PMC Update for March 7, 2024
Here are 5 things that you should know about the PMC for March 7,2024:
Sales
As of 2/29/24 the total sales at the PMC were $1,540,714. While that still lags from last year’s recording setting pace of $1,615,464 for the same date last year (the date last year was February 28 since there was not a February 29th), it is $87,310 more than reported on February 8th of this year which is more than usual this late in the sales season. Hopefully that trend in new sales continues since another $130,000 is needed to cover projected expenses for this fiscal year.
This year’s sales volume thus far is composed of $82,236 for grow contracts, $432,345 for sales to Conservation Districts in this state and $1,026,131 to non-CD customers. So far 1,447,026 plants have been sold which is a quarter million fewer plants than this time last year. Hopefully some of those can find their forever homes and certainly some will.
Please check out the PMC availability list on its website at wacdpmc.org to see what is available and pass along to those who may be interested.
Financials
Lori has completed the financial reports for February. Revenue for the PMC as of February 29th is $920,407, which is behind the same date (2/28/23) last year when it was $1,102,282. That is due to the decrease in sales (see above). That discrepancy should narrow during the month ahead. Expenses for the fiscal year to date are $1,010,532 which is above the same date last year when they were $990,065.
One of the largest increases in expenses is for Brokered Stock which is more than offset by the revenue it generates. Another significant increase is for transplants due to the primary vendor requiring an advance deposit for the first time this year but that should balance out at the final invoicing. Seeds are also above last year in due in part to an earlier invoicing this year from a major vendor and will balance out next month. Overall expenses are within budget for the year.
Harvest is Finished
The PMC completed its harvest of bare root seedlings on March 6 although there are still some live stakes to harvest. Over the course of 14 weeks, minus 1 week due to frozen ground, over 1.65 million plants were harvested, processed, and stored. It is always pleasing to have that production in the rear-view mirror and would be cause to celebrate except for what is next.
Shipping
It is important to point out that even though harvest is largely wrapped up that the PMC will continue shipping plants for almost 2 more months. Before an order can be shipped it first needs to be built and that can be time consuming. Jon our warehouse person takes a pick slip and goes into the cooler and finds the right species, provenance, stock-types, and sizes and pulls the requested quantity, putting the extras back into the cooler. For an order consisting of 3- or 4-line items that can be done relatively quickly. For an order with 20-to-25-line items that can be the better part of a day. Once an order is completed it needs to be prepared for pickup or packaged for shipping. There are only so many orders that can be completed in a day. That will continue into early May when the bare root season is over and the cooler is turned off.
What’s Ahead
With harvest over the attention turns to field cleanup. The crew has gone out to get rid of those plants not needed and to clean up the cutting blocks and get everything ready for another growing season. Transplanting the plugs for plug-1 production follows, then putting the fields that will be fallow this summer into the fallow rotation, followed by spring seed planting. Somewhere along the way the weed control program will start because the weeds did not bother to take the winter off.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks
Jim Brown, Director of Nursery Operations