Hello Fellow Growers,
We have found that drastically changing customer demographics have forced changes upon us that we never could have dreamed of even 10 years ago. I believe that the region of the country that you are in largely dictates the PYO rules that you need to have. 35 years ago we encouraged sampling while you were picking, then we evolved into not encouraging it, now we don’t allow it. We discovered that PYO largely became TYO or EYO (Take Your Own and Eat Your Own). We have responded by creating an admission system and not allowing eating until the crops have been paid for. We enforce the eating rule much as the state police do the speed limit on the interstates…if you are only 10 over no problem. If you are really speeding then we enforce. Indeed we all want to provide an inviting environment for our customers. There are a lot of different ways to accomplish that depending upon where you are located. What works for you where you are located is what is most important. Best wishes for a successful fall PYO season! Farmer Kurt Kurt W. Alstede General Manager, Alstede Farms, LLC P.O. Box 278 1 Alstede Farms Lane, Corner 84 County Route 513 S. (Old Rt. 24) Chester, New Jersey 07930 United States of America Tel: 908-879-7189 Fax: 908-879-7815 www.alstedefarms.com cid:image001.jpg@01CFB1AF.83320400Picture1 From: apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net [mailto:apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net] On Behalf Of Evan B. Milburn Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2014 1:04 PM To: Apple-Crop Subject: [apple-crop] PYO Our operation sets aside 30 acres plus of apples, 21 plus acres of sweet cherries plus blueberries ,raspberries ,table grapes and blackberries. All sold by the pound. Come on guys, we all know darn well EVERYONE is going to eat them while picking Of all our types of sale, retail or wholesale, PYO is easily the most profitable. Are we to hire security guards to stop the eating? That would make for a family fun time in the country. We simply charge a HIGH price (although not as high as some MA or NJ growers) and actually TELL them to eat while picking. They are going to anyway! That makes you and your farm the GOOD guys and still making a huge profit. Evan Milburn www.milburnorchards.com <http://www.milburnorchards.com/>
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