Strawberry Production Costs

Florida is the second largest strawberry-producing state, with a farm gate value of approximately $300 million (USDA-NASS 2015). In recent years, the industry has faced many challenges, one of which is quickly rising production costs. In addition to increases in materials costs such as fertilizer and pesticides, Florida strawberry producers also face rising labor costs that now average $8,000 to $10,000 per acre. As the Mexican agricultural labor supply tightens due to improved economic opportunities at home and increased border control, US growers, facing severe labor shortages, must pay more to attract domestic labor or use the H-2A foreign guest workers to do the field work. In addition, there are costly government regulations and compliance requirements.

For more information on productions costs - https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe1013