Cost Studies Updated

Aug 25, 2023

Sample costs to produce and harvest the following commodities are now complete:

  • Romaine hearts
  • Film wrapped iceberg lettuce
  • Broccoli – bunched 14's
  • Broccoli – crown cut

The cost studies are now posted on-line at the UC Davis Cost Studies website (https://coststudies.ucdavis.edu/en/ ). The studies were conducted by Laura Tourte, Emeritus Farm Management Farm Advisor and Richard Smith, Emeritus Vegetable Crops Farm Advisor, along with other researchers at UC Davis and here locally.  The cost studies are the result of interviews and important contributions from a sizeable number of growers and other agricultural representatives and includes an overview of the growing costs for the industry. New technologies such as one-use drip tape and automated thinners are included in the evaluations as well as the current price increases for fuel, labor, fertilizers and pest management. In addition, new regulatory costs are also included. Specific prices are included in the tables and more nuanced costs are discussed in the narrative sections of the studies.