one size does not fit all - purdue agriculture...• online survey to 4,312 farmers in 16 states...

One Size Does Not Fit All How Other Farm Profiles Can Help you Plan

January 5, 2016

Ariana Torres, PhDAssistant Professor & Marketing Specialist

www.hort.purdue.edu/hortbusiness@hortbizpurdue

• Where your operation is situated with respect to the industry?

• Where do you want your operation to head?

• What does it mean?

• Financial benchmarking is common

• Benchmark can be done in other areas• Operation

• Skills

• Perceptions

• Plans

• Online survey to 4,312 farmers in 16 states (Food Industry MarketMaker)• 1,559 responses

• Sample of Indiana vegetable farms• 13% of Midwest farmers who answered the survey

• In-depth information regarding production and management

• But, may not be representative to the overall vegetable Indiana farm

• Compare with 2016 Ag Census when possible

• Farm profiles, farmers profiles, and perceptions

Our Survey

Farm Profiles


Farm Size• Small <$10,000 annual gross sales• Medium $10,000 - <$250,000• Large $250,000 or more

2012 Census of Ag• 35% small• 44% medium• 21% large

• Most of Indiana-grown vegetables come from farms that report less than $250,000

small25%

medium61%

large14%


Land – owned and rented• It does not specify land used for

growing vegetables

• Smaller farmers tend to have fewer acres

• Larger farmers tend to rent more land, rather than own it

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

small medium largeTo

tal L

and

in A

cres

% L

and

Ow

ned

or R

ente

d

% land owned % land rented total land


Form of ownership• Most small & medium farms are sole

proprietorship– Flexible– More liability

• Large farms are corporations, but at least a third are sole proprietors– Less liability– Double taxation

• LLC farms are more common among medium-sized operations

• 2012 census: 87% of Indiana farms are individual- or family-owned, 6% are partnerships, and 6% are corporations

0102030405060708090

100

small medium large

% F

arm

s

Sole Prop LLC S-Corp Corp Partnership


Labor• Average number of employees = 11

– 3 are family members– 8 are non-family members

• The number of employees increases as size increases– Specially for larger operations

• All farms rely on family labor– Specially small farms

2.4 2.44.3

0.3

3.8

30.3

2.7

6.2

34.6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

small medium large

# Em

ploy

ees

family non-family total labor


Production practices• As farm size increases

– Conventional land percentage increases– Organic non-certified decreases

• Smaller operations have the largest amount of organic noncertified land

• Larger operations grow vegetables mainly conventionally

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

small medium large

% L

and

land conventional land certified land in transition land noncertified


What do Indiana vegetable farms grow?• Number of crops: average of 19. At least 1 and at most 42

– Small = 22 crops– Medium = 19 crops– Large = 15 crops

• Top 5 vegetables– Tomatoes 77%– Sweet peppers 67%– Cucumbers 64%– Zucchini 61%– Beans 61%

• Least grown 5 vegetables– Rutabaga 6%– Shallots 12%– Fennel 14%– Asian greens 18%– Collards 20%


Season extension, mulch, irrigation, and compost

• 55% of farmers use season extension (hoop houses, greenhouses)

– Medium and small

• 56% of farmers use plastic mulch for tomatoes

– Medium and large

• 80% of farmers irrigate their tomatoes– Larger

• 56% of farmers make their own compost– Smaller

53

42

74

6360 60

81

56

42

56

89

43

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

season ext mulch irrigate compost

Perc

enta

ge o

f far

mer

s

small medium large


Tests used for fertilizer application needs• 42% of farms use soil tests

• Very few farms use leaf tests

• Almost 20% use soil and leaf tests

• Over 35% don’t use any test

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

avg farm small medium large

Perc

enta

ge o

f far

mer

s

soil test leaf test soil & leaf neither


050

100150200250

small

mediumlarge

Distance to Markets by Farm Size (miles)

distance to market farthest market

How far are vegetable markets?

