Narcissus and Daffodil

136 J.B. Briggs
Table 5.4 Actual costs of ‘medium’ and ‘small’ cereal a and root/vegetable b farms c
Farm type 1996–1997 (£/ha) 1997–1998 (£/ha)
Medium Small Medium Small
cereals root/
vegetable
cereals root/
vegetable
Notes
a Cereal farms: >50% area in arable crops and 50% in arable crops and >5% in root/vegetable crops.
c Source: University of Nottingham Rural Business Research Unit (1998).
d Labour figures exclude farmer and spouse labour.
and farm size. Rents are usually higher on land capable of growing higher value
crops. Labour characteristics are not very clear from the examples given, but total
labour costs are usually higher for mixed cropping.
COSTS OF BULB HUSBANDRY AND FIELD OPERATIONS
The field operations required during the growing of narcissus bulbs are similar to
those for onions or potatoes. A typical sequence for a two-year crop, with standard
farmers’ costings (£/ha), would be:
Ploughing 37
Power harrowing 25
Fertiliser application (3 × 9) 27
Planting 100
Spraying (12 × 9) 108
Topping (defoliating) 22
Harvesting 215
Transporting to store 84
618
cereals root/
vegetable
cereals root/
vegetable
Average size (ha) 311 300 69 65 392 369 69 64
Output 1022 1121 1050 1162 881 987 929 939
Gross margin 771 804 738 895 613 680 600 673
Contract 23 25 28 32 20 23 31 53
Casual labour 6 7 5 9 6 7 16 10
Regular labour d 87 157 79 49 126 137 69 54
Equipment
depreciation
107 131 80 98 112 119 108 108
Equipment repairs 41 60 48 79 46 57 60 59
Fuel and oil 23 28 26 37 25 26 29 23
Electricity 6 9 8 11 6 7 7 7
Rent and rates 139 141 130 136 147 158 145 156
General repairs 11 23 15 11 21 22 15 11
Miscellaneous 55 61 76 78 56 65 85 94
Total 498 642 508 540 564 621 565 574
Net farm income 273 162 230 355 49 59 35 99