How To Start a Blueberry Farm Business

Summary

ニック・ビリングス氏は、ミシガン州北部に位置する「Bulldog berries」という名のブルーベリー農園を経営しています。農園は2012年に設立され、商業栽培とU-Pick（自ら摘む）事業を行っています。ビリングス氏は、自宅の土地で育った緑色の親指と、自らのビジネスを持ちたいという気持ちから農業に参入しました。農園は当初、商業栽培に注力していたものの、トラバースシティという観光地に位置していることからU-Pick事業を開始しました。農園では、ブルーベリーだけでなくイチゴやサスカatoonベリーも栽培しており、年間約1万人のお客様が訪れます。農園の拡大や将来の計画についても語りましたが、現在の設備や状況を考慮して、農園を拡大する計画は持っていません。また、農園のロゴは、ビリングス氏の愛犬であるブルドッグのルーニーをモデルに作成されており、彼の人生には大きな影響を与えていると語りました。

Takeaways

• 🌱 创业初期：Nick Billings没有接受过正式的农业教育，但凭借在德克萨斯州Magnolia小镇长大时积累的园艺经验，开始了Bulldog berries蓝莓农场的经营。
• 💼 业务模式：Bulldog berries农场主要进行批发和U-Pick（自摘）业务，同时也销售草莓和萨斯卡通浆果等。
• 📈 土地购置：2012年，Nick通过贷款和州政府的补助在密歇根北部购买了土地，开始了他的农业事业。
• 🚜 初始设备：农场的第一台拖拉机是John Deere e472，这对于超过3到5英亩的农场来说是必需的。
• 🌳 种植挑战：Nick提到了种植过程中的挑战，包括氮素锁定和过度施用硫酸铵导致植物生长受阻。
• 💰 初始投资：蓝莓树苗的成本因大小而异，大约在$2到$4之间，初始投资还包括了建立冷却设施。
• 📊 农场规模：农场有30英亩，虽然在密歇根州的蓝莓农场中规模较小，但已经形成了稳定的业务。
• 🚿 灌溉系统：蓝莓植物需要24小时的灌溉系统，尽管拥有自己的井，但泵和电费是不小的开销。
• 🛒 销售渠道：除了U-Pick业务，农场还向杂货店批发销售，以及通过自己的容器包装销售。
• 📈 增长计划：Nick考虑扩展农场，增加草莓、覆盆子和黑莓等新作物，但目前没有具体的扩张计划。
• 📝 营销策略：通过Google商业资料和正面评价提升了农场的知名度，从而显著增加了访客数量。
• 🐝 合作模式：与Sleeping Bear Farms合作，提供蜜蜂以支持蓝莓授粉，同时在农场商店销售他们的蜂蜜产品。

Q & A

ニック・ビリングスはどのような経歴からブルーベリー農園を始めましたか？

ニックはテキサス州のマグノリア出身で、幼少期から緑色の親指を持っていた。大学を卒業することなく、ブルーベリー農園を始めた。ミシガン州で農業に進出するようになったのは、彼がミシガン州での経験と、自分のビジネスを持ちたいという願いからです。

ブルドッグ・ベリーズ農園はどのような種類の果樹を栽培していますか？

ブルドッグ・ベリーズ農園は主にブルーベリーを栽培していますが、イチゴの苗木やサスカatoonベリーも所有しています。

農園の設立にあたり、ニックはどのような資金調達を行いましたか？

ニックは州ミシガンからローンと助成金を獲得しました。また、父親が以前にマネスティで働いていたことから、トラバースシティの地域に進出しました。

最初の栽培で行ったと思われる誤りは何でしたか？

最初の栽培では、過剰施肥によって窒素がロックされ、樹勢が3～4年間遅れ、栽培方法に疑問を持つようになりました。

ブルーベリー農園を始めるにあたり、どのような機械が必要ですか？

ブルーベリー農園を始めるには、ジャイロデアのプランターやジョンディーのディーゼルトラクターなどが必要です。また、フロントエンドローダーを備えたトラクターで運搬や耕作が行えます。

