Shipping Charges Explained...
...Well, Kind of
Written by Joe

This young man might like to know the reasons behind shipping costs.

One of the most commonly asked questions by our customers is “why are shipping rates so high?” This often happens right after the first of each new year. I’ll try my best to explain shipping charges in this post.

All of our spawn products are heavy, wet, and wood or grain based. We also ship wax, another dense heavy object. As you may already know, shipping this kind of product can be expensive.

Field and Forest Products is marking its 30^thyear in business, and for each of these years there has been an average price increase of 5% by our major carrier, UPS. While 5% may not seem like much, one has to bear in mind that the key word here is “average.” In general, lightweight packages weighing less than 30 lbs. saw an increase of 7.5%, whereas packages weighing upwards of 75 lbs. saw a price increase of only 1.69%! On top of the overall price increase, package surcharge fees also went up. For instance, delivery to a residential address (this includes all you farmers out there) adds another $2.80 to the standard delivery charge. Add to that an extended delivery surcharge to certain zip codes and the surcharge jumps to $3.30.

When placing an order, one thing to remember is that “bundling” of spawn orders reduces the cost per bag to ship. For instance, shipping one 5.5 lb. unit of sawdust spawn to a zone 5 residential address would cost $15.28. Adding an additional 5.5 lb. unit would only add an additional $1.19 to the shipping charge, thus bringing down the cost per unit to ship. The bottom line: try to get all your spawn ordered and shipped in one box (or maximize each box for larger orders requiring multiple boxes) if possible. How much spawn will fit in a UPS box? As a general rule, a UPS box can hold up to: 8 large bags of sawdust spawn; 12 large bags of grain spawn; 12 large bags of plug spawn; or 15 sheets of thimble spawn. The only bundling we cannot offer is that of seasonal spawn ordered out of season. This would include Almond Agaricus, Pink Oyster, Morel, and Portabella or White Button box kits.

On the upside, UPS guarantees time in transit and their software allows us to send our customers an email notification when their order ships, providing them with accessible tracking information. Field and Forest Products also has negotiated rates with UPS. We pass the discounted price on to our customers. For orders weighing over 200 lbs., we are a UPS tier 1 shipper, qualifying our large shipments for the largest discount UPS allows, which is about 10% over our negotiated rates.

What is Field and Forest Products doing to keep shipping costs to a minimum?

In order to keep shipping charges to a minimum for our customers, we seek out alternative carriers for customer shipments and use them whenever possible, passing along the savings. When placing an order online it appears as if UPS is the only shipping option, BUT this is not always the case! Due to the variety of shipping options available to us, we manually calculate shipping charges on all online and phone orders to determine the best shipping option available so that we may provide our customers with the best rate and delivery time possible. Savings, when using an alternate carrier, are directly reflected on your invoice. With the myriad of shipping options available to us, it would be difficult to program our website to accurately calculate which combination of items would fit in a particularly box size, etc., and then select the best possible option. Placing all of those options on our website would most likely confuse our customers as well. This “customized” approach is somewhat unique in the mail order world, as it takes extra resources in staff and packaging supplies, but it makes us feel good to try to reduce shipping costs to our customers whenever possible.

Jeni packing an order into one of our USPS priority boxes, an option for smaller orders!

Other Carrier Options

In the Midwest, we are fortunate to have an alternative carrier, Spee-Dee Delivery Service, whose costs to transport packages is around 50% lower than standard ground charges by the two nationwide carriers. We use SpeeDee Delivery Service for package shipments to all addresses in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, eastern Nebraska and zip code areas 630, 631 and 633 in Missouri. The only downside to using Spee-Dee Delivery Service is that their software is unable to send email notifications to our customers to let them know that their package has been shipped.

Nationwide (including HI and AK), we ship orders of single large units of spawn and multiples of smaller unit sizes, as well as small tool and supply orders via the US Postal Service. The Postal Service in recent years has introduced additional packaging options with very competitive rates of flat rate and regional boxes, perfect for small businesses like ours. The downside to using the US Postal Service is that package delivery times are not guaranteed and there is no real-time tracking. We have noticed over the years, however, that the US Postal Service has upped its level of service and packages are more often than not delivered in 2-3 working days.

