Progress 07/01/06 to 06/30/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Data were collected by project personnel and used by research and extension personnel to develop cost of production budgets for selected ornamental horticulture crops produced in the Deep South. Crop production practices and input cost information were combined into budget formats via the Mississippi Budget Generator (MSBG). PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Ken Hood, Extension Professor Dr. Richard Harkess Dr. Roger Hinson, LSU Mr. John Black, Research Associate TARGET AUDIENCES: Ornamental horticulture crop producers, bankers, and farm management specialists PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Published results include detailed enterprise budgets information for selected ornamental crops. Enterprise budgets provide a convenient platform for organizing and summarizing expected costs and returns for production activities to aid management decision making. Additional detail about necessary production activities and equipment requirements is important. Users know what is presented and why and can thus make valid comparisons among management scenarios. They can also easily modify COP estimates, using software or on paper, to craft budgets for specific situations. COP information is foundational to economic analysis of production practices, marketing strategies, and financing alternatives. Budgets are a key component of comprehensive risk management and should be used in conjunction with other management tools to identify and manage risk.
Publications
- Hood, Ken, Randall Little, Kalyn Coatney, and Kim Morgan. "Exploring the Potential for Increasing Revenues of Small Farms in Mississippi: Utilizing High Tunnel Technology for Market Season Extension" Research poster, Food Distribution Research Society Annual Meeting. Portland, Oregon. October 16-19, 2011.
- Hinson, Roger, Randall Little, Ken Hood, Allen Owings, John Black and Richard Harkess. "Determining the Cost of Production for Selected Ornamental Crops in Plant Hardiness Zones 8 and 9." The Journal of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. 2011. 74(1):3-22.
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Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Nothing to report. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Work is continuing on a project that uses a systems-based, trans-disciplinary approach to develop and evaluate sustainable specialty crops season extension production systems in low-cost unheated greenhouse-like structures known as high tunnels. The research explores the economic viability of using high tunnels to extend the growing season, starting earlier in the spring and growing longer into the fall, to generate more local specialty crop production in the cooler parts of the year to serve direct markets including roadside stands and farmers' markets. Work underway involves determining economic feasibility of high tunnel technology by quantifying investment costs, developing enterprise budgets based on production data from high tunnel systems, and determining prices received in periods outside the typical production and marketing season. Seasonal price trend analysis to determine what price premiums, if any, could be expected pre-and post typical growing seasons is an important component of this research.
Publications
- Veeranand Konangi, Randall D. Little, Kalyn Coatney, William B. Evans, Mengmeng Gu, Ken E. Hood, and Kim Morgan. Season Extension Technology for the Sustainable Production of Specialty Crops: An Investment Analysis. Research paper, Western Economics Association International Annual Conference. Portland, Oregon. July 2010
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Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Work has commenced on a project that uses a systems-based, trans-disciplinary approach to develop and evaluate sustainable specialty crops season extension production systems in low-cost unheated greenhouse-like structures known as high tunnels. The research explores the economic viability of using high tunnels to extend the growing season, starting earlier in the spring and growing longer into the fall, to generate more local specialty crop production in the cooler parts of the year to serve direct markets including roadside stands and farmers' markets. Work underway involves determining economic feasibility of high tunnel technology by quantifying investment costs, developing enterprise budgets based on production data from high tunnel systems, and determining prices received in periods outside the typical production and marketing season. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
The research to this point has been preliminary and foundational. No outcomes have been generated yet.
Publications
- Hood, Ken W. and Randall D. Little. "Toward Year-Round Produce Markets: Combining Low-Cost Technologies for Year-Round Production in High Tunnels in the Gulf States." Research Paper presented at the 2009 Food Distribution Research Society (FDRS) Annual Conference, Broomfield, CO. November 1-4, 2009.
- Hood, Ken W. and Randall D. Little. "Toward Year-Round Produce Markets: Combining Low-Cost Technologies for Year-Round Production in High Tunnels in the Gulf States." Research Poster presented at the 2009 Food Distribution Research Society (FDRS) Annual Conference, Broomfield, CO. November 1-4, 2009.
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Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The turfgrass production sector of agriculture has increased in importance in recent years. Trends in turfgrass production in Mississippi follow national trends. Work to quantify the costs of producing turfgrass in Mississippi continues. The cost of producing turfgrass in Mississippi was estimated. Direct costs totaled an estimated $1,732 per acre. Labor was, by far, the dominant input cost item, followed by fuel and lubricants, fertilizer, and repairs and maintenance expenses. The estimated capital investment requirements for the assumed sod farm were about $3,130 per acre. PARTICIPANTS: No Participant information reported. TARGET AUDIENCES: No Target Audiences information reported. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: No Project Modifications information reported.
Impacts
Enterprise budgets are important decision aides managers can use to improve firm level decision making. Completion of enterprise budgets requires careful consideration of resources used, quantities and input prices, in a production process. Thus enterprise budgets provide important information for planning, and ultimately with choices regarding enterprise mix, expansion, and production pricing, among others.
Publications
- Zhen Xu, Randall Little, Ken Hood, and Wayne Wells. 2007. 'Determining the Cost of Producing Turfgrass in Mississippi.' Research Paper presented at the 2007 Southern Nursery Association Research Conference. August 8-10, 2007. Atlanta, Georgia.
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Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06
Outputs
Work has been initiated to quantify the costs of producing turfgrass in Mississippi. A key step in accomplishing this objective is a comprehensive turfgrass producer survey to identify key factors influencing firm level producer production and marketing decisions.
Impacts
An extended period has passed since the cost of production budgets for various types of turfgrass produced in Mississippi were updated. The results of this research will address this need. It is anticipated that turfgrass producers in Mississippi will use these research results to improve their farm-level decision making and increase farm profitability.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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