Crop Planning Step 1 & 2

Instructions
AGRI 3 : MARKET GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE
MANAGEMENT
Basic Steps to Crop Planning
Project
1. Set Your Financial Goals
2. Develop a Marketing Plan
3. Make Field Planting Schedules
4. Create Crop Maps
5. Choose Vegetable Varieties and Finalize Planting Schedule
6. Generate Greenhouse Schedules
7. Fill Out a Seed Order
8. Make a Field Operations Calendar
 Crop Planning Project: Step 1
Step 1: Financial Goals – Read Chapter 1 in COG Book
1. Plan your Income (gross sales)
How much money can you make growing vegetables? Need to consider what you can realistically grow and
how much money you can make from the sale of those vegetables through the specific markets you choose!
2. Plan your Salary (retained earnings). Each "farmer" within this crop plan needs to make a minimum of an
$10,000 salary for this first year of production. So, if you have two people in your group you need to plan for a
minimum of $20,000 as your retained earnings. Would that be enough for you to live off of?
3.Plan your expenses … you don't need to go into detail for this for this project. What you do need to know is
that in start-up market gardens your expenses are relative to retained earnings.
So, if you want to earn $20,000 you should plan for about $20,000 in total expenses during this first year.
Therefore, when you add these together, you would need to produce enough vegetables through your two
marketing channels to create $40,000 in gross sales (income).
Crop Planning Project:
Step 1: Financial Goals
Items $ %
Gross Income

Expenses

Retained Earnings for Farmers (your salary)

Net Income = Gross Income- (Expenses + Retained Earnings)
Matching Step 1 to Step 2 –
Develop a Marketing Plan

We need to create a simplified marketing plan:

 GOAL: to match your GROSS income (completed in step 1) to
your
 Sales Projections Total (end of step 2)
 we will quantify both, and match them up
 Ideally your sales projections total should be about 10% (+/-) higher than
your GROSS income

 THEN, we use the Sales Projection Total to determine weekly harvest targets
 IDENTIFYING DISTRIBUTION
Step 2, Part A.
METHODS

A: 


This can be a big step for year 1 farms
Researching which distribution is best for
Identifying your operation takes time
 And then, after deciding on distribution
Distribution methods, you then need to narrow down …

Methods
 Exactly what Farmers Market to attend
 What style of CSA you want to manage
 Identifying restaurants, you can work with
 Trying to line up wholesale contract, with a
small retail outlet, aggregator etc.
 How to manage your farm gate sales
 A. IDENTIFYING DISTRIBUTION METHODS

Step 2, Part For our CPP we are taking a simplified

approach: The Crop Production Plan (CPP) is
limited to 1 farmers’ market and 1 wholesale
A: Identifying account

Distribution This was to (hopefully) get you thinking about a

“blended marketing” approach – using both direct
and indirect sales
Methods for You will need to decide which specific farmers

CPP market and specific wholesale account you

are going to be building you crop plan
around.
Do your research into regional farmer's markets
and potential wholesale options (remember you
can refer to lecture materials as well to help you
out.
 IDENTIFYING DISTRIBUTION
Step 2, Part A: A.
METHODS

Identifying Next, divide your GROSS income (step 1)

between your distribution methods

Distribution How can you know this ahead of time?

Sales forecasting in year1 most difficult
Methods
Can always circle back and re-adjust in just a
little bit
Step 2, Part B:
Deciding on a Product List

DECIDING ON A PRODUCT LIST

This, also, can be a big step for year 1 farms
Researching which products are best for your operation also takes time
 Consider equipment needs, storage facilities, season extension options
 Consider farm diversity and ‘farm flow’
 Weekly harvests? Monthly harvests? Seasonal harvests? Year-round?
 Determine potential profitability of each crop
 Consider the needs or the type of customers you are selling to
 ‘Value added’ considerations?
 Most start-ups try to do too much too soon
Step 2, Part B:
Deciding on a Product List

DECIDING ON A PRODUCT LIST FOR YOUR SPECIFIC MARKET

CHANNELS
For our CPP we will streamline this step
Plan to grow 10- 12 annual fruits, vegetables or herbs only
No garlic, no perennials, no shrubs/trees
Keep it simple for your first time through
 Step 2, Part B:
Deciding on a Product List

Some helpful hints…​

• Select fruits/vegetables from a variety of plant families (pages 106-to-111)​that have

diverse temperature preferences.
• This will make crop rotation easier and extend the time you can have produce ready. ​
• For your Farmers Market, you will need products from May to November (give or take – look
up the dates of operation for your chosen farmer's market.
• You will need to have at least 3 products ready weekly for Farmers market, because
having just one thing ready on a farmer's market table does not look good.
• Appendix A of COG book, pages 106 to 111, is loaded with useful information​
• Vegetables, crop families, planting schedules, harvesting schedules​
 Step 2, Part B:
Deciding on a Product List