最初のプラントはどのくらいの費用で購入しましたか？

ニックは当初、各プラントに対して2ドル、あるいはそれ以下で購入しました。

フルマチュリティで1本のブルーベリープラントからどれだけの量が収穫できますか？

フルマチュリティで1本のブルーベリープラントから8～10ポンドのブルーベリーが収穫されることを期待しています。

農園で使用している冷蔵庫はどれくらいの費用で作られましたか？

冷蔵庫はサムズから入手した壁と、5,000ドルのコンデンサーユニットを使って作られました。全体的な費用は1万ドル未満です。

農園の従業員数はいくつですか？

収穫以外の時期はニックと2人の男性が農園を運営しています。収穫時には20人以上のピッカーが働きます。

ブルーベリープラントはどれくらいの頻度で水やりが必要ですか？

5月以来、ブルーベリープラントは24時間ウォーターサイクルで水やりされています。6つのゾーンがあり、最後のゾーンが水やりを終えた後1時間だけ休憩してから再び最初のゾーンから始まります。

農園ではUPICK、卸売、商業のどれを行いますか？

農園ではUPICK、卸売、そして商業のパッケージングを行っています。また、ブルーベリーを小売店に12品脱ケースで販売し、卸売も行っています。

農園を拡大する計画はありますか？

将来の拡大や成長について常に話し合いていますが、まだ確固とした計画はありません。現在はストロベリー、ラズベリー、ブラックベリーを追加する計画があります。

農園の宣伝にどれくらいの予算を割いていますか？

農園の宣伝には年間2,000ドル以下を割いています。グーグルビジネスプロフィールとレビューを通じて宣伝活動を行い、検索結果の上位に表示されるようになりました。

ブルーベリーの収穫にどれくらいの時間がかかりますか？

ブルーベリーの収穫は、フルマチュリティに達するまで3～7年かかります。また、ミシガン州の北部に位置するため、冬の被害によってプラントが大きくなることが妨げられています。

農園で使用しているブルーベリーの品種は何ですか？

農園ではDuke、Blueray、Blue J、Draper、Berkeley、Bonus、Jersey、Northland、Elliotなどの複数の品種が使用されています。

農園で行っている有機栽培の実験はどのようなものですか？

農園では、有機栽培の実験を行っており、特定のプラントは化学肥料や農薬を一切使用していません。また、手作業で収穫されています。

農園で販売している商品は何ですか？

農園では、ブルーベリーだけでなく、Sleeping Bear Farmsのハチミツや隣の森で作られたメープルシロップも販売しています。

他の起業家に与えるアドバイスは何ですか？

事業を始めた際には、何度か失敗しそうな状況に陥ることがあると言われていますが、諦めずに粘り強く取り組むことが大切です。また、農業は天候に左右されやすいため、収穫の時期や収量に変動があることを理解し、それに対応できる柔軟性を持つ必要があります。

Outlines

00:00

🌱 ブルーベリー農園の創業物語と運営

ニック・ビリングス氏は、ブルドッグ・ベリーという名のブルーベリー農園を経営しています。農園では、大手から小規模な個人顧客まで幅広い顧客に向けて販売しており、イチゴやサスカトンベリーも取り扱っています。2012年に土地を購入し、農業未経験ながら農園を立ち上げ、州政府からローンと補助金を獲得しました。当初は商業用に栽培を予定していましたが、トラバースシティという観光地での営業を決め、U-Pick事業を開始しました。農園は、ファーストジェネレーションファーマーとしてスタートし、経験を積んで成長を続けています。

05:02

💼 農園のビジネスモデルと収益化

ブルドッグ・ベリーは、U-Pick、卸売、小売の3つのビジネスモデルを組み合わせています。U-Pickは50%、卸売と小売は残りの50%を占めています。農園は、トラバースシティの観光地であることと、グーグルビジネスプロフィールとレビューを活用して知名度を上げ、多くの来場者を獲得しています。また、農園は自社の井戸から水を供給しており、給水に関するコストはかかっていませんが、ポンプの電気代は高くなっています。今後の計画として、さくらんぼやイチゴ、ブラックベリーを増やし、農園を拡大する予定です。

10:03

🌳 ブルーベリー農園の栽培と収穫

農園では6つの異なるブルーベリーの品种を栽培しており、収穫時期を延ばすために早生から遅生まで扱っています。農園のブルーベリーは、完全に有機栽培で、手作業で収穫されています。農園は、年間約10,000人の来場者を迎えており、年間で約10～15%のブルーベリーが収穫されないままになります。これは、労働力不足や収穫コストの高さによるものです。また、農園ではミカ蜂の飼育も行っており、授粉に役立てています。

