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What is the Iowa Produce Market Potential Calculator?
This calculator was designed to help users determine expanding markets in Iowa if consumers ate more locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables rather than produce from conventional sources outside the state.

The calculator is unique because users easily can compare what Iowans eat (based on national per capita consumption data) to what Iowa farmers produce (based on U.S. Agriculture Census information).

The calculator includes information about 37 fruit and vegetables currently grown in Iowa. Consumption (demand) and supply (production) can be expressed in a number of weight-based units: pounds, bushels, pick-up truck or semi-truck load, yield per acre and retail value. Information can be calculated for the entire state, an individual county or group of counties.

Who might use the calculator?

• Farmers: Farmers can use the calculator as a tool to explore produce items in the state that have the greatest potential to be grown and marketed locally. Farmers also can estimate potential sales to use in business and marketing plans.

• Groups that support local foods: These organizations can use the calculator to examine the potential economic impact of increased consumption of locally grown produce in their region or the entire state (see cautions below about using county-level estimates). Information could be used in efforts to acquire resources for educational or research programs, or to set benchmark goals of increasing local food production to meet increasing demand.

• State and local food policy councils: These groups can use the calculator to estimate potential economic impacts of increasing consumption of locally grown produce in efforts to create policies that would spark investment in local food enterprises. Such policies might include incentives for public schools or agencies to purchase local foods, or policies that help local growers become more competitive with conventional produce suppliers.

How does the calculator work?
The calculator was designed to be easy to use. Visitors using Netscape or Firefox browsers will see brief explanations of menu items on the left side of the page when they hover over them with their mouse.

After each calculation, information appears on an Iowa map, located on the right side of the page, and in a table below. Both the map and the table can be printed for later reference.

To change any menu item, users simply reset the calculator. A tutorial takes first-time users through a specific scenario. Terms used in the calculator and how they work also are defined.

The calculator works best with the following browsers: Netscape 6.0 or above, Firefox and Internet Explorer 6.0 or above. Some users with smaller monitors or smaller resolution settings on their monitors may have to scroll from side to side and up and down to view the complete map. Regardless of monitor size, however, the map will print completely on standard 8½ x 11 paper.

A few words of caution
When using the calculator, please keep in mind:

• Results from this calculator are estimates, provided as an illustration of a potential market. They do not take into account specific seasonal or geographic dynamics of the produce market.

• Information about consumption (demand) is based on national per capital consumption data and reliable information is not available for Iowa. However, nutritionists and dietitians who reviewed the calculator indicate that Iowans may consume significantly less (or more) of several fruits and vegetables than the national average. In the calculator, "per capita consumption" is similarly adjusted when users enter a percentage in the first field under "Target market share."

• Real markets are not confined by county or state boundaries. Iowa farmers often sell their produce in several counties or in a nearby state. Since many of Iowa’s produce growers market locally, however, calculator’s values are useful estimates for long-term strategic decisions regarding market potential.

• County-level production data for several produce items were missing from the Agricultural Census. Data for these counties were estimated by comparing the undisclosed values for each item with the undisclosed values for each county. For this reason, county-specific production information may not be accurate in some cases and may affect some county-specific estimates of market potential.

• Production information (supply) is based on acres planted and multiplied by statewide average yields that were estimated from a single year of data. Users may want to adjust average yield in cases where more specific or recent information is available.

• Even though all the produce items that are listed can be grown in Iowa, some perform better (using existing technologies and genetics) in certain parts of the state because of climate and other factors. For example, crops of peaches, nectarines, apricots or sweet potatoes will more likely produce acceptable yields on a consistent basis in the southern portion compared to other parts of the state.

Who developed the calculator?
The Iowa Produce Market Potential Calculator was developed by the Center for Transportation Research and Education (CTRE) at Iowa State University with funding and technical support from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. The calculator is copyrighted and is intended for educational purposes; its use or application is not intended for sale.

From the Center for Transportation Research and Education:

• Michele Regenold, webmaster

• Randy Boeckenstedt, transportation research specialist

From the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture:

• Rich Pirog, Marketing and Food Systems Initiative program leader

• Laura Miller, communications specialist

• Andrew Hug, program assistant

• Mary Adams, technical editor

Where can I get more information?
For additional questions about how to use the Iowa Produce Market Potential Calculator, contact Rich Pirog, (515) 294-1854, or rspirog@iastate.edu, or Randy Boeckenstedt, rboecken@iastate.edu.