Words of Wisdom From Greenhouse Vegetables Expert Rick Snyder

I’m living in the wonderful land of retired professors. As such, I assumed I would be finished with writing articles for American Vegetable Grower^® Magazine, much as I am no longer answering questions from commercial greenhouse and field vegetable growers, implementing Extension programs to help educate the industry, or conducting greenhouse research.

But, on request from your editor, here is one more article. I cannot effectively summarize all the recommendations from 33 years on the job, but there are a few things I would like to list as reminders that may help you.

1. It is not what you make, it is what you keep. This means exactly what it sounds like. Your gross income is what you earn from sales, and of course you want this to be as high as possible. But it is your net income that will either make you a good living or, unfortunately, lead to your failure. So, keep an eagle eye on your expenses and well as your sales. Examples: I have seen multi-million-dollar greenhouses fail after a couple of years of struggling. I have also seen a small grower pay off his bank loan after only 2 years and make decent profit going forward.
2. Do not start too big. I have said this a thousand times. This is because I have seen some sad failures from people starting with an acre, a half-acre, or even four greenhouse bays who had no experience in the greenhouse vegetable business. Neither growing tomatoes in a backyard garden or even in a commercial field are adequate background to sink a lot of money into a greenhouse business. Those who did are doing other things now. Start small, make it work, learn from your mistakes. Then expand with all the knowledge that you learned.
3. Do plenty of research before going into the greenhouse vegetable business. This includes visiting several growers. Ask them lots of questions, assuring them that you will not be competing with them and taking away their customers. Learn from their mistakes. If you listen carefully, they will tell you many things that worked for them and many other things that did not work. This is valuable information.
4. Know your market. Visit the stores and other outlets where you intend to sell. Find out if your product — tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, etc. — will sell there. Is there any interest in your products? Then choose the best varieties that you can find. Talk to seed company reps as well as other growers. Seeds are expensive, but do not grow the varieties with the cheapest seeds. Grow the varieties that will make you the most net income (see number 1).
5. Educate yourself. This should start months or years before going into business and continue every year you stay in business. There are always new things to learn. Go to conferences not only in your state but in other states. You should not limit what you can learn because a grower conference is a few hours’ drive or even a flight away. Any year that you stop learning new things is the year you will fall behind.
6. Use your Extension Service. Extension is in every state in the U.S. and every county. Most other countries do not have an Extension Service. They are there to help you. If your local agent is not trained in horticulture, that is ok. He or she can forward questions to other in-state agents, specialists, or the diagnostics lab. Or your agent may send your request to a specialist in another state. They are there to help you. Make use of their generosity and expertise.

If you need more greenhouse research information, my past articles, as well as other authors’ articles, visit GrowingProduce.com.

As for me, you might find me making a cross-country RV trip, taking a cruise to distant countries, or hiking the trails of North Carolina to see yet another waterfall.