1	T&M’S Top Ten Countdown! Fruit and Vegetable Crops for Kentucky Matt Ernst and Terry Jones, Extension Associate Ag Economics and Vegetable Specialist, University of Kentucky
2	# 11 Honey Production Retailing Honey $250/A Pollination Requirements
3	#10 Melon Production Wholesale: specialty melons Melissa’s Wal*Mart Retail: watermelon, cantaloupe Farmers Markets Roadside Stands Farm Cooperatives
4	Cantaloupe, Fresh Market, Trickle Irrigated Kentucky Estimated per Acre Costs and Returns
5	Muskmelon Production Labor requirements Production 15 hr/A Harvest 72 hr/A Grading 5 hr/A Costs Production $ 1,312/A Harvesting and Marketing $ 2,472/A Total costs $ 4,150/A Returns Pessimistic $ (461) Conservative $ 490 Optimistic $ 1,764
6	"Dorado" Dorado Golden Beauty Sprite
7	Watermelon (seeded), Fresh Market, Trickle Irrigated Kentucky Estimated per Acre Costs and Returns
8	Consumer Trend to Seedless and Icebox Types Production labor 20 hr/A Harvest labor 60 hr/A Grading labor 10 hr/A Production costs $845/A Harvest and Marketing $1,099/A Total expense $2,300/A Optimistic Returns $594/A seeded $994/A seedless
9	Best Seedless Red Watermelon Cultivars
10	Mini-Watermelons Triploid - seedless
11	# 9 Kentucky Heritage Beans Pole beans – hand picked Farmers markets, retail Half-runner beans Farmers markets Local wholesale with picker
12	Farmers Markets: Majority of Kentucky Bean Sales U.S. consumption doubled in past 10 years Heirloom and Specialty – high demand Successive plantings every 3 weeks Pole beans 4-5 harvests Labor Production 15-20 hr/A Hand harvest 300 hr/A
13	Pole Beans, Fresh Market, Trickle Irrigated
14	Bean Production
15	#8 Farmers Market Vegetable Mix Retail sales at Farmers Markets Sweet corn Tomatoes Beans Peppers Cabbage $8,000/A
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17	Farmers Market Vegetable Mix
18	Cabbage
19	Fresh Market Sweet Corn Consumption up 25% in 10 yrs. Sweet corn is used to draw customers Labor requirements Production 20 hr Hand harvest 55 hr Costs Production $461/A Harvest and market $ 1,178/A Total $1,968/A Returns Pessimistic $ (548)/A Conservative $ (173)/A Optimistic $ 80/A
20	Sweet Corn Maturity Fresh market sweet corn reaches maturity 21-25 days after silking. Planting the same cultivar again when the previous planting has 4 leaves, separates the harvests by 1 week.
21	# 7 Fall Ornamental Mix Retail Market and Displays Pumpkins Cushaw Gourds Fodder shock Straw bale
22	Broom Corn Wreath and Gourd Art
23	Ornamental Gourds, Corn and Mini Straw Bales
24	"Pumpkin Labor 75 hr/A" Pumpkin Labor 75 hr/A Production costs $513 Harvest and Marketing costs $770 Returns $196/A
25	Pumpkins
26	# 6 Staked Tomatoes Wholesale Staked: red, yellow, paste Specialty: cherry, heirloom Retail Specialty: heirloom, grape, cherry Standard: red, yellow
27	Fresh Market Tomato Production
28	Tomatoes Amelia – Determinate, smooth, large red tomato, TSWV resistant 80 day. Mountain Fresh – Determinate; large, crack resistant fruit, Midseason,excellent flavor, good disease resistance, local or shipping market. Plum Crimson – Pear/Plum shaped high yielding variety from the “Mountain Series” with good Early Blight tolerance. 75 day. Carolina Gold – Determinate, large, smooth, crack resistant fruit for shipping or local sales. Early to mid season with resistance to gray wall; also excellent for fried green tomatoes. 75 day. Mountain Belle – Determinate; large meaty cherry type, 1” 1 ¼” in diameter. Can be used for local sales or shipping. Navidad – Determinate; red grape ½ - ¾ oz. 65 day.
29	Tomatoes: Most Popular and Profitable Crop Plant for early or late markets Labor Production 60 hr/A Harvest labor 600 hr/A Grading and packing 100 hr/A Costs Production $1,461/A Harvest and marketing $6,906/A Total $8,916/A Returns Pessimistic $(2,067)/A Conservative $2,124/A Optimistic $5,542/A
30	# 5 Fresh Market Peppers Bell Pepper Specialty Peppers
31	Fresh Market Peppers Specialty Peppers
32	Bell Peppers, Fresh Market, Trickle Irrigated
33	#4 Low-Cost Season Extenders Hoop Houses High tunnels Row Covers Water bags
34	Row and High Tunnels
35	# 3 Non-Edible Ornamentals Cut flowers: fresh & dried Farmers’ Markets Retail florists Cut stems and berries Farmers Markets Retail florists
36	Field-Grown Cut Flowers See Web sites for information in Field-Grown Cut Flower Profile. ½-acre cut flowers $15,000 potential.
37	"Demand increasing" Demand increasing: specialty and hard to ship material. Once harvested, stem placed in floral preservative, then cooled.
38	Fresh Cut Hydrangea
39	#2 U-Pick Tree Fruit Retail sales Metropolitan Areas $5,000-$12,000/A returns Large upfront investment $5,000-$7,000/A 5 to 7 years to break even Tree fruit: apples, asian pears, peaches, pears
40	Asian Pear
41	Dwarf Apple
42	#1 Small Fruit Production Great Income Potential: 3-5 yr payback $3,000-16,000/A potential Wholesale: Regional & local Retail: Roadside, Farmers Market Small fruit potential blueberry blackberry raspberry black, red grapes
43	Black raspberries
44	Blackberry Production in Kentucky
45	Blackberry Types & Cultivars Erect Thorny Cherokee Shawnee Chesapeake Kiowa Erect Thornless Arapaho Apache Ouachita Semi-erect Thornless Hull Thornless Triple Crown Chester Trailing Boysen (not hardy) Marion (not hardy) Primocane Fruiting, Thorny Prime-Jim ? Prime-Jan ?
46	Blueberries
47	2006 Farmers’ Market Blueberry Prices
48	Production Comparison Quicksand Total lbs. produced – 760.5 lbs. 12 rows with approx. 13 plants per row or 0.2 acres 1,014 pts. X $3.50/pint = $3549.00 $17,745 per acre Laurel Fork Total lbs. produced – 1115 lbs. 10 rows with approx. 13 plants per row or 0.17 acres 1,487 pts x $3.50/pint = $5204.50 $30,602 per acre