Economic Analysis of Southern Highbush Blueberry Production Using Drip Irrigation and Frost Protection in Georgia, USA

Abstract

A partial enterprise budget offers a simple way to evaluate the costs and returns profile of the agricultural firm. However, the simplicity of the partial enterprise budget consequentially lacks accuracy, as it uses fixed single estimates and ignores potential variation in the components of the agricultural production processes. We studied risk-rated returns from southern highbush blueberry productions that use drip irrigation systems and calculated five scenarios for blueberry prices and yields. The risk-rated return analysis gauges the returns over total costs under different specified situations and addresses possible uncertainty. We show the chance of profit from southern highbush blueberry in Georgia is 69% in any full production year and calculate expected returns over costs to be $952 per acre. This approach is helpful for minimizing risk at the farmer’s production level and policy formation level.