Will your u-pick farm or pumpkin patch make money this season? Free planner

Will your u-pick farm make money this season?

Enter your open days, daily visitors, admission, what people pick and spend, and your season costs. You get your profit, the visitors per day and the admission you need to break even, what each visitor leaves after crop and food cost, what a rainy season does to the result, and a profit grid across attendance and admission.

Planning arithmetic on your own numbers and stated assumptions.

1. Your farm and your season

Open days in the season

Days lost to weather (%)

Chance the whole season runs wet (%)

Days lost if it does (%)

Paying visitors per open day

Admission per person ($)

Pounds picked per visitor

Price per pound picked ($)

Cost per pound grown, with drops and shrink ($)

Food, rides and shop spend per visitor ($)

Share of that spend you keep (%)

Crew cost per open day ($)

Land / rent for the season ($)

Insurance for the season ($)

Marketing for the season ($)

Setup: signage, parking, equipment ($)

Card / ticketing fees (%)

Season profit goal ($)

Questions people ask

How much should a u-pick farm charge for admission?

Work backward from the day, not from the farm down the road: crew, rent, insurance and setup are paid whether or not people come. This planner solves for the admission that reaches break-even, and your profit goal, at your own attendance and weather.

How many visitors does a pumpkin patch or u-pick farm need to break even?

It depends on what each visitor leaves after crop cost, food cost and fees, and on how many days the weather takes. Enter your numbers and the planner solves for the visitors per open day you need.

Do u-pick farms make money from the crop or from the extras?

Often from the extras: food, rides and the shop usually keep more per visitor than the picking does. The planner shows what you keep from each so you know which one carries the season.

Is this business or financial advice?

No. It is arithmetic on the numbers you type in and the assumptions listed on the page. Check the output against your own costs before you change a price.

Not decided

Weekday versus weekend attendance, group and school-trip pricing, season passes, crop failure beyond the shrink you enter, permits and liability rules for agritourism in your state, sales tax, and what neighboring farms charge. The model assumes every visitor pays the same admission, picks the same pounds and spends the same on extras, and that crew and season costs do not change with attendance.

Pricing a fall event with a food truck? The food truck event margin calculator. Selling at a stand instead of a gate? The farmers market booth calculator. Pricing a farm share instead of a visit? The CSA share pricing calculator.

Growing trees for the holidays? The Christmas tree farm profit planner shows the cash hole, payback year and break-even price across an 8-year rotation.