Contact Us  |  Site Map

« Back to: Farm Management Home Page « Greenhouse Costs of Production Budgets

	Annual total	Cost per sq. ft. week of bench
Overhead labor & benefits	$63,000	$0.079
UTILITIES
Heating fuel (13,420 gal.)	13,420	0.017
Electricity	1,935	0.002
Telephone	1,273	0.002
Depreciation	25,000	0.031
Interest	15,000	0.019
Insurance	4,852	0.006
Repairs	12,409	0.015
Property taxes	769	0.001
Advertising	716	0.001
Dues & subscriptions	344	0.000
Travel & entertainment	1,697	0.002
Office expenses	796	0.001
Professional fees	1,000	0.001
Truck expenses & equipment rental	14,000	0.017
Land rental	1,565	0.002
Contributions	400	0.000
Miscellaneous	2,800	0.003
Bad debts	700	0.001
Total	$161,675	$0.200

1. 20,000 sq. ft. double layer, polyethylene greenhouse.

 

 

Table 2. Labor inputs for seedling production.
 

	Barerooted			Time (seconds per flat)
	Small	Med.	Large	Small	Med.	Large
						Non Auto	Auto
Seedling stage
Fill flat	35	37	22	24	49	47	47
Seed and move to germination area	144	162	85	103	140	81	81
Move to greenhouse	16	40	33	36	29	14	14
Irrigate	14	14	6	14	7	5	5
Move to work area	40	30	67	46	51	25	25
Total	249	283	213	223	276	172	172
Finished flat stage
Fill flat	45	120	35	36	44	66	4
Transplant and move
to greenhouse	209	180	191	76	187	137	108
Irrigate	99	78	62	84	66	53	53
Spray growth regulator	14	10	2	14	10	2	2
Spray pesticide	14	2	2	14	2	2	2
Total	381	390	292	224	309	260	169

 

 

Table 3. Seedling production costs 
 

	Conventional			Plug
	Small	Med.	Large	Small	Med.	Large
Seeds1	$12.50	$10.80	$10.00	$3.60	$3.11	$2.88
Tray	0.47	0.42	0.38	0.59	0.32	0.47
Medium	0.46	0.42	0.37	0.15	0.14	0.14
Fertilizer	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01
Labor	0.55	0.61	0.46	0.48	0.60	0.37
Interest on Variable costs2	0.63	0.55	0.50	0.22	0.19	0.17
Overhead-costs3	0.98	0.73	0.70	2.95	2.18	2.10
Total per flat	$15.60	$13.54	$12.42	$8.00	$6.55	$6.14
Total per seedling	$0.03	$0.03	$0.02	$0.03	$0.03	$0.02

1. 555 seeds planted per conventional flat and 288 per plug flat. Germination rate is assumed to be 90%.
2. Interest rate is assumed to be 9% for 6 months.
3. Overhead costs are calculated using $0.200, $0.148, and $0.142 per square foot-week, respectively for small, medium, and large greenhouses. It is assumed that a flat uses 1.64 square feet x 3 weeks for bare root seedling flats and 9 weeks for plug flats.

 

 

Table 4. Finished flat production costs using grower produced plugs. 
 

	Barerooted			Plug Produced in 288-cell Tray
	Small	Med.	Large	Small	Med.	Large
						Non Auto	Auto
Variable costs
Seedings1	$1.08	$1.08	$0.72	$1.08	$1.08	$0.72	$0.72
Flat	0.47	0.42	0.38	0.47	0.42	0.38	0.38
Insert	0.29	0.25	0.23	0.29	0.25	0.23	0.23
Rooting medium	0.37	0.36	0.35	0.37	0.36	0.35	0.35
Label	0.15	0.13	0.12	0.15	0.13	0.12	0.12
Fertilizer	0.03	0.02	0.02	0.03	0.02	0.02	0.02
Growth regulator	0.03	0.02	0.02	0.03	0.02	0.02	0.02
Pesticide	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01
Labor	0.85	0.87	0.65	0.50	0.69	0.58	0.38
Interest on variable cost	0.15	0.14	0.11	$3.06	$3.11	$2.54	$2.33
Total variable costs	$3.42	$3.30	$2.61	$3.06	$3.11	$2.54	$2.33
Overhead costs2	2.62	1.94	1.86	0.66	0.49	0.47	0.47
Loss allocation3	0.32	0.28	0.24	0.20	0.19	0.16	0.15
Total per flat	$6.37	$5.52	$4.71	$3.91	$3.79	$3.16	$2.94

1. 36 seedlings per finished flat.
2. Overhead costs are calculated at $0.200, $0.048, and $0.142 per square foot-bench-week for small, medium, and large greenhouses respectively. It is assumed that a flat uses 1.64 square feet of bench area per week and production takes 8 weeks for barerooted flats and 2 weeks for plug flats.
3. Based on a 5% loss.

 

 

Table 5. Finished flat production costs using purchased plugs.
 

	Plug Purchased in 288-cell tray				Plug Purchased in 512-cell tray
	Small	Medium	Large		Small	Medium	Large
			Non Auto	Auto			Non Auto	Auto
Variable costs
Seedlings1	$2.52	$2.16	$1.98	$1.98	$1.80	$1.62	$1.44	$1.44
Flat	0.47	0.42	0.38	0.38	0.47	0.42	0.38	0.38
Insert	0.29	0.25	0.23	0.23	0.29	0.25	0.23	0.23
Rooting medium	0.37	0.36	0.35	0.35	0.37	0.36	0.35	0.35
Labels	0.15	0.13	0.12	0.12	0.15	0.13	0.12	0.12
Fertilizer	0.03	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.03	0.02	0.02	0.02
Growth regulator	0.03	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.03	0.02	0.02	0.02
Pesticide	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01
Labor	0.50	0.69	0.58	0.38	0.50	0.69	0.58	0.38
Interest on Variable costs	0.20	0.18	0.17	0.16	0.16	0.16	0.14	0.13
Total variable costs	$4.46	$4.24	$3.85	$3.64	$3.81	$3.67	$3.29	$3.08
Overhead costs2	0.66	0.49	0.47	0.47	1.64	1.21	1.16	1.16
Loss allocation3	0.27	0.25	0.23	0.22	0.29	0.26	0.23	0.22
Total per flat	$5.50	$4.97	$4.55	$4.32	$5.74	$5.15	$4.61	$4.47

NOTES:
1. 36 seedlings per finished flat.
2. Overhead costs are calculated at $0.200, $0.048, and $0.142 per square foot-bench-week for small, medium, and large greenhouses, respectively. It is assumed that a flat uses 1.64 square feet of bench area per week and production takes 2 weeks for flats using plugs from a 288-cell tray and 5 weeks for flats using plugs from a 512-cell tray.
3. Based on a 5% loss.