Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
permanent residents or visitors) made up of people who are willing to pick
their own produce.
Other drawbacks include the need for easy vehicular access, a large park-
ing area, and increased risk of liability should a customer be injured. You
must also direct and supervise pickers who may not be particularly adept at
harvesting your crop, or who want to go through your fields and “high grade,”
picking only perfect fruits. You may suffer some crop damage from custom-
ers, and not all of the crop may be harvested. Bad weather during the harvest
can drive away customers and leave your crop rotting in the field. A client of
mine once lost an entire crop of U-pick cherries because of heavy, prolonged
rains. If it had been a farmer-harvested operation, at least part of the fruit
could have been salvaged. I must hand it to him, though — even when we
were standing in the middle of his orchard, up to our knees in mud and in
a drenching rain, he never stopped smiling. He just loved farming and knew
that the sun would shine again.
A U-pick operation can be profitable, but it is not for everyone. If you are
not comfortable with direct retail sales and do not work well or enjoy work-
ing closely with people, then you may be better off selecting another market-
ing strategy or have someone else in your operation interact with customers.
Consumers are typically drawn to U-pick farms looking for fresh, high-
quality produce at bargain prices. In some cases, customers want enough
produce to freeze, can, or otherwise preserve, but they cannot afford super-
market prices. For many customers, however, harvesting their own food is
also a form of recreation, where they can get out into nature with friends or
family or enjoy some quiet time alone in the great outdoors. Others appreci-
ate seeing where and how their food is produced.
Successful U-pick orchards are seldom found in isolated, hard-to-reach
locations. You must be where customers can and will be willing to visit your
farm. Locations within about 20 miles of a city or large town are best. Your
chances for success also increase if you are in an area that has other estab-
lished U-pick operations, preferably selling a variety of crops that pull people
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