What you can do to help keep your shipping costs to a minimum:

•Order online or call for a shipping price quote, rather than placing an order by mail

•Bundle orders to ship all at once (or in quantities that will maximize the space in each box for larger orders when possible).

•Order over 200 lbs. of spawn and supplies :)

•Call to see if we can deliver your order to various conferences (posted on our website) that we attend. Please note that this option is “first come, first serve” based on vehicle space! 

If you would like a quote on shipping costs, we are always happy to accommodate your request. Please let us know if we can be of assistance. We can be reached at 1-800-792-6220 or via email, fieldandforest@centurytel.net

Growing thorn melon in Kenya

Thorn melon fruit is an emerging agribusiness activity which is a fast expanding . Growing thorn melon in Kenyahas since time immemorial happened wildly particularly in the hot areas like sagana in kirinyaga and the coast province. The fruit has a good taste and makes nice juice. The fruit has a high demand and good local market prices due to its numerous medicinal attributes.It is said to be good for management of high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.  It is locally variously called passion mwitu, parachichi mwitu or passion lenye tete maji. The Fruit shares many characteristic with passion other than the spikes on the skin. To establish a plot of the crop start by extracting seed from healthy looking fruits. Choose a well developed ripe fruit from the vine. Scoop-out the contents consisting of  seed and pulp, and  plant the seed in the nursery directly.      

Seed germination while growing thorn melon in Kenyamay be improved by softening the seed coat. Allow the seed together with the pulp to ferment for 1 to 3days in a plastic container. The fruit seed is then thoroughly washed after which it is dried in the shade and sown as soon as possible.Improve seed germination by priming which is soaking the seed in warm water for one hour before planting while growing thorn melon in Kenya. Water the seeds using a fine mist from a hand held sprayer or watering can. Continue watering about twice a day ensuring good drainage of excess water.

       

While growing thorn melon in Kenya, seeds can be planted in trays or seedbed. Once germinated and having two true leaves they are transplanted to bags or bigger trays to ensure more space so that the root don't become entangled as the seedling grows. Harden off the seedlings before they are transplanted to the field by setting them out of the shade in the growing area for 2-3 days. Select vigorous seedlings free from nematodes and fungal diseases when growing thorn melon in Kenya. maturity period of growing thorn melon in Kenya  is about 4months.

Growing Stevia in Kenya:A leaf 30 times sweeter than sugar

Growing stevia in Kenya is a good backyard gardening activity for every household. This is a perfect way to reduce the household budget of sugar, as the sweetener is 30 times sweeter than sugar. Stevia herbal sugar offers sweetness minus the unhealthy effects and the sweetener is calorie free. The leaves can be used directly in tea fresh or dried. The natural leaves can also be cooked and eaten as vegetables. Stevia herbal sweetener is said to be good for all people including diabetics.

Stevia herb is native of Paraguayin South America which performs well locally. Growing Stevia in Kenyawas given approval  just two years ago by the National Environment Management Authority. Stevia sweetener as an ingredient was approved by US Food and Drug Administration in 2008. Stevia herb is also nutritious and has been found to contain vitamins A and C as well as protein iron, calcium, zinc, fibre, potassium and sodium. Stevia herb contains 10-12 per cent stevioside, which can be extracted as liquid concentrate for use directly in soft drinks, beverages and in the manufacture of chewing gums.

Growing stevia in Kenya is a promising activity as the market may shoot up due increased demand for natural foods. Growing stevia in Kenyastarts by planting on a raised bed at a spacing of 30cm from row to row and 20cm from plant to plant. Manure is applied at a rate of 20kg per square metre. Stevia herbal sweetener is harvested 3 months after planting, after which the crop is dried and ground into powder for use as a sweetener. Alternatively juice can be extracted and used in a similar way. Growing stevia in Kenya is likely to become a major economic activity in the near future  as more people embrace it.