Be specific about your products

Avoid naming specific varieties (although it is helpful to be aware of potential varieties
that you may want to grow … no ‘bloomsdale spinach’ or ‘cherry belle radish’.
This will come later...
Not just ‘spinach’ … but … ‘baby-cut spinach’ or ‘mature spinach’
Not just ‘radish’ … but … ‘spring radish’ or ‘winter storage radish’
Not just ‘tomato’ … but … ‘cherry tomato’ or ‘paste tomato’ or ‘beefsteak tomato’
Not just ‘lettuce’ … but … ‘head lettuce’ or ‘mixed baby cut lettuce’
Not just ‘beets’ … but …’baby beet with tops’ or ‘mature beet with tops’ or ‘storage
beet’
Step 2, Part B:
Deciding on a Product List

 “Double Harvesting” from a single crop

 harvesting more than one product out of a single crop
 Some examples … sweet potato – greens & roots; summer/winter squash
– flowers & fruit; fennel – bulb, fronds, flowers or pollen; garlic – scapes &
bulbs

 If you plan to harvest more than one product from a single crop, list both of
the products individually on your product list
 Not just ‘garlic’, but ‘garlic scapes’ and ‘garlic bulbs/heads’
Step 2, Part C:
Deciding on Prices
This also can be a big step for year 1 farms
Researching prices for your products also takes time
Tips for establishing prices in year 1 (more on this in semester 2) …
 Visit local grocery stores; take pictures of prices, make spreadsheet later
 Do the same at local farmers’ markets
 Ask for product lists from wholesalers (Mama Earth Organics, Pfennings, Mike & Mike)
 Search online … BC Organic Price Tracker
 Use these prices to help establish your prices … should/could you charge more? Less? Why?
 Need to pay attention to units used with prices, so you can compare.
Price collusion is ALLOWED in agriculture!
I have provided a basic price list you can work from – See D2L CPP Resources
Step 2, Part C:
Deciding on Prices

First, we decide how to sell each individual product; by the … ?

For example…
 Cherry tomato, by the pint or perhaps by the pound
 Storage beets, by the pound
 Baby cut greens, by the pound or perhaps by the clamshell (8oz)
 Head cabbage, by the piece or perhaps by the pound

 Pricing for Wholesale vs Farmers' Market will most likely be different!

 Try to keep your ‘units’ the same for all distribution methods
Step 2, Part C:
Deciding on Prices

For example…
Product Sold By
Baby Spinach Bunch
Mature Fennel Piece
Celeriac, no tops Pound
Potatoes Pound
Peas Quart

Helpful Hint: Look in Appendix A1 & A2 at the units to calculate yield

for different crops. This is a good indication on units to use for pricing
as well. Keeps things consistent for this first year.
Step 2, Part C:
Deciding on Prices
Now set prices for each item, line by line; for example…

Product Sold By Price: Farmers Market Price:

Wholesale
Baby Spinach Bunch $3.50/ bunch $2.25 / bunch
Mature Fennel Piece $3.50 / each N/A
Celeriac, no tops Pound $3/lb $1.75 / lb
 Pricing info can also be found in Appendix D of COG book, pages 118 to 120. But
remember the book is a couple years old so important to do additional research.
 IMPORTANT: Wholesale pricing should be half to two-thirds of Farmers'
Market pricing
 Must choose minimum 3 crops to wholesale for CPP. It is useful to plan to grow
these crops for both your wholesale and farmers market distribution channels.
Rather than growing something different for your wholesale accounts. You will
NOT want to grow all your chosen crops for both wholesale and farmer's
market.
 SETTING SALES PROJECTIONS FOR WEEKLY
DELIVERY

Step 2, Part D: Ø A sales projection sheet is a visual representation

of what you plan to sell each week
Sales Ø Setting sales projections gives you a weekly target
of how much money you need to make to stay on
Projections track with your sales forecasting

Ø Two ‘ingredients’ are needed to create your

sales projection:
 Sales targets -for each distribution method from
Step 1
 A product list with pricing ready for wholesale and
the farmer's market
Once you have these ready? You are ready to start on
your sales projections …
Step 2,Part D: STEP 1 Refer to COG Book Page 22, 23 & 26

Sales Projections STEP 2 Start with a blank sales projection template

Weekly Farmers Market Label the sheet to identify the marketing outlet it corresponds to
STEP 3 (FM)

List the crops you want to sell during the season along with their
STEP 4 prices

List all the weeks you will be at a particular outlet. Use the
STEP 5 Monday date regardless of the actual delivery day to make it
easier to combine all your sales sheets later

In each date column, enter the quantity of each item you think
STEP 6 you can sell that week
 Continued...
Continued...

