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Table 20: Costs and Returns for Blueberries, Per Acre

Table 20: Costs and Returns for Blueberries, Per Acre

Light Fruit Bearing Years, 4-5, Conventional Production Practices, Northeastern United States, 1996

ITEM UNIT PRICE QUANTITY TOTAL
         
Receipts        
Blueberriesa lb $ 0.971 3000 $ 2,913.00
& nbsp;
Variable Costs
N l b $ 0.32 140 $ 44.80
P lb $ 0.32 50 $ 16.00
K lb $ 0.14 50 $ 7.00
Herbicides
Sinbar 80W lb $ 24.65 2.5 $ 61.63
Karmex lb $ 4.36 2.5
Fungicides
Benlate 50 W lb $ 15.80 1 $ 15.80
Funginex gallon $ 84.70 0.4 $ 31.76
Lime Sulphur gallon $ 4.35 5 $ 21.75
Captan 80W lb $ 4.10 5 $ 20.50
Insecticides
Imidan 70W lb $ 5.95 1.3 $ 7.74
Lannate LV gallon $ 2.25 8 $ 18.00
Malathion 25WP lb $ 29.18 0.4 $ 10.94
Sevin 50W lb $ 3.15 3 $ 9.45
Guthion 50W lb $ 8.10 2 $ 16.20
Other
Bee Rental hive $ 25.00 2 $ 50.00
Labor
Operator hour $ 14.48 5.64 $ 81.67
Regular Hired hour $ 10.13 0.14 $ 1.42
Hand Labor (Pruning) hour $ 10.13 30 $ 303.90
Blueberry Harvest (Pickers) lb $ 0.35 3000 $ 1,050.00
Marketing Labor hour $ 7.24 6 $ 43.44
Irrigation
Operating Costs acre $ 200.00 1 $ 200.00
Diesel Fuel
Tractors gallon $ 0.969 12.31 $ 11.92
Repair & M aintenance
Tractors acre $ 24.23 1 $ 24.23
Implements acre $ 3.65 1 $ 3.65
Marketing Costs
Picking Containers dozen $ 0.30 250 $ 75.00
Packing Crates crate $ 0.50 250 $ 125.00
Cellophane & Rubber Bands $ 0.02 3000 $ 60.00
Selling Charges gross revenues 9% $ 262.17
Sub-Total $ 2,062.70
(Continued on next page)
Interest on Operati ng Capitalb acre 10% 1 $ 24.21
Total Variable Costs acre 1 $ 2,086.91
Returns Above Variable Costs acre 1 $ 826.09
Fixed Costs
Tractors acre $ 16.19 1 $ 38.87
Implements acre $ 5.50 1 $ 5.50
Land Charge acre $ 100.00 1 $ 100.00
Preproduction Cost Allocationc acre $ 1,041.96 1 $ 1,041.96
Total Fixed Costs acre 1 $ 1,186.33
Total Fixed & Variable Costs acre 1 $ 3,273.24
Management Feesb acre 7% 1 $ 203.77
Total Costs 1 $ 3,477.01
Net Returns acre 1 $ (564.01)

a Figures for Year 5. Expected Yield for Year 4 is 1500 lbs.
b See text for calculation assumption s.
c See Appendix Table A3.