Economic Statistics of Strawberry Farming as a Business
In the current prevailing economy where everyone is looking for a way of surviving, it is more profitable to divert your attention from the business which is more productive yet less demanding. One of such booming businesses is strawberry farming both in large and small scale. According to the California Strawberry Advisory Board (CSAB), California is the leading State in strawberry production which is between 75 – 91% of all the United States strawberry crops. Of course there are other States that produce strawberry; in fact, you will be amazed to know that strawberry is grown in every State in the US.
This could be the reason why the United States is the leading strawberry producer in the world with California State contributing much to the production. California produces 1 billion pounds of strawberries every year and every acre of the 23,000 acres of land that are planted in this State produces around 21 tons of strawberry every year. Nowadays, you can find the strawberries all around the year because the commercial growers and farmers have identified more resilient hybrid types of berries that are well known for their excellent quality.
According to a report released in 2015 by ERS, in 2014 US exported fresh strawberries worth $405.3 million, frozen berries worth $45 million and processed strawberries worth $13.3 million. This shows that no matter whether you are a newbie in strawberry farming or you are already established, you have to make some dollars when you take your farming as a business. Most farmers choose June bearing strawberry plants for their commercial purposes because maybe they are large in size than the rest. Always when a season is extended farmers usually benefit more and get a larger market share, therefore they try their best to have an extended season at low cost.
Costs Incurred as You Carry Strawberry Farming
If you don’t have enough knowledge about strawberry farming, you may not like the level of complexity, experience and even management requirement that’s demanded in this farming, especially for large-scale farming. Besides the skills that are needed, financial management is very critical to having a profitable strawberry farming business. Every individual farmer must factor in all the costs to avoid unnecessary losses, must look at the availability of the market and also be very willing to work with very toxic chemicals.
You must do watering frequently when plants are newly planted however, you should not water too much otherwise you will cause root rot. In addition, do not water from overhead but from the bottom otherwise, the crown and fruit will rot. As the fruits begin to develop, always tuck straw underneath the plants to prevent the strawberries from rotting on the soil. Also, you can use individual fibre mats, they will be of help in suppressing weeds.
Practices to Remember for Profitable Yields
You have to be prepared to pull by hand every weed that emerges. After cropping you have to remove the old leaves from the summer fruiting strawberries so as to increase fruiting. You can hand shear them or use a secateurs. Also remember to remove the stalk, mat or the black polythene so as to avoid build-up of pests and diseases. Always practice crop rotation to minimize diseases and pests in the soil.
Hygiene is one of the things you have to observe when growing strawberry and every moment you see any infection remove the infected plant and destroy it. In addition, to the huge profit, you get by selling these fruits, their market is available because people love these fruits. This is what you call smart but simple farming. Be part of it today.
