PMC Update for January 11, 2024

Here are 5 things that you should know about the PMC for January 11, 2024:

Financials

Lori has completed the December Financial Reports and show that revenue and expenses are largely on track. One thing to keep in mind is that due to the seasonality of the business that this is a negative cash flow time of year. There is a lot of money going out to cover expenses for seasonal labor and other related expenses, and the majority of ship-ping and invoicing does not occur until March and April. A significant amount of capital is required to pay the bills until then. As of December 31, the PMC the PMC had $12,410 in checking and $39,948 in savings at Banner Bank. That is not enough to carry the PMC through this time of year. As of December 31, there was $362,404 in a money market savings account and $304,008 in CDs at Edward Jones to cover the rest. Since then, $50,000 was transferred from the money market to cover PMC operations and $50,000 was transferred for other association needs in early January which decreased that balance by $100,000 but there should still be adequate funds between that account and 2 CDs that will be maturing during that time to keep harvest going.

On the revenue side the PMC has been shipping and invoicing for some stock which generated $38,448 in revenue for a total of $102,935 for plant sales this fiscal year to date but that is off from the same time last year when customers were receiving stock at a faster rate. Last December plant sales generated $102,935 and $197,757 for the fiscal year to date.

Expenses this year are comparable to last year with total expenses this fiscal year to date at $593,767 compared to $601,560 for the same time last year.

Sales

Sales are off from the same time last year. As of December 31, the PMC posted $1,384,578 in sales for this year which was off from the same time last year when sales were at $1,574,169. While that decrease is a little concerning it is ahead of the same time in 2021 when sales were at $1,305,865. Current sales are 82% of the way to meeting the annual plant sale revenue budget of $1,696,000. It is anticipated that sales will exceed that by the end of the season. This year’s sales volume is composed of 295 orders compared to 293 orders for the same time last year. That indicates the average cost per order has decreased which is possibly due to fewer large orders.

Harvest

Harvest continues at warp speed. It started on December 4, and after 6 weeks over 821,000 plants have been lifted and processed. Overall, the PMC is about half way through harvest with about half the plants needed for the year so things are on schedule. Hopefully that continues.

Weather

One reason harvest is as far along as it is due to no time lost due to frozen ground yet. When the temperatures drop into the mid 20’s the ground becomes too hard and plants cannot be lifted. The temperature is forecast to drop to 13° F Thursday night which will freeze to ground rock hard. That is predicted to continue at least until Tuesday. Once the temperatures rise above freezing the length of time required for it to thaw is dependent upon several variables. It is possible that almost a week of harvest will be lost. Fortunately, the PMC is ahead of harvest enough to minimize this setback. Unfortunately, there will not be enough work for the seasonal labor and they will have to take a few days off. The fear of temporarily laying these people off is they might look for other work and not come back. Hopefully that does not happen. The fear of cold damage to plants experiencing this kind of freeze in minimized since they are fully dormant.

Friday Excitement at the PMC

One thing about working at the PMC is that no two days are the same. Friday was much more different than usual. The outside crew leader informed me there was a Bald Eagle on the ground out in the field that was not flying. By the time I made it out there she was laying on the ground semiconscious. I called Sarvey’s Wildlife Center in Arlington to see if this is something they could help with. They requested a photo which was sent and they immediately said to bring her in. We fashioned a makeshift carrier and was able to get it in there without causing injury to bird or person. She was driven down and they immediately took it in for assessment and treatment. The diagnosis was head trauma and a laceration above her eye. By Monday she was looking much better and they plan on releasing her back up here in about 2 weeks which has made all involved very, very happy.

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

Jim Brown, Director of Nursery Operations