This area lacks much of the agriculture infrastructure that you guys have,
or extremely limited choices.
Close proximity to a major market like NY actually works against most,
as the terminal market only deals with larger scale growers,
which there are few of.  Small and midsize struggle unless they find a niche.
Even those with a niche or a major market share of a product or category have
proftibility issues if they rely heavily on human labor.
With essentially a 7 month season, most have to find something to generate any form
of cash flow to help keep them(laborers) working/feed the other 5 when the farms are not producing.
When the produce does come to market in the summer months, the large scale producers
lower their prices to a point where local farmers cannot compete. Add in the shift to pre washed
and cut vegetables at the supermarkets, the consumer can't be bothered with veggies in the raw.
The mechanization out west and the vast amount of land creates a cost that is much lower than
what is produced in this area.
Now throw in the international factor and its even worse.
A case of hand picked sting beans flown in from Mexico can be purchased at hunts point
for less money than a case that is machine picked in NJ costs to produce
when all costs are considered.
As an example, a large scale grower in NJ, 3 generations, established over 90 years,
everything paid for,  they grew cabbage, supplied the terminal markets,
truckloads a day they shipped.  Last year was their last for cabbage,
sold most of the equipment, bought some combines and large seed drills
and are now grain farmers.  Cabbage is a "work vegetable"  as in it takes
considerable effort to prepare,  so pre shredded and bagged is now the dominating choice
for those who even use cabbage.
For concept, in this area, a grain farmer will net $400-1000 per acre in a good year.
Last year they made great money on corn, this year they are lucky if they broke even on that crop,
most lost money with $4 a bushel corn.

Yes, water will be the limiting factor in the future in the mid and west of the country.
Although we export millions of tons of grains and produce from this country,
that is actually a renewable resource.  The water we are using to create this,
in many cases is not, so we are actually exporting our water, a natural resource,
that is in short supply, and in many cases not renewable.
Called the browning of America.

Grow your figs low if you are going to be picking them in retirement years :-)
Every grower faces unique challenges,
selling figs in cali could be like selling snow to eskimos,
unless you got better tasting snow,
and have eskimos that care.  :-)
Even in this area, with the large affluent population,
and the media pushing the local food movement,
the average consumer could care less,
an orange is an orange, a tomato is a tomato,
variety doesn't matter, and since most produce sold commercially tastes like crap,
taste isn't an issue either for most.
The ones that care, the foodies, the locavores, the people who search out local fresh,
even in this area, they do not amount to enough to support most operations,
or access to the market is unavailable or too costly.
So if you can find or develop that market and control labor costs it might end up in the black.

Curious how you plan to handle bird control.
Maybe less of an issue with so much for them to choose from in your area,
but here, its a major problem, protection of some sort is a must.
Plus the birds here know green and white figs taste good too.

Decker Farm in Staten Island has not operated a farm stand in several years.
It was only in operation for a couple of years and then closed.
There are two farmers markets in staten island, Saturday only,
they are operated by a non profit that operates them through out New York City,
very difficult for a farmer to get into them.

I do not participate in any farmers markets,
nor are any of my figs sold at farmers markets.
They are worth more to restaurants in this area.

Now now Mr Cohen we all see you
Like to talk but it's getting you no where. Go smoke a rare "illegally imported" Romeo y Julieta and relax.

Another clique member comes crawling out of the woodwork.

Weren't you the one who claimed to have legally imported cuttings,
why don't you post your permit.
You told me when I questioned you once before
you imported them as wood, not agricultural products.
Of course that require fumigations and heat treatment,
and certificates to prove this was accomplished for importation,
which would have killed any cutting you supposedly imported.
So basically, a total fabrication on your part.

Post your postentry permit and prove me wrong,
otherwise please go play with your fig friends
and don't forget to scrape the grill down before you close up tonight.

Seems like most of this clique likes to make false accusations
talk all kinds of crap,
then when questioned or asked to prove something,
they got nothing of substance to say.
Bunch of little kids acting like children,
no wonder why nobody uses that other forum.

Make love not war :)

Another thing I've thought of doing is just U-pick figs.  $20 entry fee allowing customers to eat all the figs they want on the premises plus something like $3/pound for what goes out the gate.  And a little cabana (illegal, I hate permits, LOL) for overnight feasting folks.  Martin or Gorgi may be my first to spend the night. :)

Harvey, they try to promote that idea in Israel,
but the maniacs don't listen,
they keep lobbing missiles over the border.
Even when responded to respectfully,
they continue with more,  no different with these individuals.
Now my permits are fake  as their latest attack,
tired of their stupidity and it never ends,
attack after attack, and they continue to call out the troops,
as more keep on crawling out of the woodwork to make asinine comments.
Won't end until they have made complete fools of themselves,
like their leader did or they run out of steam which will be soon.
Or maybe they will find something new to start again with,
I'm sure they're looking right now.

