August 2019 - 32

PRODUCTION
can be grown in grown and sold four weeks faster. Therefore, the total
overhead or square foot weeks (SFW) cost to produce this coreopsis
using the larger 21-cell liners is $1.20 less than the cost to produce them
using 72-cell liners.
The end result is the larger sized starting materials costs $0.07 less per
container or $0.11 per square foot to produce than when growing them
using the smaller sized input which requires more production time.
Now this might not seem like much savings, but consider the following.
An $0.11 per square foot savings is equivalent to saving $110.00 per
1,000 square feet of production space. Still not impressed, if you're a
large grower the $0.11 savings per square foot amounts to an impressive
cost savings of $1,110.00 per 10,000 square feet or $4,791.60 per acre.
These savings go right to the bottom line - your profits.
Wait, there's more. If you're like most growers, I'm guessing you're
interested in double cropping your production space. I won't show the
math here, but how valuable would it be to reduce the crop time and be
able to get the second use of the production four weeks earlier? For some
growers, this would likely be just as - but probably more - valuable than
the cost savings obtained from the first crop.
SEDUM 'AUTUMN FIRE'
Using bareroot starting materials is another great example of how to
obtain a cost savings for many perennials. Let's take a look at the production
costs with sedum 'Autumn Fire' using bareroot and 72-cell liners.
I hope you've noticed that the bareroot starting materials costs nearly
twice as much as the 72-cell liners. I understand that it might seem like
a stretch for me to ask you to consider doubling the costs of your inputs.
However, I assure you that you'll likely consider this a viable option once
you look at the numbers.
Sedum from bareroot can be finished (non-flowering) in half the time of
the smaller inputs. The reduced production time is where the cost savings
comes from. In this example, the grower would realize a cost savings of
$0.44 per container or $0.66 per square foot when opting to use the
larger bareroot starting materials.
How much does this add up to? A savings of $0.44 per container adds
up to $44.00 per 100 pots or $440.00 savings for every 1,000 pots
produced. If you prefer to look at the reduced production costs in terms
of square footage; the $0.66 per square foot savings amounts to $660.00
per 1,000 square feet or $6,600.00 per 10,000 square feet or $28,749.60
per acre. As you can see this adds up to some pretty serious cash.
Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro' planted in same sized 1-gallon containers -
using #2 grade bareroot plants (top) and #1 grade bareroot (bottom).
Sedum 'Autumn Fire'
FINAL CONTAINER
Input Size
Input Cost (w/royalty)
Plants per Pot
Pots Per Square Foot
Input Cost Per Square Foot
Overhead (Cost /Sq. Ft/Week)
Grow Time (# of Weeks)
Square Foot Weeks (SFW) Cost
Total Cost/ Sq. Ft (Input + SFW)
Total Cost per Container
SPRING PLANTED TRADE GALLON
72-cell
$0.80
1
#1 Bareroot
$1.56
1
1.5
$1.20
$0.30
12
$3.60
$4.80
1.5
$2.34
$0.30
6
$1.80
$4.14
Cost Advantage: $0.66 Less per Sq Ft
$3.20
$2.76
Cost Advantage: $0.44 Less per Pot
32 AUGUST 2019 GPNMAG.COM
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August 2019

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