Introduction
The Wilson Family Peach Farm is a start-up venture for Dr. Jared Wilson and his wife, Susan. Starting in the spring, the Wilsons will be taking their retirement from their traditional professions. The farm is intended to provide the Wilsons with an opportunity for post-retirement work and income, plus an opportunity for both of them to continue their individual research programs on agriculture and nutrition. Approximately 80 acres of prime stone fruit growing land is to be acquired, using owner’s equity and a federal farm assistance loan. Dr. Wilson, Mrs. Wilson, and a Limited Liability Company will own the farm.
The Farm and its Products
The farm boasts prime fruit-growing land located about 3.5 miles north of Gainesville, Georgia. This area is ideal for peaches and stone fruits. It receives plenty of sunlight and has excellent drainage. The soil pH is optimum.
Wilson Family Peach Farm will grow seven varieties of peaches in its first three years. These include the Redhaven (Ishtara), Tenn Natural and Lovell (Bayley, Montclar and Starks Redleaf) and the well-known Elberta. Once profitability is achieved, the farm will start to grow rare varieties.
This crop’s attractiveness is due to the fact that high-quality, fresh peaches and nectarines are low in calories and sweet tasting. One medium peach provides only 37 calories. These fruits are rich sources of Vitamin C. While yellow-fleshed varieties can be a good source, they are also high in Vitamin A.
The Market
The United States accounts for approximately 25% of the global supply of fresh peaches.
Peaches are America’s third most-popular fruit. They account for over 70% of all stone fruit produced by the U.S. South Carolina (and Georgia) follow California’s 72 per cent share. The two states average about 6 and 4% of the U.S. peach total over the last three years. Last year the Georgia peach crop totaled 115 million pounds and brought in $41.7 million. Georgia produces over 40 varieties of commercial peaches, in addition to Elberta. Recent events have revealed that the international peach market is growing, especially in Asia.
Wilson Family Peach Farm intends to sell its crop three times to main buyers. Wilson Family Peach Farm will focus on selling its majority of fruit to local produce stand owners who can charge more because the fruit is higher quality. This will ensure that the farm has a high profit margin. The remainder of the fruit will then be sold to local distributors and fruit packing companies, who then sell the fruit to grocery shops. Any fruit that doesn’t meet the quality standards of either the buyers or the distributors will be sold to canneries.
Financial Considerations
A farm assistance loan will be used to finance the farm along with significant owner equity. This will allow the farm to generate sufficient cash flow until it is able to start earning revenue. In year one, sales are expected to be enough to be profitable and to continue growing through year three.
1.1 Objectives
The objectives over the next three years for the Wilson Family Peach Farm are:
- Profitability in the first year
- You can also expand by purchasing 50 acres of additional land in the next year.
- You can capitalize on the niche market of specialty and hybrid stone fruits.
- To realize economies of scale, increase yield per annum
1.2 Mission
Wilson Family Peach Farm’s Mission Statement is to provide a retirement profession and supplemental income for Jared Wilson. The farm will also serve as a base of research for Dr. Wilson in the fields of nutrition and agriculture.
1.3 Keys to Success
The United States is a mature agricultural industry that experiences very little growth. This makes it very competitive. Wilsons will be focusing on the small market for hybrid and rare peaches and nectarines. They will also focus on quality to keep their supplier contracts with chain distributors and local produce vendors. To this end the Wilsons have identified the following key elements to success.
- Utilize early harvest varieties of peaches, nectarines to become ‘#8220’ first to market
- Focus on marketing of hybrids to local distributors.
- Advocacy to reduce costs and analyze them aggressively
- To improve quality, you should concentrate on the post-harvest care of your produce.