15:05

🛒 農園の売上とマーケティング

農園の年間売上は、大手顧客による購入や小売、U-Pickによって構成されています。農園は、年間2,000ドル以下でマーケティングに投資し、主にFacebookとGoogleを活用して宣伝を行っています。また、ニック自身が小売店を回り、製品を売り込み、口説き込みを行います。農園は、年間を通じて収穫が行われ、冬場は業務を休止し、所有地の管理や計画にかかわります。

20:06

🏆 農園へのアドバイスと未来の展望

ニック・ビリングス氏は、他の起業家に対して、事業がうまくいかなかったり、財政的に困難になったりしても粘り強く続けるようアドバイスしています。農園は、土地を所有しているため、他の事業よりもリスクが少ないと述べています。将来的には、農園を拡大し、りんごの栽培も行う予定であり、AGリゾートに進出することも検討していますが、現在の設備や状況を考えると難しいとのことです。また、ブルドッグ・ベリーの名前とロゴは、ニックが愛用していたブルドッグの犬ロニーから拝借されています。

Keywords

💡ブルーベリー農園

ブルーベリー農園は、本ビデオの中心テーマであり、主人公が所有し経営している農業事業です。主人公は、ミシガン州北部に位置するこの農園で、主にブルーベリーを栽培しています。また、イチゴやサスカatoonベリーも栽培しており、卸売やU-Pickスタイルでの販売を行っています。

💡ファームの設立

ファームの設立は、主人公が農業ビジネスを開始し、自らの農園を所有するために行ったプロセスです。ビデオでは、主人公が州からのローンや助成金を通じて資金調達し、ミシガン州で農園を購入するまでの経緯が説明されています。

💡ファームの運営

ファームの運営には、植物の栽培、収穫、販売などを含む幅広い活動が含まれます。ビデオでは、主人公がファームを開始し、最初の数年間で行った間違いや学んだこと、そして徐々に改善を加える過程が詳述されています。

💡U-Pickビジネス

U-Pickビジネスは、顧客が自ら果樹から果物を収穫できるサービスです。主人公は、トラバースシティという観光地に位置するため、U-Pickを提供することでビジネスを拡大しました。ビデオでは、U-Pickビジネスが農園の売上に大きく貢献していると述べています。

💡卸売と小売

卸売と小売は、農園のブルーベリーを販売する二つの異なる方法です。卸売では、大量のブルーベリーをビジネス向けに販売し、小売では小さなケースで顧客に販売します。主人公は、両方の方法を使って農園の収益を上げています。

💡農業機械

農業機械は、農作業を効率化するために使用される器械のことで、主人公はジョン・ディーアのトラクターやプランターを使用して農園を運営しています。これらの機械は、作物の栽培、収穫、運搬を支援するのに不可欠です。

💡植物の価格

植物の価格は、農園で栽培するブルーベリーの苗木のコストを指します。ビデオでは、苗木のサイズに基づいて苗木が2ドルから4ドル不等で販売されており、主人公が当初は2ドル程度で購入したと述べています。

💡収穫量

収穫量は、各ブルーベリー植物から収穫できるブルーベリーの量を指します。ビデオでは、植物が成熟すると、1植物あたり8から10ポンドのブルーベリーが期待されるとされていますが、実際の収穫量は植物の種類や成長段階によって異なります。

💡農園の拡大

農園の拡大は、主人公が農園の面積や生産能力を増やす方法を模索していることを示します。ビデオでは、さくらんぼやイチゴ、ブラックベリーを栽培することで農園を拡張し、さらにビジネスを成長させる可能性が示唆されています。

💡広告とマーケティング

広告とマーケティングは、農園のブルーベリーを宣伝し、顧客を引きつける活動を指します。主人公は、主にGoogleビジネスプロフィールとFacebookを通じて低予算で広告活動を行い、顧客を獲得しています。

💡農業の課題

農業の課題は、農園を運営する上で直面する問題を指し、主に天候の影響、労働力の不足、そして収穫コストの高さなどが挙げられます。ビデオでは、これらの課題に対処しながらも、農園を成功裏に運営している過程が描かれています。

Highlights

Nick Billings, the owner of Bulldog Berries, started his blueberry farm without formal education in agriculture but with a passion for growing plants.

