"Harvested, weighed — that's my yield." But if you don't know the yield for each crop, each batch, and each cycle separately — you cannot calculate real cost of goods, cannot plan orders, and cannot understand why one cycle produced 130 g per tray and the next only 90 g. A single weigh-in after harvest is a fact. Yield tracking is a system that enables decisions.
Quick glossary: Yield — the weight of marketable microgreens obtained from one tray or unit area after cutting and preparation for sale; measured in g/tray or kg/m². g/tray — the basic unit of measurement for microgreens; enables comparison between crops, batches, and cycles. Yield tracking — systematic recording of yield for each batch, linked to seed lot, seeding rate, sowing date, and growing conditions.
Why a Single Weigh-In Tells You Nothing
You weighed a tray and got 120 g. What does that mean? Nothing — without context. How much seed was sown? Which lot? What were the temperature and lighting conditions that week? Was the cut one day early or late?
Tray yield depends on five factors simultaneously: seeding rate, germination rate of the seed lot, lighting (DLI), temperature, and the moment of harvest. If you don't record these parameters alongside the weight — when yield deviates you have no idea what changed and what to fix.
With systematic tracking, a deviation of 90 g instead of 130 g immediately points to the cause: the same seeding rate, but a new seed lot — germination dropped. Or the same lot, but harvested two days early due to an order deadline. Without tracking, it's just "something went wrong."
What to Record for Each Batch
The minimum data set that turns a weigh-in into a record:
At sowing: sowing date, crop, seed lot number, seeding rate (g), number of trays.
At harvest: harvest date, marketable weight (g/tray), reject percentage if any.
Cycle conditions: average room temperature, any deviations from normal (power outage, temperature spike, irrigation problem).
That's five minutes at sowing and two minutes at harvest. Records can be kept in a plain Google Sheet or even a paper log — what matters is doing it systematically, for every batch without exception.
How to Use Yield for Planning and Costing
Yield is not only for quality control — it is the foundation of financial planning.
Planned weekly yield = number of trays × average yield g/tray ÷ 1000 = kg. This figure determines how much you can sell and how much seed needs to be ordered.
Yield in COGS = all variable costs for the batch ÷ marketable yield kg = cost per kg. If yield drops — cost per kg rises automatically even if seed and substrate prices haven't changed.
Planned vs actual yield — the difference between what was expected and what was received. If actual is consistently 15–20% below planned — either the benchmark is too high or there is a systemic problem in cultivation practice.
Reference yield figures for common crops in an 11×19 cm tray are available in the uaorganic.com seeding rate table — it lists the expected g/tray yield for each crop under correct growing conditions.
Three Mistakes That Cost the Most
Calculating yield in aggregate without linking to crop and batch. "Harvested 3 kg this week" — a useless figure for analysis. "Radish lot #12, 11×19 tray, yield 48 g, sown 5 February, harvested 12 February" — that's data you can learn something from.
Not accounting for rejects in COGS. If a tray yields 130 g but you sell 110 g and discard 20 g due to yellowing or damage — your actual yield is 110 g, not 130. Cost per kg is calculated from marketable yield, not from the weight at the cut.
Planning customer orders without a buffer for yield variation. Yield always fluctuates within 10–20% from batch to batch. If you plan orders exactly to the calculated yield — the first deviation means a missed order. Plan with a 15–20% buffer, or have a way to source additional product.
How to Know Yield Tracking Is Set Up Correctly
Each crop has at least 5–10 recorded cycles — enough to see the average and the spread. Yield variation within 10–15% between cycles under identical conditions is normal. Variation above 20% is a signal to look for the cause in specific batch parameters. Cost per kg is calculated automatically from tracking data — not "approximately."
For deeper understanding: Microgreens Economics: Cost of Goods, Pricing, and Yield Calculation — how yield fits into the complete picture of production financial planning.