Production Costs of Organic Vegetable Farms: Two Case Studies from Pennsylvania

The market premiums that currently exist for many organic crops are an attractive incentive for conventional growers considering the transition to organic practices. Before making this decision, there is a need to better understand the production costs of these systems. While many factors, such as crop rotation, soil type, and marketing, influence cropping decisions, production costs are vital information for production and pricing decisions. This research evaluated crop budgets from two Pennsylvania organic firms as case studies. A critical component of these budgets was the calculation of costs related to cover cropping, rotations, and compost production or use. These farms were very different in their scale, management, and marketing strategies. The crops selected for study on each farm were also different, based upon economic value to the farm. Beech Grove Farm used horse traction and hired no production labor on about 4 acres of production; budgets for carrot (Daucus carota), onion (Allium cepa), and garlic (Allium sativum) are presented. The other, Spiral Path Farm, used machinery and a hired labor crew extensively on about 60 acres; their production costs for tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), lettuce (Lactuca sativa), and winter squash (Cucurbita moschata) are presented. While costs could not be compared between the farms, costs per acre varied widely among crops on a farm, but less so across years. Neither farm spent a great deal on pest control inputs, relying on soil fertility and other management practices to minimize infestations and grow healthy plants. While these single-crop budgets provided some realistic measures of costs of organic vegetable production, longer-term budgets measuring multiyear rotations would better capture the tradeoffs made by diversified organic farmers.