Ben (Cousin) Interview:

Year

Total Annual Income for

the Year

$1,000

$2,000

$6,000

$6,600

$10,000

$10,500

$25,000

Questions:
1. What structure do you sell your produce out of?
- For years 1-6 a road side stand, that was composed of a table and
chairs under a tree.
- For year 7 they built a parking lot out of stones and a sales tent with
multiple tables for maximum produce capacity.
2. What produce do you sell at your stand?
- Years 1-5 were limited to only sweet corn.
- Year 6 sweetcorn and peaches.
- Year 7 they sold many things, including sweet corn, peaches,
tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries, cucumbers, string
beans, apples, nectarines, and pumpkins.
3. How much did the new structure for year 7 cost to make?
- The new structure plus the parking lot, permits, and equipment to build
cost around $3,000.
4. Was the new structure worth the investment to build? Why?
- Yes, because it made the corporation more visible and appealing to
customers. This assisted in raising the total annual income from
$10,500 (year 6) to $25,000 (year 7).
5. What other advertisement methods were used to draw in attention?
- Years 1-4 they used signs on the side of the road to draw attention.
- Years 5-6 they had the road signs and also ran a few newspaper as.
- Year 7 they implemented much larger road signs, ran newspaper ads,
and also radio ads.

6. Have you affiliated yourself with any other businesses? What were
those businesses?
- Yes, they worked with OHF orchards and they gave them sweet corn,
and OHF orchards gave them peaches, apples, and nectarines. They
also worked with a fellow corn seller and sold him sweet corn at
wholesale price of $20 a hundred (ears of corn).
7. What equipment did you use to assist in growing your produce?
- Years 1-2 they borrowed equipment to grow their corn, the corn
planter, and they bought a sprayer to spray the corn for bugs.
- Years 3-6 they used a corn planter that they bought and also the
sprayer that they bought.
- Year 7 they bought new equipment to grow their new crops, such as
plastic layer and an irrigation system, they also still used the corn
planter and sprayer.
8. How many acres of land did you use for growing crops?
- Years 1-2, they had 1.5 acres.
- Years 3-4, they had 5 acres.
- Years 5-6, they had 7 acres.
- Year 7, they had 10.5 acres.
9. What was a really good seller for year 7?
- Strawberries, cantaloupe, sweetcorn, and watermelon.
10.
Do you plan on extending the businesses range of produce/ size
next year? By how much?
- Yes, by purchasing 5 more acres of land for sweet corn, but losing a
thousand feet of tomato plants. They will also double their amount of
strawberries, and cantaloupes.

Uncle Jace Interview (Farmer):

1.
2.
3.

How much corn can you get out of 1 acre of corn crop planted?
22,000 ears per acre.
How much does 1 acre of corn seed cost?
$125 an acre.
How much do the machines and spray cost to maintain and plant the
corn?
- $200 per acre
4. What machines do you use?
- Tractor, corn planter, sprayer, electric side by side (to harvest corn)
5. How much did the stand/greenhouse cost for year 7?
- $2500 for stand and stone parking lot around it + equipment
6. What spray do you use to keep the bugs off of the corn?
- Weed control spray is Loomax, for bugs permefrin.

7.
8.
9.
-

What type of sweet corn was your main seller?

Providence
When is your first planting?
3rd week of April
How far apart (days wise) do you plant your corn sets?
Plant corn 30 inches between each row, 4-7 days apart to have corn for
the entire season.
10.
What is a good price to sell a dozen ears of corn at (that will still
attract customers)?
- $5 per dozen
11.
How much does 1 acre of fertilizer to plant corn cost?
- $120 per acre
12.
What type of fertilizer do you use?
- A ratio of 8% nitrogen, 24% phosphorus, and 8% potassium
13.
How much manpower does it take to plant, grow, and harvest
corn?
- 1 person to plant and grow corn, 3 people to harvest.
14.
How long does it take to plant the corn and grow it?
- 80 days from the time of planting to harvesting.
15.
How long is the selling season?
- 60 days