The primary objective of this program is to help farm managers improve the financial management of their businesses through the appropriate use of historical farm data and the application of modern farm business analysis techniques. The project identifies the business and financial information that fruit farmers need and provides a framework for use in identifying and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the farm business. In some instances, we provide cost and investment analysis estimates to help growers who are contemplating new enterprises (e.g., growing vinifera grapes). We also develop business planning guides for persons contemplating investing in a farm winery.

The farm business analysis program has been a continuing program in the Department of Applied Economics and Management for over 50 years. We had not conducted the fruit farm business summary since 1998. People in the fruit industry realized the need for the program in the absence of such data, and in 2005, the Lake Ontario Fruit Team’s Advisory Committee selected this as a priority project. We also work with the Finger Lakes Grape Program to do a cost study of planting vinifera grapes every three years. With increased interest in vinifera grape production in the Finger Lakes, and indeed in the whole state of New York, as well as the eastern United States, this cost study is widely used by those who are contemplating investing in premium wine grape production.

Working with Extension Educator Alison DeMarree of the Lake Ontario Fruit Team, we have conducted Fruit Farm Business Summaries for calendar years 2005 and 2006 (for publications in 2006 and 2007; data are collected early in the year for the preceding year). There were 17 participating farms for the 2005 summary and 22 for the 2006 summary. Growers were interested in receiving early the key indicators for use in the current growing season, so we provided a quick, brief summary for those purposes. Annual summaries are provided in the fall for the previous crop year. (Some growers are on fiscal years of July-June, which means that the data collection cannot be fully completed until the summer following the previous crop year.)
We also work with Extension Educator Hans Walter-Peterson of the Finger Lakes Grape Program and an advisory committee comprised of four grower/winery operators to develop costs of establishing and producing vinifera grapes. We met with this committee starting in the summer of 2007 to collect data. This information will be presented at the annual growers’ conferences in the Finger Lakes and Great Lakes in March 2008.
Winery business planning guides developed in 2002 and accessible on the department’s website are still in wide use across the United States, and even internationally (Georgia in the former Soviet Union, for example).

While data are collected from relatively few growers, the impacts are far wider. Growers in New York and the Northeast use the fruit farm business summaries for benchmarking against the financial and production efficiency ratios generated in the publication. The publications are the only publicly available estimates of the financial state of growers in New York. Labor cost and efficiency are one example of an area that has attracted attention recently. We can demonstrate that labor costs represent over 40 percent of fruit farmers’ total costs, and this, and other such statistics in the report, are used to get the attention of legislators about the importance of immigration reform.
The attention and interest of the Lake Ontario Fruit Program Committee resulted in a Farm Viability Institute grant to conduct the business summary analysis in 2007.
The vinifera cost publication is used in many states, especially in the Eastern United States. Over 300 growers received access to the data at the Finger Lakes and Lake Erie Grape Extension conferences in March. A major benefit of this publication is that it helps a prospective investor in growing vinifera grapes. The winery business planning guide has been a great resource for starting wineries across the United States and even internationally. For example, one person wrote the following message: “First of all, please accept our sincere gratitude and deep commanding feelings on your high quality and super useful work Writing a Business Plan: An Example for a Small Premium Winery. It even helps wine makers in cold-climate Russia!”