Our 10 acre hay field is quite a bit of work and after all the cost of contractors yields only about $1500 each year even with two cuttings.

This is why I have been looking into Lavender production and out of interest here are the numbers I am playing around with:

Spacing between rows
Between rows: 4 ft., with a range of 3-6 ft
Between plants: 1-3 ft., 30" most common
3,000 - 5,000 plants per acre - 4,000 is about average.

Price of plants
Plugs: 128 plug tray $50-60, less for large quantities ($30-40).
2" pots: $3-$4 retail, $1.50-2.00 large quantities.
4" larger pots:- $4-$6, large quantities for around $3.00

This gives a total planting cost of about $10,000 with plugs and at the other exrtreme $120,00 for 4" pots.

The irrigation system would cost about $5,000 by the time it was complete. With drip irrigation it is VITAL to have a thorough filtering of the water or the drippers will clog up in no time.

Flower yields – Grosso
Approximately 150 stems per bundle
4-7 bundles per plant - 5-6 on average
12-15 bundles to yield a pound of dried buds
Buds per plant - 1/4 to 1/2 lb. per plant dried buds
Bundles per acre 4,000 x 5 = 20,000
Buds per acre: 1,000 - 1,500 pounds dried buds per acre

Oil production
Angustifolia's yield between 3 and 15 quarts of oil per acre (about 5 to 25 lbs.)
Lavandin's yield between 20 and 95 quarts of oil per acre (about 35 to 180 lbs.).

Wholesale prices for lavandin oil, are around $35/pint as far as I can make out.
Thus, on the wholesale market, lavandin varieties will generate around $2800 to $6650 per acre for oil production.

It is highly unlikely that most U.S. lavender producers can compete in the wholesale essential oil business with producers in some other parts of the world. Oil production for small US producers should be aimed at high quality, value-added markets.

Which is where our sister web sire Mulberry Health will come in handy.