Wild blueberry systems approach economic and risk analysis

We conducted a multi-disciplinary large-scale study of four cropping input production systems NDASH organic, low input, medium input and high input NDASH that fit along gradients of capital inputs and potential environmental effects to quantify system effects on yield. The yields varied over the years for each system; organic and low were not significantly different and medium and high were not significantly different but each of the two groups were different from each other. While organic production had low yields, the higher value of the organic fruit and the fresh sales and value-added products produced an overall average profit of $ 3,724 acre^-1. The low input system had a loss of $ 289 acre^-1. The medium system produced the next highest profit at $ 1,575 acre^-1 while the high input system was third in profitability at $ 1,374 acre^-1. The risk simulation indicated that overall all systems could be profitable, but the higher inputs resulted in reduced risk of not being profitable.