Five things to know about the PMC for August 5, 2021

This week’s update is going to be brief. Things have been pretty uneventful and things are about as caught up as they can be. One reason for that is that we have been spending the time necessary to make it happen, which does cut into the time for reports and updates.

July Financial Reports

Lori has completed the financial reports for July. Since the fiscal year starts in July there is only one month of data which does not provide a lot to look at. PMC assets at Banner bank are within the maximum limit that the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) covers. There has not been any revenue for this year yet which is similar to past July’s. The expenses are at $55,675 which is less than last year when they were $71,420.

Sales

One reason that there has not been a typical sales report this year yet is that Jacquie and Lori have been keeping very busy with new orders coming in. A brief sales report shows that as of 7/30/21 we have booked $516,554 in sales for this fiscal year. That compares to 8/11/20 when sales were $338,564. Sales are definitely off to a good start.

Word of the Week: YIKES!

Merriman–Webster defines YIKES as an expression of astonishment, as in YIKES did you see how much sales are up year to date? That is almost half of the budgeted sales amount for the year!

Operations

Overall, the growing season has gone well. There are a lot of plants out in the fields growing which is good since sales have been spiking. Some species have already sold out, but there are still many that are still available, even with the increase in sales. One activity is drought stressing where irrigation is reduced to reduce growth and start to induce dormancy. The ground cannot be allowed to get completely dry since that could kill plants. The practice of drought stressing does result in some leaf burn on some plants so there will be localized spots in the field that may not appear lush but that is okay. Sometimes one must practice tough love.

The run-up to fall seed planting has started with working in the barley cover crop. The fields will then be sub-soiled and/or chisel plowed, field cultivated, harrowed, and mulched. Before the end of September, there should be enough seed on hand to start fall seed planting.

COVID Update

With the uptick in Delta variant COVID cases recently Washington State Department of Labor and Industries has published updated guidance.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Jim Brown, WACD PMC Nursery Manager
https://wacdpmc.org/about-us