From my research/experience  and I have done some with U-Picks
as its one of the most profitable models in this area.
If you are in an area with limited  Agrotourism opportunities
and a population that eats what you grow,
it would be a great model for figs, as it cuts out much of the labor costs.
I don't think $20 entry fee is achievable, tough even in this area,
around $8-12 is most, then cost of whats taken by the pound.
If your looking to get $3 a pound for figs,  then at $10,
even a fig pig would have a hard time consuming $10 worth of figs
he picked while in the field.
In this area, Upick  berries works well,
anything else does not.
Need good volume and end up with a worthwhile revenue per person
to make it all work,  selling other produce and value added products help.
You also need a way to sell product earlier in the week when the traffic low is low
and possibly later in the week if you got bad weather coming for the weekend,
it rains, they are not coming to pick anything, so sell whats ripe instead of it rotting on the trees
the next few days.  If you don't capture this additional income, it could be a problem.
Some of the most profitable use of farm land for some in this area is pumpkin picking,c
corn maze and hay rides.  Not actual u-pick pumpkin,
but pick one up from the ground that was placed there from a bin that was grown elsewhere.
Some guys make more money in one month with this, then they could in 2 years
using the farm year round to grow.

Call me a hypocrite.
But as a Christian I firmly believe in God and his existence. Even though I don't see him. I know in my heart and mind he is there.

Just like with the subject you were called out about when you were "accused" of making up multiple accounts and attacking Bass from about a year ago. Even though I cannot prove its' existence, I firmly believe from the "said source".
Call me a fool, call me naïve or gullible or call me what ever you want. It is what it is.
Given the fact how you like to police this forum and have "your last say" like others have so stated. Your credibility is lost.

Not going into the USDA or selling debate. I think we've gotten this out of the way. At least I hope.
But its there for the members to read and make their own judgment call from todays posts or from your previous posts.

As for who attacked who? This is up for debate. All I know is by what I have personally read myself from today, yesterday, last week or last month or the last year. As you can see, I am not the only one that feels the same about you Hungryjack.
Others that are not part of the "Clique" have taken notice here and posted.

I don't know if your last comments were directed towards me or not. I'm not going to worry about it. I can't get mad at someone I can't see. They're just words.

But I'm curious to see who is going to continue lobbing those missiles across the border?

i found my old email with baud from 2011. back then phyto cert from france was €70. baud on occasions will sell to individuals, in large volume. unrooted cuttings are cheaper, but he prefers to deal in large volume of 200 or more cuttings.

is it possible to import cuttings? yes. is it cheap? not really.

back then i got a quote for 50 cuttings with phyto and shipping. total came to €400.

import license is free. unless you want CITES which is $70.

so you are looking at around $500 or so unless the other side is willing to do low volume transaction, and the custom doesn't sit on your plants.

this means, if you are willing to blow off some cash you too can import oversea fig trees.

i think a believer would let it go or rebuild the relationship.

Hungryjack,

I'm more man that you are. I don't post in an invisible mode like a coward. Don't brag about my collection or my knowledge in growing figs and fruit trees. Have helped lots of members with whatever they needed and I had. Have helped with few members to start their fig collection. What have you done? Nothing. But keep running your mouth. You think you are a tough guy? Come join the Marines.

Yes, I questioned the authenticity of your permit since the agent could not find it, and I also question your sanity. Please get some professional help hungryjackASS.

Navid.

Marines, nice branch, been involved as well, but beyond traditional service.
And what does that have to do with anything related to figs ?
Just another pathetic attempt on your part to be better or something ?
Call the USDA have your fun, and get a grip on life,
I would question your sanity with your repeated silly attacks.

Will be waiting for the manly marine apology from you
when you find out  you are wrong with your latest false accusations
about my permits.
I know it won't happen thought,
that would go against your fig clique buddies.
Got anymore to call out, or you guys running out of troops.

Listen jackASS, you can dream of me appologizing to you, to the grave.

I'm done with you and your BS. Everyone knows who you are.

Navid.

How are negative comments from whatever position being helpful?  Too many male hormones, me thinks! ;)

Jack, I have had some people say they'd love to have a chance to eat all the different types of figs I'll have producing for $20.  In NorCal the figs sell at farmers' markets for $5-$6/pound and sometimes $7 (but rarely).  The price of entry would enable them to pick their favorites at $3/pound.