Step 2, Part D: STEP 7

Enter the total volume of sales for each vegetable in the total
units column

Sales Projections
Multiply the total units by the price, and enter it in the total $
STEP 8 column

Weekly Farmers Market STEP 9

Add all the values in the total $ column. This is the amount you
can expect to make at that outlet if your sale projections are
accurate

Adjust your numbers so the sum of the Total $ column falls within
STEP 10 a 10-to-15% range above your sales target for the outlet

STEP 11 Let’s get at it!

 SETTING SALES PROJECTIONS FOR
Step 2,Part D: 1.
WHOLESALE
Sales Projections
 Chances are you will not be wholesaling
Wholesale
every crop you grow

 For the CPP, you must choose a

minimum of 3 crops to wholesale
 Feel free to choose more, if you need more
revenue to hit your target GROSS income
 Remember wholesale is usually done as
larger bulk sales.
 SETTING SALES PROJECTIONS
FOR WHOLESALE; process is the
same…
STEP 1 Start with a blank sales projection template

Step 2,Part D:
Sales Projections
STEP 2 Label the sheet to identify the marketing outlet it corresponds to

Wholesale

STEP 3 List the Crops you want to sell during the season along with their
wholesale prices

List all the weeks you will be at a particular outlet. Use the
STEP 4 Monday date regardless of the actual delivery day to make it
easier to combine all your sales sheets later.

In each date column, enter the quantity of each item you think
STEP 5 you can sell that week
 Continued...
Continued...

Step 2, Part D: STEP 6

Enter the total volume of sales for each vegetable in the total
units column

Sales Projections
Multiply the total units by the price, and enter it in the total $
Wholesale STEP 7 column

Add all the values in the total $ column. This is the amount you
STEP 8 can expect to make at that outlet if your sale projections are
accurate

Adjust your numbers so the sum of the Total $ column falls within
STEP 9 a 10-to-15% range above your sales target for the outlet

STEP 10 Let’s get at it!

 SETTING WEEKLY HARVEST TARGETS
 If you notice on all the sales projections sheets, the
Step 2,Part E: spreadsheet automatically filled in total number of
units (2nd column from right)
Harvest Targets
 Now we take these units and convert them into a
single HARVEST TARGET WORKSHEET

 The HARVEST TARGET WORKSHEET shows you

how much of each vegetable needs to be harvested
every week throughout the season
 This is the starting point of your crop plan!
 SETTING WEEKLY HARVEST
TARGETS...

STEP 1 Open up a sales projection template & label it Harvest Targets

STEP 2 List all your crops and units (cut n’ paste)

Step 2, Part E:
Harvest Targets STEP 3 Delete the 2 price columns (‘value $’ and ‘total $’); are not
needed here

Enter the date of your first anticipated sale (cut n’ paste – resize,
STEP 4 if needed)

For each vegetable, add the quantities for each date on each
STEP 5 sales projection sheet. Enter this amount under the appropriate
harvest date.

STEP 6 Double check your totals by adding up the ‘total unit’ columns.
CPP Step 2 – Marketing Plan

Step 2 involves lots of small steps

 Take your time, make sure you get it right

 Step 3 will build on step 2
 Step 4 will build on step 3
 If there are errors in step 2, you will have errors in step 3 and
step 4
CPP Step 2 – Marketing Plan

 Step 2 corresponds to Section C: Marketing in your Crop Planning Project

 For the marketing section of your CPP, you will need…
 table 2.1, wholesale sales projections
 table 2.2, market sales projections
 Plus a ‘regional map’ showing location of market(s), and distance from farm
 Plus a short-written paragraph explaining each table and regional map and why
you have chosen the markets you have and the crops you have chosen to grow
to meet the needs to those markets.

 Table 2.3, Harvest Targets, will be included in section D, Crop Plan, of the CPP
 Along with more material, which will be covered in upcoming classes
IDEAS FOR CREATING YOUR
REGIONAL MAP …
Creating a Regional Map for Marketing Section (Section C of the CPP)
 “Regional Map showing location of market(s), and distance from farm”

1. Google map Fleming College Campus, Lindsay, ON

2. Zoom out until the map shows a town/city/location where you might
consider joining a Farmers’ Market
1. Your choice; can be very close (Lindsay or Peterborough), or further out
(Toronto or Brampton)
3. Take a ‘screen shot’

4. Cut n’ paste into MS word

5. Use ‘insert’ tab, click on ‘shapes’; use shapes and text boxes to draw
attention to specific locations.