0

50

100

150conventional

certified

transitioning

noncertified

Distance to Markets by Production Practices (miles)

distance to market farthest market

• Large farms sell to farther markets • Conventional farms sell to farther markets


Where do vegetable farmers sell?• Direct-to-consumer market channels

are the most common market outlets for vegetables

• Less than half of the vegetable farmers sell wholesale

• On average, vegetable farmers sell their product through 3 channels

74.2

62.9

24.7

94.5 2.3

39.3

6.7 5.6 4.51.1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

% F

arm

ers Wholesale

MarketsDirect-To-Consumer

Markets


Farmer Profiles


Gender• 32% of farmers in our sample are

women

• Women are more likely to own small (29%) and medium farms (35%), compared to large farms (8%)

• Most women farmers grow vegetables organically but are not certified

• Most men farmers grow vegetables conventionally

25

11

4

61

53

2 2

44

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

conventional certified transitioning noncertified

Perc

enta

ge o

f Far

mer

s

women men


Education• 66% farmers have college degree

• College education by farm size– 57% small farmers– 67% medium farmers– 92% large farmers

• College education by production practices– 80% of conventional farmers– 50% of certified, noncertified, and transitioning farmers


Farming experience• The average vegetable farmer in the

sample has 25 years of experience

• Experience by farm size– Similar experience for small and medium

size– Large farmers have twice as much

experience

• Experience by production practices– Conventional farmers have more

experience (29 years), when compared to noncertified (23 years), certified (19 years) and transitioning farmers (18 years)

21 22

45

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

small medium large

Perc

enta

ge o

f far

mer

s

years farming


Useful sources of information• Other farmers and university extension

are rated as the most useful sources of information for farmers from all sizes

• Large farmers rated more sources of information as useful

• The least useful source of information are buyers directory and price reporting services.

3529

71

90

55

47

37

22

65

98

46

57

67

58

100 100

83

92

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

pricereporting

buyersdirectory

universityextension

farmers growersasso.

wholesalers

Perc

enta

ge o

f far

mer

s

small medium large


Part-time farming• Almost a third of our sample farm part-

time

• A higher percentage of smaller operations farm part-time

• A higher percentage of organic noncertified operations farm part-time.

67

27 25

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

small medium large

Perc

enta

ge o

f far

mer

swww.hort.purdue.edu/hortbusiness

@hortbizpurdue

On farm hours and time record keeping• On average, vegetable farmers spend 46 hours on

farm business, and 12% of time record keeping

• Owners of large operations tend to spend more time on farm business and a larger amount of time record keeping

• Conventional and certified farmers spend the same amount on farm business (49 h/w) than noncertified (43 h/w)

• Conventional and noncertified spend 13% time on record keeping, compared to certified (9%) and transitioning (3%)

30

46

65

7

12

19

0

5

10

15

20

25

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

small medium large

% ti

me

reco

rdke

epin

g

Hour

s/w

eek

on-fa

rm

Axis Title

hours/week % time recordkeep


Farmer Perceptions


Perceptions: production practices• Most farmers are satisfied with their

farming system

• Most conventional farmers think transitioning is risky

• Transitioning farmers do not think that transitioning is risky

• Most farmers using organic practices think organic practices are more sustainable than conventional0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Perc

enta

ge o

f far

mer

s

satisfied transitioning is risky organic is sustainable


Perceptions: expected operation changes in the next 3 years

• Most farmers expect to expand in size, regardless of size.

• Farmers expecting to exit farming own medium farms.

• A similar percentage of small and large operations expect to diversify.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

small medium large

Perc

enta

ge o

f far

mer

s

expand diversify no changes decrease exit


Perceptions: expected operation changes in the next 3 years

• Positive future expectations are more common among certified and transitioning farmers.

• A third of conventional and noncertified farmers expect to decrease size.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Perc

enta

ge o

f far

mer

s

expand diversify no changes decrease exit


Conclusions


• Indiana vegetable farms include operations with a variety of sizes, sales, forms of ownership, crops, land, labor, market access, and types of markets

• As opportunities arise, this information can help farmers to understand the main production and market activities for various vegetable operations


Thank you!



Ariana Torres, PhDAssistant Professor & Marketing Specialist

one size does not fit all - purdue agriculture...• online survey to 4,312 farmers in 16 states...

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