I have done some U-pick pomegranates and customers have raved about the ability to taste a wide variety (around 30 varieties producing now).  I have also shipped poms in the past but it is very time consuming and I am only going to do U-pick this year.  One guy from Chicago flew out to California two weekends in a row and came buy here both times and took home 150 pound of poms and said that in 2014 he wants to drive here to get even more.  Maybe Martin can come with him, though most of my figs will be wrapping up by then unless it stays a warm fall ("Indian summer").

Fortunately, I have an ample water supply (potentially too much, with most of my farm being below sea level while the nearby river ranges from 0-5 feet above and higher during flood stage.  Makes life more interesting!  Our family lost our home in 1972 from a flood and recovered just fine.

Oh Neil, don't let my size fool you.  In my youth, I took down many people much larger than me (a very hot temper made up for any size deficiency).  Those two guys in Billings handed me my only defeat.  It was still worth it, IMO, and I accomplished my goal of getting them to stop and, just maybe, the two young thugs later had second thoughts about what they had done.  My brother never did get paid back from me, but then it was just something to laugh about.  I got in so many fights in my youth that I try to think about that and do better today.  I sometimes wished my son would fight back at bullies but know he's done the right thing by avoiding conflict.

Jack, I'm aware of the battles in Israel.  Some people there during our pilgrimage during Christmas 2005 seemed rude at times and a Jewish friend later told me that the Jews need to be like a prickly pear to survive.  Glad we don't really face that here.  I bumped into a soldier's rifle while we were both filling up our dinner plates at a buffet line in Jerusalem and then had a good chat.  He was off duty so he could chat, but explained he must always carry his weapon.  What a different world, maybe.

Jerval, Hang in there, I hope you got your answer. Many factors go into price......Try Posting another Topic: Figs going out, Oranges on the Rise.

Let us all know how that call with the USDA works out tomorrow,
and please post the name of the person you spoke to,
this way your comments can be verified if needed.

So, if your wrong,
you won't apologize, even to the grave.
Pretty strong statement from an individual,
must be great to know you are never wrong.
You might learn something new tomorrow.

I find it interesting only the ebay sellers are swinging.
Or maybe you are just scared with knowledge or learning something new,
or something you've never seen before,
like an import permit or somebody who has actually imported something legally.
Try not to have a coronary,
but below is a picture of a USDA import shipment notification and inspection receipt,
the first leg of the journey for shipments from overseas.
Another document that you'll claim is fake as well,
just like you claim about my permits.
The yellow tag is what is affixed to one plant from each shipment.
Ofcourse, the tag is fake as well, just like everything else in the photos.

 I could post some photos of yearly inspections done by the State and the Feds,
but I'm afraid it might cause a suicide in this case, so I will refrain :-)
 

i dont think i would play into this. i would keep my personal info to myself.  hth

Water, good you have reliable source nearby.
Floods suck, been dealing with water events the past three years,
had business effects from 2011 Tsunami in Japan, 2012 I dealt with Superstorm Sandy,
which cost me large sums of money on several fronts, and another large loss
from a hurricane in the Pacific in 2013 that washed away a fish camp we built last year on a remote island. Hopefully 2014 will be more favorable when it comes to water.

Israel is an interesting place, and not just for the figs ;-)
All able bodied citizens, male and female serve a stint,
and equal opportunity when it comes to combat.
then have reserve duty every year until 45 or 55 years of age, I forget.
That's everybody,  try that in America today.
Tough living in a tiny country that is totally surrounded
by sworn enemies on all sides.
Leads to a take no sh*t attitude.

Thank you for the comment and concern.
I have nothing to hide,
contrary to the claims of others.

I am who I am,
and my figs are what they are supposed to be
:-)

So you legally imported a fig waiting two years for it and will never get fruit hmm god one. Didn't do your reserch on abate.

jack,

you are making same mistake you are accusing of others of making. i have his email and you don't. i said 50 cuttings, not 50 varieties. 5 varieties totaling in 50 cuttings. 

here is the email from baud back in 2011. and it was back in 2011 like i stated. things changed, price might have gone up, and like you said getting cuttings from france might not be allowed at this time. i didn't figure in the bank wire fee. i don't even remember when i did that last. oh.. getting my last set of bagpipes over from scotland. must have been a chump change since i don't remember the detail. 

Bullet,

 This is 2014, not 2011,
prices change in business.

Also, you said a small amount of cuttings,
bundles of 10 is not a small amount,
pricing is based on quantity,
and the cultivars you choose are amongst his most common
and thus least inexpensive selections.
Baud has three levels of pricing, based on the variety,
your choices all come from the lowest price category.
Check again, and you will find out prices are now higher than in 2011
and not all cuttings have the same price level,
time to update your information and pricing to make it more relevant.

You should have done it in 2011,
now in 2014, you can no longer.
snooze you loose.