Farming like any other occupation, comes with a lot of sweat and hard work. There are quick mistakes that many farmers tend to make. These mistakes may be made through all stages of farming, they include;
- Assumptions
If this is your first time to practice farming then you need to get your act together. Do not assume anything. Many farmers usually brush off details that they deem unimportant in the farming activity they are about to undertake. Things like fencing or soil tasting among others could cost you a lot of money if you do not follow farming advice to the book. This small mistake may lead to severe losses that will leave you crying at the bank.
- Obtaining Information from the wrong sources.
I remember a story of a first time chicken farmer who saw signs of timidity and sickness in her chicks. She then sort advice from an experienced Poultry farmer who told her that chicken should not be vaccinated, she followed the advice which led to a series of paralysis for the chicks. Had she consulted the real experts nothing of that sort would have happened. A mistake as such comes with consequences. It’s wise to note that one should always be careful with finding information in regards to the same.
- Ignorance
This has to do with the belief that farming just happens and that not much effort is needed be put. Say, one is told that tomatoes should be sprayed once a week, out of ignorance, the farmer chooses to spray once a month during the rainy season, this leads to crop infections, which could have otherwise been avoided had instructions been taken seriously.
- Starting Out Too Big
You have enough capital, a big land and enough water to practice farming. The next step is to get the ball rolling and start generating income. With all the success stories you have been watching and reading on TV, it’s difficult to resist investing big and doing all you can to earn like all those farmers being featured. In your mind you tell yourself that farming is easy if you have all the requirements needed and with that you come up with a strategy that will make you a millionaire within 3 months. You even ignore advice from experienced farmers and take matters on your own hands.
With the capital you have you are tempted to scale up your investment so as to maximize your land space and profit projections. Doing this will result to a heavy workload to you as a farmer and eventually lead to frustration and burnout. Many farmers have usually fallen for this trap and ended up making losses instead of profit.
The best thing to do as a beginner farmer is to start small during the first growing season and then expand slowly as you move forward. This will give you more farming success and a solid experience over time. Let’s say you have 10 acres of land and a capital allocation for just that. It would be advisable for you to invest in only 5 acres because the amount of management work will be minimal and easy to manage. This is the way to succeed.
The bottom line is, many blunders committed by Farmers are avoidable if keenness, seriousness and dedication are put in play.
By Joanne Misik
