In addition to the ongoing basic costs of a farm, there are costs that only arise when harvesting, collecting, sorting, and preparing for further processing actually takes place.
These harvest-dependent costs are not a permanent basic expense of the farm but arise in direct connection with the specific production and the respective season.
For this reason, they must be clearly distinguished from the farm's basic costs in price transparency.
This page describes all costs that do not occur permanently but only arise with the actual harvest and the associated work phases.
They belong to production-related pricing and supplement the farm's basic costs with those expenses that only become visible where a product is truly harvested and set in motion.
Harvest-dependent costs arise whenever a farm enters the concrete phase of harvesting, collecting, and initial preparation of a product.
They therefore depend on:
These costs are thus not permanently fixed but change with the real conditions of the respective harvest process.
Depending on the farm, product, and region, these costs may vary. Typical items include, for example:
Especially for labor-intensive crops, these items can represent a significant portion of pricing.
Harvest-dependent costs must not be mixed with the farm's basic costs.
These occur continuously, regardless of the actual harvest.
They support the permanent structure of the operation.
These only arise when harvesting and production actually take place.
They are variable and season-dependent.
This distinction is important because it makes visible which costs permanently belong to the supporting structure and which only arise with actual production.
Many people primarily see the finished product and overlook how intensive the harvest phase can be.
Especially during this time, many expenses often converge simultaneously:
If these costs are not made visible, an overly simplistic picture emerges of how a product moves from the farm to further processing.
In the TEIKEI context, this level is particularly important because it shows that production does not consist solely of a permanent farm structure but also of intensive seasonal phases in which real additional costs arise.
Solidarity-based agriculture therefore means not only considering the permanent foundation of a farm but also making the concrete burden and additional effort during harvest time visible.
This is precisely where it becomes clear that harvesting is not just a result but a labor-intensive, sensitive, and often weather-dependent phase.
Harvest-dependent costs make visible:
This level prevents harvesting from being treated as a mere given.
This page is closely related to:
Together, these pages show how a sustainable basis for further pricing emerges from the ongoing farm structure and seasonal harvest work.
One level up: 01 - Farm Value Creation
Author: Felix Schröder, with assistance from AI (ChatGPT)
Creation: written by Felix Schröder › formatted in Markdown by ChatGPT › published by Felix Schröder › display adjusted by Claude
Created: 2026-03-30 · Last updated: 2026-03-30 · Questions or feedback? support@teikei.us