New York Greenhouse Business Summary and Financial Analysis, Derived from 2001 Business Records

In this Extension Bulletin, operating and financial records for 2001 from 45 New York greenhouse businesses are summarized and analyzed. Greenhouse products represented among the sample firms included outdoor bedding and garden plants, indoor potted plants and others (propagative materials). The data are presented as averages for all 45 greenhouse businesses, and by marketing channel, size and geographic location in the state. The businesses in the project had an average of 39,454 ft2 of greenhouse area with a range from 2,880 ft2 to 120,625 ft2. They had average annual greenhouse sales of $570,837 (ranging from $12,220 to $1,804,000) and average net greenhouse income of $26,512 (ranging from -$281,000 to $190,054), with an average profit margin of 2.1% (ranging from -80.7% to 49.4%). Total assets averaged $542,554 (ranging from 12,500 to $4,101,000), including plant inventory, land, equipment, buildings, supplies, cash on hand, and accounts receivable; average total liabilities were $211,887 (ranging from $0 to $793,000). As a share of value produced (or sales), costs were 23.6 percent for hired labor, 34.9 percent for materials, 6.5 percent for heat, 3.7 percent for equipment/facilities, 23.2 percent for overhead, 4.4 percent for depreciation, and 5.8 percent for interest. Value produced per square foot of greenhouse area averaged $14.53 or $0.441 per square foot week. Value produced per full-time equivalent of labor was $92,526 and greenhouse space managed per full-time worker equivalent was 7,737 ft2. The top 20 percent of greenhouses (with the highest rate of return on assets) in the 2001 business summary project had an average net income of $120,000 (a profit margin of 18 percent), while the lowest 20 percent was -$102,900 (a profit margin of -36%). Similar information is also presented for retail and wholesale greenhouses and greenhouses of different sizes and geographic locations.