market to high end restaurants.” With accurate densities, your yields are predicable and consistent
- multiple days to harvest. Using coolers. - Avoid harvesting greens when they’re wet. Harvest radishes and turnips when they’re ready to optimize yield. (if you wait too long, you sometimes will get less yield from pithy veggies) Micro’s like sun shoots need to be harvested at optimum times for the best yield
- Use appropriate technology to expedite all tasks retaining to operations. Walk-behind tractors, seeders, and electric greens harvester! These tools allow me to quicken the tasks that pay
- “you can’t manage what you don’t measure.”
- spread sheet applications. Tracking yields, planting, and market shortages. Use this information to better speculate on future trends Track your work flow. How long does it take you to do each task. Important at the beginning - The better you track your work, the better you can set benchmarks for those you may employ in the future.
- 9.vi. Record keeping
- Digital photography and voice memos I take pictures, and record voice memos every day. make a habit of logging those memos and photos in spread sheets.
- Google sketch up
- “I know this isn’t the most ideological avenue for a lot of people, but if you can get a better price, and sell more, you’re better leveraging your efforts. That translates into less work, more profit, and ultimately a better quality of life. If you don’t, someone else will”
- Exercise: Make a list of 10 crops you grow or want to grow, and rate them with this list, then see how they stand. 5 crop characteristics; DTM, high yield per square foot, higher price, long seasonality, popularity.
- - DC market streams; in order of value, least amount of effort for highest margins (my experience) Restaurants, distributors, farmers markets, CSA’s.
- organize by crop type and level of involvement. “Similar to the permaculture zoning system, the crops that need less daily work, can be further in your network”. Hi & Bi Rotation plots - Quick and Steady crops
- Hi-rotation plots are always the closest to the base of operations, this reduces time in transit
- Your farm: plots positioned to level of involvement (Hi or Bi-intensity) Your city: your proximity to markets; restaurants, farmers markets, CSA drop points Your needs: Where you live, supply stores “This concept is actually nothing new at all”
- If you have less market streams, diversify your crops. “the less market streams you have, you need to try and be more of a One Stop Shop for people, to get more leverage out of your customers” If you have less market crops, diversify your market streams “The less variety you have, you need to bring those crops to more customers because you can’t be a One Stop Shop for customers”.
- make it easy and fast for people to help you “The more simple and easily you can communicate your systems, the faster you can get people up and running and into production. Employees are an investment, and the more prepared you are for them, the faster your investment will bring you a return for your efforts” - 85% is good enough for employee’s. When you are first starting with employees, have them only do measurable tasks.