The farm, established in 2012, initially focused on wholesale but has since expanded to include a U-Pick operation due to the tourist appeal of Traverse City, Michigan.

Bulldog Berries experienced early challenges, including nitrogen lock from over-fertilization, which initially stunted plant growth.

The farm utilizes a John Deere tractor and planter for planting, emphasizing the importance of equipment in establishing a blueberry farm.

Initial blueberry plants were sourced from a larger downstate Michigan blueberry farm and cost approximately $2 each.

The farm has a U-Pick operation where customers can pick as many blueberries as they like, priced at $3 per pound during the interview period.

Bulldog Berries sells its blueberries in 12-pint cases to grocery stores and also offers wholesale options for larger buyers.

The farm does not freeze its blueberries, focusing solely on the fresh market.

The U-Pick process involves customers picking blueberries at their leisure, with guidance on where the best fruit is available.

Advertising for Bulldog Berries has been primarily low-budget, leveraging Google business profiles and positive reviews to attract customers.

The farm has a small core team, with additional pickers employed seasonally, and Nick Billings himself handles much of the day-to-day operations.

Watering is a significant cost for the farm due to the need for a 24-hour watering cycle, especially in the absence of natural rain.

Bulldog Berries has explored expanding into other fruit varieties like strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries to diversify the business.

The farm has a symbiotic relationship with Sleeping Bear Farms, providing a location for their bees which are crucial for the blueberry pollination.

The farm has a small on-site store where it sells products like honey from Sleeping Bear Farms and maple syrup from a local producer.

Nick Billings expresses that perseverance is key for entrepreneurs, especially in challenging fields like farming.

The name Bulldog Berries and its logo are inspired by Nick Billings' beloved bulldog puppy, Rooney, symbolizing the personal connection to the business.

