A group of growers in Southern Wisconsin liked the cart so well, they used grant money to build several for themselves. The plans are now available here for anyone to use and modify as it suits their particular needs.

The cart is designed to fit “bulb crates” which are becoming a very common harvest aid in many areas. The garden/floral industry imports flower bulbs in these crates and they do not make a return trip to Holland. The cart dimensions could be changed to accommodate other types of harvest tubs and totes.

The cart is made of aluminum so it is extremely light weight and maneuverable. It can handle relatively large loads and is very useful for hauling flats of transplants and other items in addition to being used for harvest.

Various wheel options are possible, with new or used bicycle tires being one. Another excellent option is a wheel available from Northern Tool and Equipment: item number 145123 (2” x 26” wheel with knobby tires and a 300# weight capacity). These wheels require a ¾” cold rolled steel axle (the diameter of hot rolled steel is too large).

The plans posted here were originally prepared by staff of the Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits project in the department of Biological and Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin.

If you have questions or comments on the cart, contact John Hendrickson at the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems.

From 2002 to 2004, the UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems facilitated a grower-led project that used ratios, such as net cash income per acre, as a way to share financial information confidentially. The results of this project are summarized in a new report — Grower to Grower: Creating a Livelihood on a Fresh Market Vegetable Farm.

This project was unique in that the growers chose what data to collect and how to analyze it. They determined how much cash they had at the end of each growing season to provide for their households, and created ratios to share this information with each other. The analysis they developed should be considered alongside traditional financial statements such as balance sheets and income statements.

“This approach is particularly good because it is geared specifically toward a farming operation, unlike some other business tools,” said David Perkins, a grower who participated in this project. “It allows for self-comparison, as well as comparison with other farms. You can use the ratios and other numbers you collect to evaluate your own operation from year to year, and within a year.”

Project participants earned livelihoods from producing and marketing fresh vegetables at a variety of farm scales. They achieved impressive gross sales, with farms under three acres averaging $15,623 in gross sales per acre over the three years of the project. Gross sales figures per acre were lower on larger farms, averaging around $11,000 per acre.

Earning decent net cash income — gross sales minus all operating expenses except depreciation — was a challenge complicated by labor needs and expenses, equipment needs, changing markets and the weather. Three-year average net cash income for the farms in this study was, in some instances, under $2,000 per acre. In other instances, it exceeded $8,000 per acre. Per hour wages were generally low, especially on farms under three acres.

The participants felt that their financial success depended on increasing work efficiency and using techniques and tools to keep expenses low. They also felt that it was important to develop a unique niche in terms of products or marketing. Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, appeared to help farms achieve higher profits. Because CSA customers pay for a share of produce at the beginning of the season, sales from CSA farms are sheltered from the weather and marketplace changes.

Project participants generally enjoyed their work and felt positive about their quality of life. Most of them wanted more personal time, higher income and access to reasonably priced health insurance. For farms with hired help, employee management issues sometimes reduced their quality of life.

“This approach is a self-evaluation process that lets you look at your own operation and see if you’re happy with your numbers,” said Perkins. “If not, you can look at specific expenditures to see where you’re spending too much, or not spending enough. For us, increasing our labor force was an emphasis that grew out of this project.”

Grower to Grower: Creating a Livelihood on a Fresh Market Vegetable Farm contains abundant information on gross sales per acre, net cash income per acre, labor hours per acre, hourly wages and other financial information collected by the participating growers. It also includes a worksheet to help growers collect data and calculate their own ratios.

This report is available on the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems web site: www.cias.wisc.edu. Print copies are available for $3 each. Contact Trish Haza at (608)262-5200 or phaza@wisc.edu for more information.

Grower to Grower: Creating a Livelihood on a Fresh Market Vegetable Farm (PDF)

Crops that are grown solely to provide soil cover or for the purposes of increasing soil fertility are referred to as cover crops or green manures. Due their ability to protect and enhance soils, cover crops are considered a fundamental aspect of any sustainable cropping system. The benefits of cover crops extend beyond soil health, however. More and more growers are realizing the pest management benefits of cover crops. This publication form the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems is meant to serve as a practical guide to using cover crops in small- to moderate-size fresh market vegetable operations.

Cover Crops on the Intensive Market Farm (PDF)