Factors affecting profit
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Tree density has a highly significant positive effect on yield.
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Tree density has a highly significant effect on trunk diameter.
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Profitability increases with increasing tree density up to 1,000 trees per acre.
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Fruit yield has a large effect on profitability.
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Fruit price has the greatest effect on profitability.
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With high fruit prices, the optimum density is high.
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Regardless of land cost or interest rate, the optimum density is about 1,000 trees per acre.
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At high planting densities, tree price has a large impact on profitability.
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Higher density systems reach full production more quickly.
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Higher density orchards do not ultimately produce higher yields per acre.
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Higher tree densities usually bring higher investment and higher risk.
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The best combination of high profitability without excessive risk is achieved by the tall spindle system for fresh fruit blocks and vertical axis for lower-priced or processing blocks.
This article appears in the December 2012 issue of Good Fruit Grower
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