Transcripts

I have people that buy 100 lb and I have

people that buy 2,000 lb

$55,000 it's not cheap bigger plants can

maybe pull $3 to $50 20 people in a day

to 200 people my name is Nick Billings

the business name is Bulldog berries we

are a wholesale and upic blueberry farm

we also have some strawberry plants and

Saskatoon berries as well we bought the

land in 2012 I did not go to college or

get a degree in a or anything for this

we got started because I I'm from

Houston Texas a little town outside of

Houston called Magnolia grew up on some

acreage and just kind of had a green

thumb growing up and we're looking for

an area to get into Fruit farming one I

wanted to own my own business and have

have an opportunity to be a business

owner and two hopefully something

growing plants of some sort I originally

kind of started researching the idea and

got some loans and grants through the

state of Michigan that's kind of how we

ended up in northern Michigan I was

familiar with the area because my dad

worked at a plant and Manesty when I was

young that's kind of how I knew about

Travers City and one thing led to

another and that's how the land was

purchased we went into this knowing

nothing about farming first generation

farmer and just kind of have learned as

we went can you tell us about your data

day when you first started versus now so

when we first started kind of the idea

was we were going to do commercial we

didn't really have much of a plan to do

a upick business it was in the back of

my mind but I didn't really want to be

in the customer service business to

start to be honest so when we first

started we planted actually this field

right here this is 6 Acres six varieties

planted this field first and that was

right in the beginning first season we

didn't probably do all the necessary

field work if I could have gone back

that I wish we would have and so this

this was our learning curve field as you

see these are high Bush blueberry plants

they're 10 years old now they should be

substantially bigger than this but when

we started we made some mistakes along

the way including nitrogen locking them

with over fertilizing with ammonium

sulfate the first year which kind of

stunned my plants for 3 or 4 years and

made me question what I was doing out

here what type of equipment does a

blueberry farm need to start I wish I

had it here on site but I don't anymore

um there's this planter that we hook on

the three-point connection on the back

of the tractor you fill it with little

young plants um be root blueberry plants

at the time they were 6 to 12 in and one

guy operates the tractor and two guys

sit on the back of the planter and it

digs holes as you go and someone just is

hand putting each plant into the hole

that the planter had made so essentially

it was a it was a John Deere planter

this was our first tractor this is my

baby this uh e472 John Deere these are

both diesel tractors this is not a

narrow tractor but it has a frontend

loader and allows me to do some things

around the farm as far as lifting moving

digging tilling this thing is how we got

the farm started we got this one back

then probably 2013 and it was a probably

right around 45 or $50,000 they are a

necessity to have if you're going to be

anything more than a small 3 to 5 Acre

Farm and obviously it makes lifting

things and such as I'm not a big guy a

lot easier where did you get the initial

plants from we got them from a guy down

state who is a much larger blueberry

farm I have 30 Acres but in the grand

scheme of Michigan blueberry farming

it's quite small those guys down there

have hundreds to thousands of Acres how

much does it cost per plant well you can

get them at different year um and it'll

be like $2 to4 depending on the size of

the plant you get I want to say back

then we got them for $2 or maybe even a

little less a piece in this first field

as we go across the farm we'll see some

other fields where we planted different

varieties at different sizes and stages

I want to say once we got more of the

hang of it but it's 10 years in we still

don't really have the hang of it still

learning how many plants are in this

field this field is going to be 30 600

plants minus give or take from the ones

that uh died how many blueberries can

come off of one plant full maturity we

would like to see 8 to 10 lb per plant

some of a plant like this size here

we're probably getting something like

four to 6 or S lbs off of it some of our

larger plants in the back we probably do

get almost 10 lb of plant it depends on

the variety and stage of the plant these

plants can take 3 to 4 years to get to

where you're first picking them and

probably four to 7 years for to full

maturity as we are so far north in

Michigan we do deal with winter damage

every year which is kind of what has

stopped our plants from getting as large

as some of the bigger better um

blueberry farms downst so these are the

lugs that um the blueberries the guys

picking load the buckets they're picking

into the lugs and they have numbers on

them we have a lot of guys out there

that are picking per pound and so we use

the numbers on the lugs to keep track of

which guy picked how much at the end of

the day so this is the walk-in Coler uh

we keep it around 30 4° 3435 is how we

sell to the grocery stores 12 pint cases

how much does a cooler like this cost we

put this together ourselves so we got

these walls from Sam's when they were

done with them and we put them together

and then we got the condenser unit for

5,000 bucks so we were probably all in

in this cooler for probably less than 10

grand how many employees do you have it

can vary if we're including all the

pickers you know some days we have 20

plus guys out here picking but running

the show on a daily basis when we're not

harvesting it's just me um and two guys

and uh that's it so not very many how

often do the plants have to be watered

these plants it doesn't rain up here

when you want it to rain so since May

these plants are on a 24-hour watering

cycle we have six zones and it goes

through six zones and then as soon as

