Level II Agricultural
Business Operations
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Selection
Scheduling
Management Tasks
Harvesting – post harvest
Marketing
Performance Targets
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Choosing your crop
1. Interest
2. Expertise
3. Labour
4. Equipment / structures
Why select?
Climate – soil, protected, temperature, light
levels.
High Input – pest & disease, weed control,
fertiliser, heat.
Marketability – demand, market, price,
production cost, cash flow, harvesting costs.
Variety – F1, style, colour.
Useful sites:
www.ballcolegrave.co.uk
www.moleseeds.co.uk
www.young-plants.co.uk
www.florensis.com
www.gasagroup.com
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Why?
Climate (light levels, cooler temperatures)
The market (spring, summer, season
extension)
Spacing requirements
Number of crops per house
Day to day operations
Ordering the plant – seed, plugs (at least 3
months in advance)
Planting / potting – labour, time, space,
holding
Spacing – labour, density (number per m2)
Culture notes
Nutrient management/Fertiliser /Feeding
Moisture content – use of different composts
with different AFP
pH levels – Why?
E.C levels – use of base fertilisers, slow release
fertilisers and liquid fertilisers
NPK rates at vegetative growth and flowering
requirement
Growth Regulation
Why?
Meet specifications
Reduce vegetative growth
Flower/bract initiation
How?
Pinching
Chemical
Light
Nutrient
Pest & Disease
What could effect the crop (harvest intervals)
Examples of common pest & diseases
Pest & Disease
Weed Control
In bedding and pot plant production should
have no weeds due to
Clean compost
Clean pots
Clean facilities
Cut flowers – weed control difficult
Chemical soil sterilisation
Steam soil sterilisation
Mechanical / hand weeding
Harvesting
 Timescale
 At what stage
 Specifications
 Labour required
 Presentation
 Orders, labelling & dispatch
Post harvest
Cooling the crop (removing field heat)
Harvest time
Cooling facilities
Storage
Facilities
Price
Moisture content
Duration
Storage
Dry storage
Examples in cut flowers, Lilies, Peony &
Hydrangea
Storage success depends on;
1. Hygiene
2. Pest & disease free
3. Chemical post harvest treatments
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Market identification
Product specification
Quality/Price
Minimum price
Why measure crop performance?
 See what's happening
 Compare crop types/enterprises
 Improve
 Assess profitability
Bedding, pot plant & cut flowers
 Number of plants per m2
Input
 cost per m2
◦ Labour
◦ Materials
◦ Overheads
Output
How much achieved per plant /stem per m2
Target spacing
Cut Flower crops
 Scented stock – 64 plants per m2
 Antirrhinum – 64 plants per m2
 Dianthus – 56 plants per m2
 Alstromeria – 9 plants per m2
 Delphinium – 24 plants per m2
 (some plants may produce at least 3 stems
per plant)
Target spacing
 Pot plants / nursery stock
 9cm pots – 18 per tray x 4 trays =72
 10.5cm pots – 15 per tray x 4 trays =60
 13cm pots – 40/50
 1 litre pots – 40/50
 2 litre pots – 20/25
Crop
Commodity
Pot size
Planting
density/
m2
Financial
Out put
Percentage
marketable
Gross
margin
per
pot/stem
Pot plant
Poinsettia
13cm
10
95%
£0.50
Cut
Flower
Lily
16 per
crate
64
99%
£0.14
Nursery
Stock
shrub
2 litre
20
95%
£1.00
Percentage wastage
Why included?
Examples:
Protected pot plants – 10%
Field Vegetables – 25%
Nursery Stock – 10%