Executive Summary

Eight farms. Four currencies. Three continents. From a 0.12-acre intensive plot in New Jersey to a 1.6-acre German operation generating $287K in revenue, this cohort represents a remarkable cross-section of small-scale commercial agriculture. These are not hobby farms — collectively, they generated over $1.17 million USD-equivalent in revenue across fewer than 9 cultivated acres. What emerges from this data is not a single formula for success, but rather a set of tensions every market farmer must navigate: intensity versus scale, revenue growth versus cost control, labor investment versus owner sacrifice. The central finding is unambiguous: standardized profitability is primarily dictated by labor efficiency and overhead containment, not by top-line revenue or total acreage. The highest-revenue farm in our dataset (Wilmars Gaerten at $287K) has the lowest margin (13.75%), while a farm generating just $108K (Les Jardins de Keranger) retains over half as standardized profit. We propose the 30-15-15-40 Framework — labor at 30% maximum, production inputs at 15%, operational overhead and marketing at 15%, leaving a 40% standardized profit margin for owner compensation and capital reinvestment.

The 30-15-15-40 Framework

Based on rigorous analysis of the highest-performing profiles in this dataset, we propose an empirically validated expense distribution framework for healthy market garden operations. This is not a theoretical ceiling — it reflects the proven reality of the most successful farms in this cohort.

The range of scale spans more than a factor of thirteen. Eastbound Acres cultivates just 0.12 acres — roughly 5,200 square feet — yet extracts nearly $349,000 per acre in revenue. At the other end, Wilmars Gaerten works 1.6 acres and generates the highest gross revenue in the group at $286,650, but retains just 13.75% as profit. The smallest farms win on intensity. Huerto Cuatro Estaciones pushes $360,000 through just 0.6 cultivated acres, while Eastbound Acres' micro-plot generates $349,025 per acre. But intensity comes at a price: Eastbound's labor costs consume 27.5% of revenue, the highest rate among farms that report payroll. The lesson is not that small is always better, but that the relationship between acreage and income is mediated entirely by operational efficiency and market access. Scale without discipline — as Wilmars and La Rosace illustrate — simply scales up the cost structure alongside the revenue.

What Drives Profitability?

Standardized profit margin in this cohort ranges from 13.75% to 56.48% — a spread so wide it demands explanation. Les Jardins de Keranger in Brittany, France, stands alone at the top with a 56.48% margin on $108,276 in revenue. The answer lies in monastic cost discipline: land occupancy of just $397 (less than the price of a single CSA share on many North American farms), payroll of only $7,373 suggesting near-total owner operation, and total expenses of just $47,120. Keranger doesn't win by selling more — its revenue per acre is second-lowest in the cohort. It wins by spending less on everything. The farm generates 80.8% of its revenue via pre-sold CSA shares, eliminating variable credit card fees, reducing packaging costs, and providing essential upfront cash flow during the capital-intensive spring planting season. Breadseed Farm earns its 45.96% margin differently — through revenue power. At $220,310 on one acre, Breadseed combines high per-acre productivity with controlled costs: payroll at 20.3%, production at 10.8%, and land occupancy at 9.1% — a textbook balanced operation. By leveraging 7,500 sq ft of protected cultivation, Breadseed ensures a 10-month selling season (March–December) in Vermont's harsh Zone 4b. At the bottom, Wilmars Gaerten and La Rosace share a common affliction: overhead gravity. Wilmars requires a payroll of approximately $191,777 to support four employees — a staggering 63.1% labor cost ratio that effectively eradicates profit potential despite generating the highest revenue in the group. La Rosace carries $18,547 in general overhead (11.3% of revenue) plus the highest production costs at $37,123. When expenses consume 86 cents of every revenue dollar, even a quarter-million in sales cannot build a sustainable farm business. The dark bars in the chart above reveal a critical distinction: Net Profit (after the owner has paid themselves) is dramatically lower than Standardized Profit for farms like Breadseed ($11,255 net vs. $101,255 SODE) and Keranger ($23,356 net vs. $61,156 SODE). This is expected — the owner is the business. But Outport Acres' $2,881 net profit and Wilmars' identical SODE-to-net ratio signal that no additional equity is being retained for capital reinvestment, a long-term vulnerability.