it's done with the last one it comes

back to the first so they're on it's

watering all day it's 10:50 so right now

the last Zone in the back is getting its

last bit of water and then it'll shut

off for just 1 hour and then recycle

back to here are you paying a lot for

water we have our own well so the water

itself no but the pump and the

electricity to run that pump 24 hours a

day yeah it's it's not cheap do you only

do upic or do you do commercial as well

so I mentioned earlier we never really

had plans for upic but as um the fifth

six year of being out here approached I

realized that being in Traver City a

heavily touristed area it was probably

the right move and when we first started

it was very casual we just kind of like

advertised the best we could low budget

got people out here and eventually now

it's turned into the upic is probably I

guess the bigger side of our business

but as well we do package in our own

pinted containers and sell those in 12

pint cases to grocery stores and we also

sell wholesale so people will buy I have

people that buy 100 lb and I have people

that buy 2,000 lb so we do wholesale

packaging to the store and a upic do you

ever freeze your blueberries no we only

deal in The Fresh Market um as far as

blueberries to reference the bigger

farmers down state again those guys do

it all so they have certain types of

blueberry varieties that they use pretty

much for process only with a machine

Harvester they'll come through machine

Harvest those get those to a process

market and then get some other types and

varieties of berries to a fresh market

which is what you would buy and eat in

the grocery store can you tell us a

little bit about the you pick process so

yeah we have a little just a little

store that we finished out and you come

you get a bucket you come pick as much

as you'd like and this year it's $3 a

pound it varies based on the market for

the price roughly how many people you

pick a year probably 10,000 people what

percent do you think is upic versus

commercial versus wholesale I would say

upic is 50% wholesale and um commercial

probably splits the other 50% what are

your plans for expanding or growing in

the future you know that's something we

talk about and think about all the time

I don't have a solid plan we have this

Blueberry Field here we have two rows at

the end of this Blueberry field of

saskat tunes saskat Tunes used to be

until last year was 20 or 25 Rows 2

Acres of saskat tun and you know I gave

them a chance for a while and though

there is a market for them it was

something that I just never learned to

really make profit on and so after

giving it a good run I pulled out last

year we have two rows left as I

mentioned and now there's an empty field

and I do plan on adding some more

strawberries raspberries and

blackberries that's not going to be the

biggest change or investment so I'm

still always looking for ways to push

the business forward and uh I'm not sure

yet when you pull out the plants do you

sell them I didn't I chopped them down

with a a brush hog scraped them out made

a pile and just work the rest of them

into the field maybe you could have but

the labor to get those 8ot plants out of

the ground one at a time wouldn't have

made sense what do you do for your

advertising when we first started the

upic it was just like real casual as I

mentioned and like we just kind of got

people out here but as we went forward

we worked with a media team here that

helped us get our logo and get our the

initial footing for our business plan of

marketing and then from there you know

what really took off was Google and once

I got my Google business profile and

reviews we all know that y' seem around

my age my era that we base everything

off of Google reviews so once I was able

to get some five stars and my listing

started moving more to the top when you

search in the area that's that's really

what really changed things out here and

we went from doing you know 20 people in

a day to 200 people I honestly didn't

have much belief in it my dad pushed me

to do the upick part of it and I I

thought we were a little bit too much

off the the road to get people here but

people love picking blueberries more

than you would ever say a farm has to be

off the road right yeah but the we have

a big one right right there on the main

Highway called Gallaghers and they're a

great place that's where people are

going to stop first cuz it's off the

main road so we had to work a little

harder and we have a big sign we put up

and I think the sign people kind of know

oh the blueberries are back how much

have you spent on your advertising you

know what I did at really low budget and

I did the Google stuff myself um

everything we've done out here has been

low budget because we we had to watch it

as the blueberry plants matured that to

make sure that we were still finding a

way to make a profit I mean when I was I

was spending less than less than $2,000

and still am less than $2,000 a year on

marketing and I do the rest as myself

the best I can I'm sure I could do it

better Facebook has helped a lot but a

lot of it has been through Facebook and

Google do you do any marketing for your

wholesale and Commercial side I don't um

that was more of a Me Knocking literally

going into grocery stores and telling

these people hey I'm a local blueberry

farmer here's my product are you

interested so that was more of just me

going to the site and trying to get them

to buy from me so no I don't do that um

word of mouth has worked for that

because there's not as I mentioned not

many blueberry farms this far north I am

one of the few up here and I would I am

the largest blueberry farm for at least

uh 50 to 80 mil or maybe more so even

though we're not big it's still the

biggest around so here in the front

field we have six different varieties

this was again our first planting and it

is Duke Blu-ray blue J Draper Berkeley

bonus in the back we have Jersey

Northland Elliot Blu-ray again and blue

crop this is what we call zone two this

variety here is jerseys and as we can

see as we work across the field these

