Oakes Irrigation Research
Site
Carrington Research Extension Center * North Dakota State University
P.O. Box 531, Oakes, ND 58474-0531, Voice: (701) 742-2189, FAX: (701)
742-2700, email: rgreenla@ndsuext.nodak.edu
CABBAGE PRODUCTION - AN EXAMPLE
Richard Greenland, Leonard Besemann, Heidi Eslinger
Cabbage production in North Dakota is presently done on small scale operations.
It is difficult in a small scale operation to grow and prepare cabbage for
market because of equipment costs, especially planters and coolers. Cabbage
cannot be seeded with most available planters - requiring the purchase of
a specialty planter. When cabbage is harvested, it must be cooled immediately
in order to maintain quality. We grew and marketed cabbage on a small scale
at the Oakes Irrigation Research Site. The way we did it may give others
trying to grow cabbage on a small scale ideas so they can be successful.
Cabbage was planted in two separate areas that together totaled about one acre of land. We planted cabbage on four dates so as to give us a steady supply for the market. Three plantings were with the hybrid 'Charmant' because of its quality, earliness, and fairly good yield in previous hybrid performance trials at the Oakes Irrigation Research Site. Planting dates were April 13, April 23, and April 30. We did not plant later than April 30 because earlier research showed both yield and qualitydrop if planted after that date. In order to have some later cabbage we switched to a later maturing cabbage, 'Solid Blue #780', planted on April 28. This variety had performed okay in previous performance trials.
These production fields were a Maddock sandy loam (pH 7.8, 2.3% organic matter, medium soil-S, and planted to field corn in 1998) and an Embden sandy loam (pH 7.2, 2.9% organic matter, very low soil-S, and planted to peppers in 1998). Both fields had very high soil-P and soil-K. For fertilizer we broadcast 15 lbs N/acre and 75 lbs P2O5/acre as 10-50-0, 18 lbs N/acre and 20 lbs S/acre as 21-0-0-24, and 99 lbs K20/acre as 0-0-60 on April 7. We sprayed 40 lbs N/acre as 28-0-0 on April 12 and 50 lbs N/acre as 28-0-0 on June 24. Weeds were controlled using Treflan (1 pt/acre applied preplant incorporated on April 12 or April 28), Lentagran (2 lb/acre on June 1 or June 23), Poast plus Dash (3 pt + 2 qt/acre on June 1 or June 11) and by hand weeding. We sprayed Asana (8 oz/acre on June 29 and Aug 11) and Agree (1 lb/acre on June 16, July 7, July 16, July 26, Aug 2, and Aug 9) to control cabbage looper and cabbage worm. The fields were overhead sprinkler irrigated as needed throughout the season. We could not assure the wholesaler quality cabbage without irrigation.
We began harvesting the cabbage on July 21. The first and second planting dates were not very far apart in maturity date. We should have separated the planting dates by another 3 to 4 days. Cabbage were harvested by hand. We started harvest in the early morning while the air was cool. The cabbage were usually covered with dew. Harvesting in the morning helped us market a higher quality cabbage. One person cut the heads from the stalk and left them sitting on the leaves. Others came by immediately and packed the heads directly into standard cabbage boxes (most wholesalers will not buy cabbage unless it is packed into standard cabbage boxes.) As they packed the heads, they trimmed excess leaves and inspected the cabbage for bad spots. We threw away heads that had any bad spots or if we weren't sure they were good, sound heads. It is very important to deliver a high quality product. Shortly after harvest, usually within an hour, the cabbage was transported to a refrigerated truck that we borrowed from Economy Oil of Oakes. The temperature in the truck was set at 32 to 34F. We stacked the cabbage in the truck on pallets, 5 layers and 25 boxes to each pallet. A fan was set up to draw air through the cabbage (see page 87 of the Oakes Irrigation Research Site 1998 report for a diagram and description). When we had more than one pallet in the truck, we placed them end to end and drew the air through all of them at once. The cabbage was stored in the refrigerated truck until it was picked up by the wholesaler. It is not sufficient to simply place the cabbage in the refrigerated truck without a fan because it will not cool rapidly enough and cabbage quality will be reduced. We harvested up to 100 boxes per day using 3 to 5 people. Total time was approximately 15 to 20 manhours per 100 boxes.
We harvested and shipped cabbage to the wholesaler six times. We shipped a total of 530 boxes. The price received was $6.00 or less per box. Prices fluctuated throughout the season. Early cabbage usually demands a higher price than late cabbage. The standard cabbage boxes cost about $2.10 each. Seed costs were about $125. Other costs included land preparation, planting, labor (for planting, weeding, thinning, and harvest), pesticides, fertilizer, and irrigation.
Go to top of cabbage production example
Go to Oakes Irrigation Research Site 1999 annual report