Steve Groffs Cedar Meadow Farm

1
Steve Groffs Cedar Meadow Farm

• A look at research and cropping

Edward C. Reybitz III Nicholas Willis
2
Itinerary

• Farm Introduction
• Video
• Production
• Marketing
• Research

3
Farm Overview

• Southern Lancaster County, PA
• Farmed entirely under no-till, cover crop
  conditions
• 215 acres owned and rented
• Many steep sloped fields

4
Farm Overview

• Crop farm, little livestock integration
• 90 acres in vegetables
• One acre under high tunnels

5
Farm Enterprises

• Major Enterprises
• Fresh Market Tomatoes
• Sweet Corn
• Processing Tomatoes
• Pumpkins
• Squash

6
Farm Enterprises

• Minor Enterprises
• Hay and Straw
• Green Red Peppers
• Soybeans
• Field Corn
• Wheat
• Buffalo
• Indian Corn
• Hairy Vetch
• Holstein Steers
• Feeder Pigs

7
Profitability and Sustainability of Cropping
System
End Intro
8
The Creation Aftermath

• Defining Fresh and Local

9
Plant to Plate
Cedar Meadow Farm
Lancaster Growers
Plant
to
Plate
Genuardis Family Markets
10
Production Management

• Irrigation and Nutrients
• Soil
• Labor
• Weed
• Pest

11
Production Management

• Soil
• No-till cover crop practices
• Re-builds soil
• Helps protect tomatoes cucurbits
• Minimizes erosion

• Irrigation
• Drip irrigation and fertigation for all tomatoes
• 28 acres
• High tunnel more intense

12
Production Management

• Weed
• No-till cover crop minimizes weeds.
• Uses minimal herbicides and cultural practices.
• Uses a black ground cover in the high tunnel.
• Biggest concern is Night Shade.

• Pest
• Sprays according to s in pheromone traps
• Other concerns
• Groundhogs - 5k in damages
• Spider mites - Tomato Plant
• Crows and other birds - Tomato

Ground cover reduced weeds by over 90
13
Production Management
Biggest Problem is finding dependable labor
Last Year Hired 38 Different People

• Labor
• Hired a field manager to simplify problems
• 1st year with international program
• Accounts for 50 of expenses

14
Market Management

• Management
• Marketing
• Logistics
• Finance

15
Market Management

• Management, Logistics and Marketing
• Outsourced to Lancaster Growers for the
  Genuardis account.
• Father deals with the local accounts (Restaurants
  and Auctions).

• 3 local auctions
• Premium for early season
• Any type, grade, and size sold
• Early Season Avg. 30/25lbs
• Late Season Avg. 9/25lbs

33 stores No premiums Only 1s and
Mediums All Season Set Price 9/25lbs
16
Market Management

• Finance
• Uses net profit to finance overhead,
  depreciation, and family living expenses
• Land assets split up between family. Ownership is
  transferred over time

17
Tomatoes

• Field Grown v. High Tunnel

18

• High Tunnel
• 1 Acre
• Weather
• Not a real variable
• Volume
• 30 more per acre
• Quality
• 80 1 grades
• Margins
• Nets 15-20,000
• Labor
• Requires more labor
• Investment
• 25,000 Labor for set up.

• Field Tomatoes
• 7 Acres
• Weather
• Biggest factor
• Volume
• Less per acre
• Quality
• Suffers due to weather
• Margins
• Nets 5-10,000
• Labor
• Less Labor intensive per acre

Does not account all expenses such as
equipment, land, own salary, etc.
19
Lancaster Growers/Genuardis

• Relations
• Strategic management
• Early season pricing higher than Lancaster Price
• Sells off full supply (1200 dozen in one morning,
  trying to expand cucurbits)
• Farm Price v. Consumer price
• On farm price .30/lb
• In store price .99-4.00/lb

20
Lancaster Growers/Genuardis

• Supplier
• 5 Farms, 5 Trucks
• Just In Time (JIT) approach
• 730 pick up
• Reach all stores by 3pm

Sweet corn within 12hrs Tomatoes within 24hrs
VINE
RIPE
21
Lancaster Growers/Genuardis

• Demand
• High demand for fresh products
• Expansion to other products
• Constant throughout the summer
• New Jersey v. Lancaster Products
• High competition within
• Stores advertise according to area

22
Marketing Conclusion
23
Cover Crop Research
U. of Mds Dr. Ray Weil

• Various brassica covers
• Monitored corn field moisture
• PSNT samples
• Results forthcoming

24
No-Till Pumpkins Research

• Acreage expanded
• Rolled cover improves quality
• Trapped Bees
• Determine native pollinators
• Harvested weeds
• Identify potential problems

25
Market Tomato Research

• Monitored Pests
• PSUs Lisa White
• Small High Tunnel

• Compared Pests
• Field and Haygrove

26
No-Till PumpkinPollinators

• -Bumblebee
• -Squash Bee
• -Halictidae (solitary ground burrowing bees)
• -Cucumber Beetle?

Display courtesy Ed Rajotte
27
Weeds in No Till Pumpkins

• Pigweed
• Common Purslane
• Large Crabgrass

• Dandelion
• Black Nightshade
• Venice Mallow

28
Haygrove vs. Field Tomatoes Hypothesis

• Projected higher pest populations in Haygrove due
  to ideal tomato growing environment.
• Projected higher pest populations due to earlier
  planting of Haygrove tomatoes.

29
Haygrove vs. Field Tomato Research Technique

• 3 center rows
• 5 plants
• 9 leaf sample
• 10 day intervals
• 5 data sets

30
Aphid Populations
Populations
31
Haygrove vs. Field Tomato Results

• Aphids
• Only significant
• pest
• Low numbers
• Field tomatoes
• Outliers

32
Conclusion

• Farm Introduction
• Video
• Production
• Marketing
• Research