SPIN-Farming Offers “Calculator” That Quantifies Earning Potential of Backyard Farms

Simple formula converts yards and vacant lots into thousands of dollars worth of food

BusinessWire
July 13, 2010

PHILADELPHIA – Figuring out how much money can be made farming on slivers of land is getting easier thanks to a “calculator” now available for free download from the SPIN-Farming website. SPIN stands for small plot intensive.

“Growing and selling fresh, safe, healthy, local food to urban neighbors is valuable grass roots economic development in locations that seem unlikely for agriculture, but can be highly efficient production units that deliver what consumers want—and need.”

“SPIN farmers are giving new meaning to the term back forty,” explains Wally Satzewich, developer of the SPIN-Farming system, “because they think in terms of feet, not acres.” He says that on 1,000 square feet a small plot farmer can grow potatoes worth $1,300; beans worth $1,600; carrots worth $2,400; spinach worth $2,900; garlic worth $4,300 and shallots worth $4,800, if they follow the system.

Since its launch in 2006 the SPIN-Farming learning series has helped hundreds of new urban farmers get started in business. Its co-author, Roxanne Christensen, says the most important aspect of SPIN-Farming is that it provides a replicable system that shows how to generate revenue from small plots. “SPIN confers an economic value on what up until now has been dismissed as quaint, backwards or inconsequential,” she says.

“We have underestimated or simply neglected this form of food production and its potential impact on sustainable development because of the urban-rural dichotomy of our food policies. Agricultural and rural policies generally do not apply to urban areas, while urban policies do not address the issue of food production. Policymakers are now beginning to recognize the need for food production to occur wherever it makes the most sense. And for SPIN farmers that is backyards and neighborhood lots, “ Christensen says.

Gary Matteson, Vice President of the Young, Beginning, Small Farmer Programs at the Farm Credit Council says, “Growing and selling fresh, safe, healthy, local food to urban neighbors is valuable grass roots economic development in locations that seem unlikely for agriculture, but can be highly efficient production units that deliver what consumers want—and need.”

See SPIN Farming calculator PDF here.