Pick-your-own and event days
What it earns, what it costs and what it asks of your week.
Every figure on this page is the template's own, an extension estimate and not a measurement of any farm. Your own hours and harvests calibrate it once you log them.
Where the numbers come from
- NJ · Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Budgeting for a Corn Maze (E343), 2013 primary
- TN · University of Tennessee Extension, Center for Profitable Agriculture, A Farmer's Guide to a Pick-Your-Own Operation (PB 1802), 2014
- TN · University of Tennessee Extension, Center for Profitable Agriculture, Estimating the Number of Parking Spaces Per Acre (CPA Info #222), 2014
- KY · University of Kentucky, Center for Crop Diversification, Pick-your-own (U-Pick) Marketing (CCD-MP-03), 2021
- TN · Tennessee General Assembly, Tennessee Code Annotated 43-39-101 to 43-39-103, Agritourism, 2009
Figured at 18 event days, the size of operation the primary source describes. Season 3, the first at full production; earlier seasons earn less.
Hours by week
18 event days of Pick-your-own and event days in 2026, week by week. The dashed line is 40 hours, one person's week. The busiest week holds 38 h (Sep 21 to Sep 27).
Weeks that cannot move
Biology or a booking sets these; nothing can reschedule them.
- Host event days (setup, check-in, field, parking, cleanup): Sep 14 to Nov 1
Where it lands on a mixed farm
Each pair of templates is run together on a made-up farm of one person at 40 hours, the way Farm Draft runs a plan. A week is listed when the scheduler finds work that cannot move, at least 8 hours from each, adding up to more than 40. The weeks are computed, not written: change a template and they change.
| Collides with | Weeks | Worst week | This template | The other | Fixed work |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raspberries | 3 (Sep 14 to Oct 4) | Sep 21 to Sep 27 | Host event days (setup, check-in, field, parking, cleanup), 38 h | Raspberry picks (fall), 88 h | 214 h |
| Pastured broilers | 1 (Oct 5 to Oct 11) | Oct 5 to Oct 11 | Host event days (setup, check-in, field, parking, cleanup), 38 h | Processing, 17 h | 59 h |
| Beef cow-calf | 1 (Sep 28 to Oct 4) | Sep 28 to Oct 4 | Host event days (setup, check-in, field, parking, cleanup), 38 h | Wean and work calves (fall), 9 h | 50 h |
| Market garden (mixed vegetables) | 7 (Sep 14 to Nov 1) | Sep 21 to Sep 27 | Host event days (setup, check-in, field, parking, cleanup), 38 h | Market day (shared by every bed), 5 h | 46 h |
Not checked, because their sources state no size of operation: Cut flowers (bunches, direct), Hair sheep (pasture lambs), Pastured feeder pigs (whole and half hogs), Stocker cattle (summer grazing).
Tasks
| Task | Hours fixed | Hours per event day | When | Rigidity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parking, signage, restrooms, insurance, permits | 16 h | 0.5 h a event day | once, Aug 15 to Sep 14 | Flexible, 14 days |
| Promotion and bookings | 10 h | 0.5 h a event day | once, Aug 1 to Sep 30 | Floating |
| Host event days (setup, check-in, field, parking, cleanup) | — | 14 h a event day | once, Sep 15 to Oct 31 | Fixed |
| Take down, settle up | 6 h | — | once, Nov 1 to Nov 15 | Floating |
Costs
| Line | Amount | Schedule F |
|---|---|---|
| Agritourism liability endorsement | $2,500.00 fixed | Insurance |
| Statutory warning signs, road signs, wristbands | $25.00 a event day + $500.00 fixed | Supplies |
| Portable restroom rental | $150.00 a event day | Rent: machinery, equipment |
| Bags, containers, refreshments | $50.00 a event day | Supplies |
| Advertising (15% of gate) | 15% of revenue | Marketing |
Revenue
| Line | Price | Yield | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gate and picking (200 visitors at $7.50) | $7.50 a visitor | 200 visitors a event day | — |
Farm Draft records the tax category of each line and leaves the choice of treatment to your CPA.
Run it on your own farm
Add Pick-your-own and event days next to the rest of what you grow and raise. Farm Draft puts every enterprise in one weekly calendar against the hours you actually have and names the week they collide.
The other templates
- Beef cow-calf
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Cut flowers (bunches, direct)
- Hair sheep (pasture lambs)
- Hay (tall fescue, custom baled)
- Honeybees
- Laying hens
- Market garden (mixed vegetables)
- Meat goats (pasture and browse)
- Orchard (apple and pear, semi-dwarf)
- Pastured broilers
- Pastured feeder pigs (whole and half hogs)
- Raspberries
- Stocker cattle (summer grazing)