Table 6. A comparison of the related costs and time required to break even for each of the five main method-crop categories.
| Method-crop | Average setup cost ($ per m2) | Median monthly costs (+ mains water) ($ per m2) | Median monthly retail value ($ per m2) | Min–Max (years) | # “never” break even (%) | Median time until break even (years) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bed-orch | $22.73 | $0.02 | $0.85 | 0.42–62.1 | 3 (15%) | 2.0 |
| Bed-mixed | $18.91 | $0.51 | $2.25 | 0.04–11.70 | 4 (17%) | 0.5 |
| Chkn-egg | $121.46 | $0.62 | $1.87 | 0.39–38.00 | 3 (19%) | 4.6 |
| Raised-mixed | $106.09 | $0.74 | $5.27 | 0.91–7.90 | 5 (28%) | 1.1 |
| Wick-mixed | $222.82 | $0.60 | $3.48 | 0.76–58.00 | 1 (11%) | 2.0 |