Horticultural Budgets
The "Whole Firm" approach was used to create these enterprise budgets. This means that each budget was within a venture that consisted of multiple enterprises. An example demonstrating why this is important is the cost per pound for producing lettuce in a 40 acre field on a 200 acre farm could be substantially different than for producing a single 4' X 100' bed by a firm operating on half an acre. Although some costs such as seed and fertilizers may be similar for the two operations, one would expect labor costs to be substantially different. Therefore, it is important to know the assumptions made when an enterprise budget was created in order to determine its suitability for use by an individual producer.
The cost of marketing is a key consideration when determining an enterprise's profitability. Excluding it in the decision making process may cause costly management mistakes. Since direct marketers often sell more than one type of produce at each of the markets they use, allocating marketing expenses becomes important. Just like for production, it is important to know the marketing assumptions to evaluate the suitability of a given enterprise budget for planning purposes. (LocalMarketCALC)
Since these enterprise budgets were created using a "Whole Firm" approach, a description of the operation modeled is provided so their suitability for use can be determined. The inputs can be modified for budgets in the spreadsheet format.
QUARTER ACRE FARM
· Excel 2003
· Excel 2007
Includes: bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, lettuce, onions, peas, tomatoes
HALF ACRE FARM
· Excel 2003
· Excel 2007
Includes: garlic, rutabagas, shallots, turnips
HIGH TUNNEL
· Excel 2003
· Excel 2007
Includes: broccoli, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, lettuce, radishes, sweet peppers, tomatoes