Treit,
The HU flower harvest period is from July to the end of October. Asparagus harvest period is late April to the end of June, so the reasoning for the asparagus farm is to utilize the excess capacity of the HU processing facility (which would otherwise be sitting idle, waiting for the HU harvest). Solomon Lee made reference to this in his remarks following the conference call. It's an alternative source of income that more fully utilizes their processing capacity.
"As for asparagus -- while the price may be lower, for all I know, the gestation period to maturity may be six months vs. 3 years for HU, and the cost to plant may be less. I have no idea. Don't see why they'd elect to plant asparagus rather than HU flowers, if the payback is dramatically longer/lower."
fyi..new asparagus plantings typically aren't harvested at all during the first year (or only lightly) in order to build the strength of the crowns, so you shouldn't expect the asparagus farm to add to revenues until at least the second year.
"The 19th century belonged to England, the 20th century belonged to the U.S., and the 21st century belongs to China. Invest accordingly." -- Warren Buffett
