I get several emails a week from those wanting to grow herbs commercially. The comment usually is: “tell me everything there is about commercial production in 50 words or less, preferably giving all the names of businesses that will buy the herbs after I grow them.” Excuse me? Everything about growing “herbs” (that big vague term)? If I had that magic formula I’d be sipping drinks down in Costa Rica reading blogs and not writing them.
There is so much to consider in growing herbs commercially. First, you need to have that magic business plan. For some reason, many people think that farming (and that’s really what commercial herb production is all about) is not like any other business. You just DO IT. When you start dealing with Mother Nature and her whims, you’re even more in need of planning than other indoor ventures. To make this even more clear: Herb Farming is NOT herb gardening. I don’t care how much you love plants and that your garden thrives, the only similarily between herb gardening and herb farming is that you have your hands in the dirt.
The first thing to consider is why you’re doing it. Are you making your own products and need a “purer” source for the materials? Did you recently inherit a few acres and think you’ll grow something quick and easy that pharmaceutical companies will magically hear about and beat a path to your door? Have you been growing more traditional crops (corn, tobacco, soy beans) and feel herbs would be a better investment of your time and land? Or are you just tired of that nine-to-five job and think that herb farming HAS to be easier than what you’re doing now? (I said “easy” not “more fulfilling”….that’s a given probably). Tomorrow we’ll discuss the serious thinking that has to be done before you possibly dig a bigger hole than you intend.
I’ll try each day to give you a resource that may help you in your decision. We’ll start with growing herbs, but it will expand into categories as well. Today’s recommendation for those that want to get into growing and marketing Culinary Herbs: “Growing and Selling Fresh-Cut Herbs” by Sandie Shores (available at www.freshcutherbs.com ) There is no better or more complete information on the subject by a woman that’s done it for more years than she cares to admit. It’s worth every dime you spend and filled with detailed information on the subject.
October 29, 2007
Getting Started As an Herb Grower
October 25, 2007
Are you really going to make a fortune selling herbs?
I was surfing around last night and came across a couple blogs that were talking about an herb business as a big money-maker. Wrong! It’s an old joke among long time herb companies that the only way you’ll make $100,000 selling herbs is that you spent $200,000 to do it. That’s not quite the case but it often feels like it. For example, you’re a great field grower of herbs. You’ve been at it a while. You’re doing pretty well. You get a really big order from a large wreath making company for thousands of pounds of silver king and you put in 13 acres of the crop. This should be a no-brainer: easy to grow, no pests, no diseases. But this year there’s a drought. And here’s a plant that never gets any pests and you find out the hard way that when silver king is really stressed by drought you can get scale. 
So there’s a large chunk lost.
Then you harvest what you’ve been able to save and that drought turned into two weeks of rain and high humidity and the workers just pack in all that silver king close together in your barn to dry. Wow, few weeks later when you start to pack up your crop for that big order, you find you now have mold over a large amount that didn’t have ample air circulation. A few thousand more dollars disappear.
So why does that farmer continue to grow the next year after such a big loss? Because he loves farming. And he loves working with herbs and flowers. And he did sit down and re-evaluate next year’s crop plantings. No more depending on one or two big orders.
And that’s the reason you get into an herb business, you’re passionate about not only the results but the process. Yes, I do know people that make a “fortune”. They are few and far between and even for them it varies each year because it’s a guessing game as to what will be in demand. But that’s the way it is with all businesses. Entrepreneurs enjoy the game. They enjoy dealing with a product they truly believe in. It’s what’s kept many herb businesses working from decade to decade even though no fortune has been made. But they do make a living. They love what they do. They usually wake up with a smile believing they’ll help someone with their products. And in today’s world, that’s a lot better than most people have it.
October 24, 2007
Transitions…
An herb business (actually any business) is always in transition. What was really hot last year, no one thinks twice about this year. Only a few short years ago everyone was growing goldenseal because it was endangered and prices were ridiculously high. Various associations around the country pushed it as the best thing to get into. Now goldenseal isn’t the fastest crop around…..takes 5-7 years for it to produce in fact. But the thought of $50-$75 a lb wholesale prices was exciting and so they planted….and planted…and planted. And when crops came ready to harvest it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise that the prices had radically dropped because supply was great and the need? Well, in the meantime, many herbalists found that other herbs did pretty much the same job as goldenseal for a much better price.
What does this teach you? If everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon, it’s already past being a great idea. Be the one that finds the next big thing instead of latching on to everyone else’s coat tails. If you sign up for google alerts and read up on research, join associations and read what they send you, keep track of certain websites that report new ideas, you could be one of those that actually do make a decent profit on the next trend because you knew it was hot before everyone else did.
Just an idea to consider as you work on your herbal business.