were planted 3 years after the front

field was started and they are much

larger back here why are they larger

they're larger cuz I kind of knew what I

was doing when we did it a little better

these are still green you can find some

blue ones on them but these are a little

bit later variety that probably will be

ready here in about 7 to 10 days what is

the full blueberry season we usually

start harvesting first second week of

July depending on the Year this this

year was quite early I think we picked

our first blueberry on like July 5th or

6th which was actually way early so this

is just one section here we are usually

doing a first picking a second picking

and a third picking which that's how

when you're handpicking that's how you

got to do it right cuz if we don't pick

this first little crop then the one

behind it the berries won't be as big

and plentiful this one as you can see

you can find right now we're probably 3

to 5% blue and we'll probably usually

get on them right when they're about 20

at least 20% blue and that's that's the

toughest Time of the Season because the

guys can't pick enough an hour to get my

price per pound down so my price per

pound when we're handpicking the first

picking is is terrible and then we have

to do it though to keep the fruit good

for the second third picking and uh

these like I mentioned the first picking

were probably 7 to 10 days away before

we get in here and that's how it works

pretty much with all the varieties how

much do you think a plant is worth a

larger plant like this you know so say

we get 10 lb my price probably averages

out to $3 a pound so we probably on

bigger plants can maybe pull $30 to $50

on a season that's a guess again I

haven't really ran the analytics out

here and done too much p&l statements

and stuff we have just I have flown by

the seat of my pants and just tried to

hang on for the ride really if I could

go back I would have done the whole

thing different we when I started I was

like all right we're going to grow

blueberries we're going to sell

blueberries and that was about 201

really 13 once we kind of got going

since then though there's been some

business highly successful businesses

around here that have kind of tapped

more into the Agro tourism you know have

not even just wineries but really have a

liquor license and a kitchen a chef good

local foods and uh that's probably a

little bit more of the path I would have

taken because just doing it the way

we're doing it we're just ultimately

growing and selling blueberries and uh

it's tough as a business owner to to

make a profit when you're depending on

the Northern Michigan weather when

you're at the mercy of rain no rain heat

cold at the wrong time you can never

really predict and any farmer watching

this one will probably think that guy's

not a farmer but two will think yeah you

don't get rich farming is expanding into

a kitchen something that you would think

about doing I mean it yeah I've thought

about it a million times but I don't see

myself going that path simply because

the way we set up the front I would need

to re I have an idea of what I would

have liked to do but it's kind of too

late because the way I place the

buildings and just the foundation of the

business I think it'd be too much

backpedaling so I think as far as this

investment goes I will stay into just

growing blueberries and um advancing the

business possibly getting to some some

apples later so but other than that no I

don't see me really chasing the AGR

tourism at this property maybe maybe

it's something I'd do in the future in a

different location I would eventually

probably get into something different

while keeping this what do you do in the

winter time golf no we uh I'm from Texas

a lot of winners we go to Texas we shut

the business down since we're Fresh

Market so come middle end of October

we're done out here we blow out the

lines get all the water out of all the

pipes do some things for the plants and

we're done I do have a little small gig

me and my wife run but we can do all

that work from home we uh take the

winter off and sometimes go to Texas

sometimes travel sometimes sit here and

freeze so these are our Elliot variety

these are our latest variety out here

they are going to be right last probably

this year I bet we'll start seeing some

blue ones middle of August and they'll

go through the end of August sometimes

they creep into SE September this is one

of our heavier producers out here it's a

tart Berry medium large size Berry

pretty tart and profile but a very good

Berry all the blueberry guys are going

to have an early variety early mid mid

mid late and late that way you stretch

it across the season and you're not

crammed trying to pick them all at once

and you can have the berries as the

market progresses through the season

this is one of our larger I guess

irrigating block so as you can see here

there's a te which allows the pressure

to stay up for the water so water is

going that way and water's going that

way cuz it couldn't have enough pressure

to maintain the whole line these are

these are damn near 1,000 ft rows with

our spacing out here is every 3 ft so I

think that's kind of a generic spacing

when you're doing a blueberry farm 10t

wide rows 10 to 12T wide rows and 3 to

4T spacing and we chose 3T can propagate

your own plants oh yeah yep you you kind

of need a whole setup to do that I mean

I could easily do like a hundred you

know but to do thousands I just don't

have the setup they grow them in like

these I want to say they're like called

hot beds or something I'm not I don't I

I haven't dabbled into that but yes you

can take clippings to make clones or you

can do soft tissue culture I've even

seen myself on YouTube and Tik Tok and

stuff of people you can take a blueberry

itself and Smash It and plant it and

it'll grow a plant that wouldn't be the

most sufficient way but if you're just

doing it at home in the beginning stages

of the farm the Northland was one of the

no was the biggest producer by far and

now some of these other ones have caught

up 30 to 40,000 lb off that field we

