High value crops...what makes them high value?

So what makes a crop high value anyway? And if they're so high value, then why aren't all farmers growing them? Both good questions, and the way I see it, the "value" in high value generally means the crop has an accepted higher price per unit area...i.e. apples, cherries, hops, etc. But as in all balanced systems, there must be a proportional input as well. Unfortunately that input is usually high start-up costs, longer period to profitability, and greater exposure to production risks, be they climatic or market.

And some farmers only grow these crops in a conventional monoculture no different than typical row crops or livestock systems. True, there is some efficiency gained in focusing on one crop system and designing all processes to take advantage of economy of scale. But as we are finally seeing, large-scale monocrops are subject to their own risks, not the least of which is the impact of commoditization and price volatility.

So large-scale row crops depend on large-scale farms for profitability, making diversification unfeasible. Similar mentality can be observed in the large monocropping of tree fruits. So designing a cropping system around scale to obtain efficiencies ultimately limits flexibility and ability to capitalize on any sort of market fluctuation. Basically, the more of a single crop a farmer plants, the more of that same crop must be planted to stay profitable. Expand or die, as they say...

Okay, so large monocrop farms cannot afford to diversity for fear of falling behind. Small scale farms must diversify to make the best use of limited resources but generally cannot support the larger investment up front and longer payback for a more valuable crop...

What would happen if a moderate farm could support several high value crops on small scales? I'd love to see it...

Defining Ourselves

I thought I should take a minute to address how we define ourselves and our intentions, actions, interactions, etc. I believe it is best to be vocal about who you are and what you do, and in doing so we craft our own image. Remember...if you don't define yourself, someone else will.

Okay, having said that, who is Gorst Valley Hops and what do they want?

I'll skip the elevator speech...you can find that boilerplate on our website, FB page, cut sheets, etc. Gorst Valley is a group of friends who all possess a focused expertise across all manner of disciplines bringing their considerable experience and observations to bear on a single topic: Hops.

Uh...wait a minute. Hasn't that been done already? Hops are readily available, right?
Yup. Hops are readily available from numerous sources across the globe. But Gorst Valley production has everything to do with scale, and not volume. So what does that mean?

When I approached my friends about forming GVH it was a convergence of several lines of thinking, all geared towards the idea of equitable distribution of investment in the product. Gorst Valley's objective is to see the farmer personally profit for their contributions to production.

"Whoa, James...is this an investment banking lecture?" Hardly. Here's a crazy idea...is it possible to design a production, distribution, and consumption system that retains more value by intensely focusing on shrinking the scale of the system? If we can do this, more of the value (money) traded for these products (or services) is recycled into the system which allows those involved with the production aspects to focus on quality and sustaining their own portion of the system.

Phew! That felt good. I know it seems complicated...but it's really not. We learned this early on in our childhood: It's called sharing. But we also have to be stewards of the system, to ensure it functions and flows.

I don't plan to stop with hops. Hops are sexy because craft beer is cool. Hops get attention for being sexy and people pay attention to the message. Oh yeah...I love beer, so that helps too.

As always, thanks for your interest in what we have to say. Next lesson is on sustainable systems...

Kindly,
James

Long time...new post

Okay...it's all my fault. Lots of folks have been hollering for a new newsletter and I apologize for the silence. But hey, we've been busy! There are several new things in the works for Gorst Valley Hops (equipment, on-line courses, processing investments, collaborations, etc) and look for updates when we can spread the word.

So for now We'll use this blog as a medium to communicate the hot topics and such (or my informal rants, observations, etc...but I'll try to keep it relevant).

Look for posting very, very soon.