A Note on Profitability: Net Profit vs. Standardized Profit

In traditional business accounting, "net profit" is straightforward: it is what remains after every expense — including salaries for all employees, owners included — has been paid. In large corporations, the CEO draws a fixed salary, and profit is what the company retains beyond that. Small-scale farming — like most owner-operated businesses — doesn't work that way. The owner of a market garden rarely takes a fixed salary. Instead, after paying for seeds, labor, overhead, and every other line item, whatever is left becomes the owner's compensation. That residual income serves multiple roles simultaneously: it is their personal pay, their health insurance fund, their retirement contribution, their savings for next year's greenhouse, and their buffer against a bad season. There is no separation between "the company's profit" and "the owner's livelihood." This creates a measurement problem. If a farm reports $60,000 in "profit," that number is not comparable to a corporate net profit of $60,000 — because the farm's figure includes what the owner effectively paid themselves. To solve this, we use a metric commonly known as Standardized Owner Discretionary Earnings, or simply "Standardized Profit." It captures the full economic benefit flowing to the owner — whether formally recorded as salary, as a draw, or as residual profit on the books. Conversely, "Net Profit" in this report refers to what remains after the owner has taken their pay — the true bottom-line surplus available for reinvestment, debt reduction, or savings. The chart below places both metrics side by side. When the gap between them is large, it means the owner is paying themselves well. When Standardized Profit and Net Profit are nearly identical, it typically means the owner is not drawing a formal salary — their entire compensation is embedded in the profit line.

The contrast between net profit and standardized profit reveals the economic reality of owner-operated farming. Breadseed Farm presents the most striking case: a net profit of just $11,255 sits alongside a standardized profit of $101,255. The $90,000 gap is the owner's salary — a healthy, livable income drawn from a well-managed operation. The farm is not "barely profitable." It is highly profitable, with the owner choosing to reinvest minimally and compensate themselves generously. Les Jardins de Keranger shows a similar dynamic: $23,356 net vs. $61,156 standardized — a $37,800 owner draw on a farm generating just $108,276 in revenue. This is the signature of extraordinary efficiency. At the other end, Huerto Cuatro Estaciones, Wilmars Gaerten, and Svobodne Hory show identical net and standardized profit — meaning the owners are either not drawing a formal salary or the operation cannot yet support one. For Huerto ($64,930) and Svobodne ($25,232), the standardized profit itself constitutes the owner's entire income. For Wilmars ($39,409), the tight margin leaves little room for owner compensation beyond what the business retains. Outport Acres tells the most cautionary tale: $13,681 standardized collapses to just $2,881 net after the owner takes a modest salary — a razor-thin surplus that offers virtually no buffer against a difficult season.

The efficiency gap between top and bottom is staggering. Huerto Cuatro Estaciones leads at $360,000 per cultivated acre — a figure that reflects Chile's year-round growing capacity and an aggressive production model. Eastbound Acres follows at $349,025 per acre, achieving near-equivalent intensity on a fraction of the land. At the other end, Outport Acres in Newfoundland generates approximately $27,903 per acre — one-thirteenth the intensity of the leaders. Geography is clearly a factor: Newfoundland's abbreviated growing season constrains output in ways that operational excellence alone cannot overcome. But geography is not destiny. Les Jardins de Keranger, farming 1.5 acres in Brittany with a revenue intensity of just $72,184 per acre, still achieves the highest margin in the group at 56.48%. Efficiency is not only about how much you grow — it is about the ratio between what you earn and what you spend to earn it.

The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model emerges as the ultimate financial stabilizer across almost all profitable profiles. Les Jardins de Keranger generates an astonishing 80.8% of its revenue via pre-sold CSA shares — providing essential upfront cash flow during the capital-intensive spring planting season, mitigating crop loss risk, eliminating variable credit card fees, and drastically reducing packaging costs. Breadseed Farm relies heavily on direct retail sales: $118,325 from farmers' markets (54%) and $46,060 from CSA (21%). Their premium retail pricing — arugula at $6.00/7oz bag ($13.71/lb) versus $10.00/lb wholesale — means the labor and packaging costs of attending three Vermont farmers' markets are easily absorbed. Conversely, Huerto Cuatro Estaciones achieves volume through heavy restaurant sales ($55,500) and market aggregation. While this reduces weekend point-of-sale labor, it requires heavy investment in logistics: $12,000 annually for travel and deliveries, plus $7,200 for a city warehouse with a commercial cold room. The strategic takeaway: anchor revenue with a predictable channel (CSA for stability, or farmer's markets for premium pricing), then use secondary channels to move surplus without reshaping the entire system.

