annual strawberry production

Annual bed strawberry production

Michael KilpatrickKilpatrick Family Farm

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We are in Middle Granville, NY - 1.5 hours north of Albany, NY Zone 4b

Marketing • Sell at farmer’s markets, CSA, and

very limited wholesale• Strategy is to grow a small amount

of 50+ crops so we never have to drop prices to get rid of product

• Marketing, marketing, marketing....

Land and Soil profile

Soil type Crops Acres

Bernardston-shaly silt loams

stays dry, early and late greens, melons, tomatoes, stony 4

Hamlin Silt loam

root crops, great for radishes, beets, carrots- no stones 8

Hartland sandy loam

class 1,general purpose, no stones 4

Vergennes Silty Clay

somewhat heavy, winter squash, brassicas, spinach,

beans5

Hoosick Gravelly sandy

LoamSweet potato heaven... 1

Strawberries• Annual bed system-(also known as

California sytem) plant fall, harvest spring, till under

• Variety Chandler• Buy in tips, propagate ourselves,

plant in September

Why annual bed?

The advantages of this system

Earlier yield• We usually start

picking 1 week earlier than matted row in our area

• premium price + ours are the 1st they taste every year.

Cleaner fruit

Mix of straw/mulch keeps plants and fruit much cleaner

You can actually go along with a blower and blow

off the plastic to reduce water damage after a storm

keeps grey mold and other diseases to an absolute minimum

• open plant habit• strawberries are

there only one year

• raised beds keep plants dryer

Annual systemPlanted

strawberries September of

08’picking spinach

from same section September 09’

This system only takes 10 months or if you are producing your own plugs, 11

months

=

Profitability- 09’ figures

Gross $13,300 on 0.12 of an acre

Builds soil• We apply 4-5 tons to the acre of

straw or weed free hay/mulch • keeps mud and weeds down, the

fruit clean, and increases organic matter.

• here we’re using 3 cut rained on alfalfa, which will also add nitrogen.

Other reasons we like the system

• Ease of harvest- open nature of the plant

• allows good rotation- in and out in under a year

• less weed pressure• less deer pressure

Cultural Practicesgrowing the crop

harvesting tips

• harvest tips around the 3-4 week of July

• important to keep them moist• only harvest large, healthy ones• scissors or pruners work great

Buying tips or plugs

• Per plant (13.6 cents)

• Greenhouse time

• Preparation time• Better Quality

• Per plant (27 cents)

• Come ready to plant

• Quality issues• Yields?

Tips Plugs

using the point to anchor the tip into the soil

DIG controller

Two weeks after sticking we will water with fish to give

a little extra boost.

Ready to plant out!

We want to get the plants in the ground the 1st or 2nd week of September.

• Soil tests are taken and fertilizer and lime applied to bring up to recommended amounts

• 4’ plastic is laid on 66” centers giving a 30” bed top and 3 ft between beds for picking paths

• Plants are put out 3 rows on the bed 12” between plants

• watered immediately afterwards• we machine plant, but for years did

by hand

Soil Prep

Biotello plastic- till right in at the end of the season

Spreading straw/hay

Key is to have weed-free straw or hay

What the field looks like in February!

Covered with Typar-518 before crown temperature reaches 20 degrees

Rowcovers are kept on in the spring until about 10% blossom.

We’ll throw down a little extra fertilizer when

we first uncover them in the spring to give

them a boost

Covers are coming on and off to prevent theblossoms from freezing.

Check for Tarnished plant

bug damage

We usually don’t get any until the last week of the season

and then will spray with pyganic

Fighting disease...• good soil health• adding mycorrhizae• good air circulation- giving

plants nessesary space, and uncovering so they can dry out

• clean seed, propagation trays, equipment

Sprays a last resort

• Regalia, rootshield, actinovate• Oxidate• Double nickel, greencure, milstop,

Sluggo

keeping the birds out

keep them irrigated

2 + inches a week

only water in morning- goal is to keep the leaves and fruit dry- drip is great

a good days picking

Annual bed production by the numbers 09’• 7 beds, 150 ft long, on 5 ft centers =

.12 acre• We picked 2960 pints off this area in

2009 (or right under 2800 lbs)• our 1sts command $5 a pint-season

long• 2nds between $3-4, for an average

price of $4.50 per pint• this is $13, 300 gross for .12 of an

acreor over $100,000 an acre (or 22,000 lbs/acre)

2013 for us was 1/2 that

• ran out of mulch so ground was bare- dirty fruit as well as disease

• because of no mulch, chickweed moved in outcompeting plants

• Rained the entire season- berries melted because of disease.

Pleasant Valley farm numbers 13’• 3500 plants in a 70x100 area (.16

acre)• harvested 2573 pints, or 2600#• Income on firsts and seconds

$11,170• 16,250 lbs per acre or around $70

k an acre.

Taking it to the next step

• growing on a north slope to delay production a few days

• Putting some of our strawberries in a hoophouse for earlier production

• changing spacing- no real yield difference

How do we get the price we do?

• Variety is amazingly flavorful• only selling perfect berries• large displays• hitting the market 1 week ahead of

matted row• our reputation- we can consistently

command a 50 cent to dollar premium over others with annual bed strawberries

Freeze our seconds for the winter

Sources

Strawberry PlugsJersey Asparagus

Farm856-358-2548

Strawberry TipsLareault Nurserywww.lareault.comflaforge@lareault.comCell.:1-450-944-1850

McNeil FarmsCell: 1-919-499-9706

Controller and misting system

Rainflow717-445-3000

Rootshield johnny’s selected seeds877-564-6697www.johnnyseeds.com

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Intern, apprentice, or just come work for us!!!

Connect with us!@kilpatrickfarm

Michael Kilpatrick

www.kilpatrickfamilyfarm.com

www.michael-kilpatrick.com