PMC Update for April 18, 2024
Financials
One nice thing about the March financial report is it is typically the first one of the fiscal year that shows a positive net revenue. Most of the revenue from plant sales is received in March and April which for this year resulted in a net income for the month of March of $358,301. The net income year to date is $245,260 which is down from the same time last year when it was $474,416. That difference can be attributed to increased expenses and decreased revenue. The reason for the decreased revenue is a bit of a mystery. There has been a lot of talk about an increase of riparian restoration projects that has not materialized. There was also a decrease in reforestation which can be explained by a decrease in log prices. The increase in expenses can be seen in increases in costs for brokered stock, seeds, transplants, staff wages, cold storage, equipment repair and farm and nursery supplies. The executive payment also increased to $100,000 and the transfer of $35,000 from long-term investments to executive operations is posted as a PMC expense. The PMC is hoping to meet its overall budget but there will not be profits like last year.
Sales
As of April 15, of this year PMC plant sales were at $1,610,588 which is 95% of the way to meeting its projected budget of $1,696,000. That is off from the same time last year when sales were $1,708,016. There are a couple of more weeks left to sell plants and time will tell if we meet budget or not. The PMC will begin its cooler blowout sale which generates some sales, at least to those that always wait for it. The sale is a percentage off based upon dollar volume. $500 to 1000 is 10% off, $1000-1500 is 15% and over $1500 is 20% off. The minimum order is dropped to $300 but orders less than $500 are not discounted. Sales to CD’s are $427,176 and to other entities is $1,098,878. Contract sales added $84,533 to the total. Overall, 1,519,581 plants have been sold out of 1,661,492 harvested.
Transplanting
Transplanting has wrapped up for the year with over 264,000 plants being transplanted for plug-1 production. I took almost 2 weeks for 11 seasonal employees to do it. Following that they made a weeding pass through the nursery and then planted a new willow cutting block which was determined to be needed due to projected increases in demand for live stakes. If that demand does not materialize the new block will allow us to retire an older block.
Plant Materials Task Force
One apparent need that has become evident from the plant materials task force is the need to educate some CD staff that are involved in plant procurement about the PMC. The PMC is working on a User’s Guide which will outline what the PMC is, what is does and what goods and services it can provide CD’s. This will take the form of a printed brochure and an electronic file that can be shared. A first draft should be ready to share with others on the task force soon. Plans are also afoot to hold an open house for CD staff here in mid-August. That should help others better understand what the PMC and what it is not.
Pump Repair
The west pump has not been working properly for the past year. We have been trying to get Farmers Equipment out for months to look at it so on Friday they showed up out of the blue and jumped in. They pulled some of the casing and shaft out of the ground and need to pull out the rest and the pump this week. Once everything is out a determination can be made what is wrong and what to about it. What has been pulled out so far looks very corroded so complete replacement of everything below ground is possible. The cost for that will most likely be above $20,000 which would make it a capital expense. It should be noted that the other 2 wells are also 38 years old and their time will come sooner or later.
Jim Brown, Director of Nursery Operations