Below are links to programs designed by the Ag Economics team at the Adams Extension Office to help Mid-Atlantic Fruit Growers save money in various parts of their fruit growing operation.  Each program has helpful instructions to help you use it successfully.  All of these can be downloaded for home use as well. 

Block Calculator – Three different versions of this program will help you calculate a cash flow for a block of apples, including the point at which the block has paid for itself.  Compare the cash flow for high density plantings vs. low density plantings.  Choose from: 10-year block calculator,  20-year block calculator,  organic 20-year block calculator.

Cost of Production Calculator – Takes the simple production costs you provide and projects it on a per block, per acre, per bushel, and per tree scale according to the management you detail.  Compare up to four different blocks at one time.

Apple Target Yield Calculator

Peach Target Yield Calculator – Growers provide their desired packout figures and return on investment, this program will provide you with all the yield and harvest standards that must be achieved in order to meet your intended goal.  Describes ideal plantings and puts you into precision agriculture.

Platform Econ Calculator – By providing this program with a few simple costs, crew sizes, and the time you’d estimate that crew would require to complete a designated task, you can quickly determine if you could save money using a platform instead of using ladders for the same task you designate.  Compare three different platform scenarios at the same time.

Spray Program Manager – Growers provide their price list and spray program, Spray Program Manager generates an array of cost analyses, checks for product use violations, sums total amount of product used, indicates compliance with various AMA contracts, and provides growers with various efficacy and toxicity ratings from the current Pennsylvania Tree Fruit Production Guide.  Compare up to three different spray programs at once.

Spray Program Sheets 2008– Designed to aid growers in the accurate and timely completion of their spray programs in preparation of reporting them to the necessary processing and packing facilities. 

Questions/comments you might have about these programs can be directed to Matt Harsh (rmh27@psu.edu)