probably Harvest similar out here on the

Northlands but these berries a smaller I

want to say softer Berry so even though

their flavor is great they don't have

the shelf life that some of the other

varieties have when people come out for

upic do you tell them where to go we

kind of just tell them where the best

fruit is so we don't we don't make them

go to a certain row and start there um

we just tell them where the right

berries are and we let them go where

they want I think some other places

don't do it that way they have them more

sectioned into whatever wherever they

want them to pick but we've always

struggled getting all the fruit off the

bush out here so we kind of let people

go where they want and I think people

like that now we're going to go over to

the what I refer to as the baby field um

that was our last planting into

2019 I think so this is their fourth

year so they're still small but they we

actually are harvesting them this year

so we'll take a look at that and you'll

see how much smaller they are what

percent of blueberries are not harvested

last year I think we probably left maybe

10 to 15% on the bush just cuz we

haven't found a a way to get them all

off that makes Financial sense at this

point due to expensive labor lack of

Labor and just being a like a small

operation we're in this weird situation

to where we're not like small like 3 to

5 Acres but we're not large like

hundreds of Acres so we have to find

ways to make sure we're profitable and

getting the fruit off and sold in a

timely fashion so this is our bees uh

you know at this point I'm not even sure

how many hives is there um it's probably

around 100 so I work with a local farm

called Sleeping Bear farms and they

Supply the hives they do all of the

Honey work they simply Park their Honeys

here or their honey bees here because

they uh they they thrive in this area on

my land so it's kind of a trade I need

the bees for pollination during

flowering and they have a place to park

their bees and I would let them Park as

many as they want here because obviously

bees on the fruit farm are highly

beneficial uh we're a big big advocate

for bees out here and we do have in the

little farm store we don't do any of the

um processing of the honey or anything

ourselves they come and harvest it and

we sell their products in our store so

that's how the bee situation out here

works these are the same variety that I

was speaking of over there and these are

the baby versions so these plants are 4

years old as you can see we're

harvesting them this year the first

couple years after planting these bushes

we didn't Harvest them we come through

during flower time and we pull all the

flowers off cuz we want the plants to

focus on growing bigger new growth and

not trying to put fruit out these are

two random rows that I kind of have um

when we first planted that field up

there we had a th000 extra plants that I

uh had over ordered and I hadn't had a

field prep for them so I just randomly

put them over here the day of planting

and that is our organic experiment so

these plants are completely organic

there's weeds all over the place but

they do just fine I think right now

there's maybe 10 10 or 15 guys out there

and we handpick everything here so this

is what we're doing all day every day

these guys probably are picking we're

we're on our first pick right now so

it's lighter so they're probably picking

10 10 to 13 lbs an hour yeah there's the

lugs that they that we that's how we

sell our wholesale berries what type of

blueberries are these These are

Northlands again so these guys like I

said this is our first picking so they

probably can get 10 12 lbs an hour but

when we are heavy thick into it you can

pick these guys could probably pick

anywhere from 15 to 20 lb an hour and

that's what we want so this is is the

little farm store this is where people

come to check in for the up pick you

grab a bucket you go pick when you're

done we weigh it we check you out we put

ice cream in here a lot of families come

out here kids love ice cream people love

ice cream it's Hudsonville ice cream we

don't make it ourselves here we talking

about the honey this is the Sleeping

Bear Farms honey your regular honey

bears and then this is raw honey um we

sell some more of their products too

we're currently out of them this is

syrup the syrup I don't know how much we

got my neighbor on film that has the

cattle next to me his name is Jason he's

a guy that I've become great friends

with since becoming uh buying this

property he does all the maple syrup

it's made on over there next to the

blueberries we I think own 16 17 Acres

of woods majority maple trees he does

all of this himself and we have regular

syrup and then we have blueberry maple

syrup all from the blueberries here on

the farm we freeze some at the end of

the season and we Infuse those directly

into the maple syrup no additives

nothing just and it is extremely good

what is one piece of advice for other

entrepreneurs stick with it when you

even when you think it's not going to

work and you're almost broke I guess

that's the biggest one for me is there's

many times of starting a business

especially farming of Doubt was this the

right move is this going to work am I

going to go broke but I have an asset

backed up investment here so I was a

little bit I always knew it would be a

little bit safer than say starting a

restaurant or something to where you can

really just go all the way in the hole

cuz worst come to worst if it wouldn't

have worked I I had to land in an

appreciating area Bulldog berries came

from when I was like 20 21 I got a

bulldog puppy his name was Rooney

through my 20s in young adulthood he was

he is my best friend he is the best dog

um you could ever ask for and this logo

is not just a random Bulldog it is

actually made from an artist completely

Rooney's likeness he was a white bulldog

with one black patch on his eye he's

very popular amongst anyone that knew me

he is a very big part of my life so

that's why we went with bullog berries

and uh that's where the logo comes

from