Main costs in growing potatoes per acre!

[Bossfarmer]

If rent is 400 acre and land sells for 10k its going to take 25 years to pay it off not including interest, still dosent look very good to me.

still better than paying rent for 25 years even if u paid 5-10 years of the mortgage up and sold the land ud be quids in and the value would prob have gone up

 

[Bossfarmer]

land here only makes 6k an acre

 

[Hampton]

never understand the economics of potatoes - rents can be £400/ac around here

a 1000ac grower (there are a few locally) must have at leat 1 million in capital for machinery to make it happen ? then storage etc is not cheap and you need a lot of it

I cant see the return ??

Their is one grower not far west of you who rents sheds etc in another farmer's yard. He appears to do ok out of it and growers a reasonably large acreage, it's a head scratching situation looking nag at it from the outside, but they don't seem to worry.
Am I right in thinking that Mr Daw grows over 1000acs but sells them straight off the field?

 

[Grassman]

Going off your other threads you seem to of done very well out of what you have done in the past.
It's best sticking to what you do well rather than looking over the fence at others doing well at their job.

Growing a crop is half the job. Selling at a sensible price is the important bit. Who would you sell the potatoes to?

 

[TripleSix]

To get a good price for processing ware it wants to be stored for at least 6 months.

a good price can be achieved with bagged potatoes sold locally into farm shops and markets, but it's a lot of work.

 

[Clive]

Their is one grower not far west of you who rents sheds etc in another farmer's yard. He appears to do ok out of it and growers a reasonably large acreage, it's a head scratching situation looking nag at it from the outside, but they don't seem to worry.
Am I right in thinking that Mr Daw grows over 1000acs but sells them straight off the field?

there are several very big and very professional growers near me - they all seem to survive and do a good job

I have no idea how though given the prices of output and the massive cost of the kit and rents involved

 

[Hilly]

still better than paying rent for 25 years even if u paid 5-10 years of the mortgage up and sold the land ud be quids in and the value would prob have gone up

Tek ya 40+ plus with interest then your gambling spuds a decent trade through out youe entire working life, bit of a prospect.

 

[HAM135]

A lot of those gone out are regretting it this year though many growers have averaged over £200/tonne some as high as £270/tonne, farms are being bought, fendts/combines round here this has all happened in the last two months, I will never be able to compete with these farmers for land working with sucklers/grain the turnover just doesn't compare

Seriously ,"many growers have averaged over £200/tonne some as high as £270/tonne"dream on! I think you are easily wound up if you believe that,true you may be getting those kind of values now but certainly not at the start of the season.This season has been a lot better than the past 2 but not exactly printing money,The grass often looks greener on the other side of the fence but rarely is,concentrate on what you know and be thankful of your tattie rent when there back down at £40/t!

 

[Grassman]

Seriously ,"many growers have averaged over £200/tonne some as high as £270/tonne"dream on! I think you are easily wound up if you believe that,true you may be getting those kind of values now but certainly not at the start of the season.This season has been a lot better than the past 2 but not exactly printing money,The grass often looks greener on the other side of the fence but rarely is,concentrate on what you know and be thankful of your tattie rent when there back down at £40/t!

There one local to me who couldn't get his crop in to store as last year's was still in there and was worthless. He dumped 200 tonnes I was told.

 

[Darren]

16 years ago I know of a farm growing 700 acre of pots at the time had to dump 2000 ton . Pest damage. They were hauling them within a 40 mile radius free of charge to get rid.

 

[7610 super q]

I haven't read the whole thread......but has anyone mentioned where you're going to sell them ?
It's either a farm shop ( in which case you'll only need to grow 5 acres)
Or supermarkets. And they are fussy buggers....if you end up with a 1000 T of scabby /spotty/ blackdotty spuds which no one wants...you'll wish you hadn't.

 

[Sonoftheheir]

Are you going to borrow the £200,000+ To start?

 

[Gone Shooting]

Once the lorry goes up the road with a load its fingers crossed - every year it was something different, scab , scurf , bruising , too small , too big , growth cracks , greens or too much dirt - don't miss the job at all - plus ended up with polish graders because the English were too f--g lazy.

 

[kneedeep]

The fellas making money out of spuds round here , are those that wash and grade everyone else's .
Next door just spent over a million quid on a plant .

Oh , and given up growing their own!

Also, round these parts anyhow, those with all the fancy kit, setting/growing/harvesting em, ain't necessarily the ones writing the cheques out

 

[septimus]

You lot are all being too negative. The OP sees an opportunity and should go for it and you will all be wishing you had done the same when he is buying out all his neighbours with the profits from his 70 acres.
P.S anyone want some seed?

 

[Bossfarmer]

I think a lot of potato stories are exaggerated the number of times ive heard a certain grower from coupar angus had gone bust is out of hand his business has doubled since I first heard the rumours, it wasn't until I started looking at potato farms accounts on company check that I realised the gulf in profits/net worth between them and a normal mixed farm, I think seed and grading other peoples is a good route to take if possible, whats the going rate for grading someone elses tatties? £15/tonne?

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

In 1966 my father grew potatoes he had 4 acre, after he sold the spuds' with the money he bought a new tractor, so there must be money in the job, seventy acre, = 2 new tractors and lots of cash to put in a pension fund,
Go for it,

Keep us posted on all the break downs, how you are managing staff, blight control, lifting them in a wet back end, storing them, not getting them frozen, grading them out and sending them off, only to find there not up to standard,

Funny thing is, when there is a shortage of spuds , they will take them all even the scabby big ones,
But when there is a glut of potatoes, it seems like if you washed peeled and cooked them on a plate for free, they would still fecking reject some for not having enough bloody salt on them

 

[TripleSix]

If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

 

[Sonoftheheir]

Why is your chap dropping acres?

 

[Bossfarmer]

Nobody wants to grow grain everyone wants to let ground out for spuds