What should a CSA share cost?

A small farm sells a season of weekly produce boxes up front. A share that looks fair to members can still pay the farmer a few dollars an hour. List what goes in the box and the weeks it runs, and see what a member gets at retail, what the season pays you per hour, the price that pays your target wage, the number of shares you need to break even, and how the answer moves if sign-ups react to price.

For market gardens, small vegetable farms and farmer-led CSAs. Nothing is uploaded: the text box is analysed in this browser and never leaves your device.

1. List the box

One row per item: item, quantity per box, retail value each, your cost each, minutes of labour each, weeks in the box, optional note

Season (weeks) Shares you sell Price per share ($) Payment fee (%) Packaging per box ($) Delivery per box ($) Pack minutes per box Your pay ($ per hour) Fixed season costs ($) Capacity (shares) Price elasticity Target wage ($ per hour)

2. The answer

Per share

Measure	Value

Items, least worthwhile first

Item	Retail	Cost	Hours	Net of your time

Price sweep

Price	Shares	Value ratio	After your pay

Prefer a CLI?

Same logic, zero dependencies, one command — reads a file or stdin:

node cli.mjs price box.csv --weeks 20 --shares 60 --price 500
cat box.csv | node cli.mjs price - --json

Get cli.mjs and engine.mjs — Node 18+, nothing to install, no network call. More: How to price a CSA share: the math.

What's recognised

Input	Handling

The answer is exact for the numbers you type. Land, equipment depreciation, taxes, crop failure, refunds and members who leave mid-season are not modelled; put them in fixed costs if they matter to you.

Common questions

Does it upload my box list?

No. The browser page works on the text you paste, in your own browser, and never sends it anywhere. The CLI reads a local file or stdin and makes no network call.

Why does it say my share loses money when the box looks full?

Retail value is what a member would pay at a store; your cost is the seeds, inputs, packing, delivery and the hours you put in. Many CSAs charge a price that covers inputs but not their own labour. The tool shows the price that pays you a target hourly wage, so the gap is visible before the season starts.

What is the price sweep based on?

On an elasticity you choose: members are assumed to fall as the price rises by (price / base price) raised to minus the elasticity, capped at your capacity. It is an assumption, not a measurement, so read it as a way to see the trade-off between fewer members and a higher price, not a forecast.

What does the value ratio mean?

Retail value of a season of boxes divided by the share price. Members compare you with the store, so a ratio under 1 is a hard sell and a ratio well over 1 means there is room to raise the price.