The Value-Add & Reselling Paradigm

Several farms in the cohort bolster revenue through value-added products (jams, pickles, fermented goods, bread) or by reselling raw produce aggregated from neighboring farms. Huerto Cuatro Estaciones provides the most extreme example: $75,000 in resold vegetables (35% of total revenue), purchased at $52,000 to fulfill large restaurant accounts. While this aggregation strategy inflates top-line revenue and secures exclusive vendor relationships, it severely dilutes the blended margin — the typical markup on resold goods is 30–50%, compared to 80–90% on self-grown primary produce. Eastbound Acres supplements its $41,883 income with $1,395 in resold items to provide variety at their farm stand. Keranger brings in $2,604 from resold items to round out CSA box diversity during shoulder seasons. Wilmars Gaerten preserves and transforms part of its harvest through fermentation, juices, and bread — a strategy that both extends shelf life and captures a premium on perishable surplus. For farms with zero or negligible value-add income, even converting 10% of production into processed goods could add 3–5 points of margin. The frontier is underexplored: only Huerto has built a meaningful value-add stream, suggesting this remains a significant growth opportunity across the cohort.

Covered growing space serves as the primary risk mitigation asset and revenue multiplier in market gardening. Open-field agriculture is fundamentally vulnerable to late spring frosts, early autumn freezes, and extreme precipitation events. Breadseed Farm (Zone 4b) operates 7,500 sq ft of covered space across three 30×50 high tunnels and four 15×50 caterpillar tunnels. This enables a massive 10-month continuous selling season (March 1 – Dec 31) in the harsh climate of Vermont, securing premium early-market pricing. La Rosace (Zone 5b) operates 12,840 sq ft of highly engineered covered space — two heated 35×100 greenhouses plus multiple caterpillar tunnels. This infrastructure is entirely responsible for fueling their $163,809 revenue, particularly through early propagation of high-value greens and late-season extension of lucrative fruiting crops. Les Jardins de Keranger (Zone 9a-b) utilizes 2,000 square meters (~21,500 sq ft) of unheated tunnels. Despite a milder oceanic climate, this vast covered area protects delicate crops from winter minimums (−2°C) and torrential rains, allowing for an 11-month selling season and ensuring their 80% CSA base never experiences a box failure. At the other extreme, Eastbound Acres operates with just 368 sq ft of greenhouse space, severely limiting crop planning to rapid-cycle field crops and microgreens during shoulder seasons. The financial data unequivocally proves that allocating start-up capital toward high tunnels and caterpillar structures yields the highest ROI of any equipment purchase.

Establishing a highly functional 1-to-2 acre farm requires between $108,000 and $344,000 in capital investment. Infrastructure is the paramount investment, universally accounting for 54–80% of total start-up costs. Breadseed Farm's massive $257,800 infrastructure spend includes a $110,000 customized timber frame barn with wash-pack station, $81,000 for three Rimol greenhouses, and $28,000 for excavator work. This heavy upfront investment directly correlates with the farm's ability to maintain a lean 20% payroll — a long-term dividend that rapidly amortizes the initial outlay. At the opposite extreme, Eastbound Acres launched with just $37,878 — proving that micro-scale entry is possible with minimal protected cultivation (368 sq ft), though at the cost of limited crop planning flexibility during shoulder seasons. The data reveals a critical third-order insight: there is an inverse relationship between capital expenditure and long-term operating expenses. Farms that underinvest in infrastructure — skimping on automated greenhouse ventilation, ergonomic wash stations, or high-capacity cold rooms — inevitably pay through inflated, perpetual labor costs.

This report synthesizes financial data from 8 small-scale farm profiles collected during the 2024–2025 fiscal seasons by the Market Gardener Institute. All figures are self-reported and converted to USD using approximate exchange rates: 1 EUR = 1.05 USD, 1 CAD = 0.72 USD. These rates are directional estimates and should not be used for precise financial planning.