Farming

CAREERS IN FARMING

by John Mason Principal ACS Distance Education and Author of "Sustainable Agriculture" click here to order a copy

Farms can be of many types, they might be a fat lamb and wool producing farm, a dairy farm producing milk, or a cropping venture producing vegetables or grain. Most farms, while generally specialising perhaps in one or two areas, are often capable of producing a variety of products without too much changeover. This is a handy position to be in, especially considering the sometimes volatile nature of such factors as the weather and markets.

What is produced may not necessarily be for sale, but to reduce costs that would otherwise have to be invested, such as hay or fodder crops grown by a dairy farmer to feed his herd in times of poor pasture. Alternatively, having a milking house cow, or running a few head of beef for meat are simple, but effective ways of reducing your expenditure.

WHAT TO PRODUCE?

It is tempting to choose to grow particular livestock or crops because it 'seems' a great idea; without fully considering (and comparing) all other options. Farmers may choose to grow wine grapes because they like drinking wine. They may decide on farming Emus because they have read enthusiastic articles about these animals. Some farmers choose to plant a particular crop, because they know someone else who just had a good year with it.

These reasons alone are not enough!

You need more if you are planning to invest a lot of time, money and effort into some particular farm enterprise. Follow a logical and complete process, when selecting what to produce.

Preferably, work it out on paper, perhaps like this:

1. List all of the possible things which can be grown/produced in your locality. Be sure to consider factors such as soil types and conditions, water supplies, climatic conditions, etc.

2. Consider what facilities/abilities you have (ie. land, manpower, expertise, money, etc). Remove anything from your list of potential products that would require facilities that would be expensive or difficult to provide.

3. Consider how long it might take before each potential product would be ready to market. How long would it be before you get a return on your investment? Can you cope financially until then? Consider what demand there might be for each of these things at that point in time. Reduce the list of potential products further.

4. Consider the level of risk involved with each of the remaining products. Think about what might go wrong with each (eg. flood, drought, pest plague, over supply on the market, etc). Now produce a new list arranging your options in order according to risk - the least risky at the top, the most risky at the bottom.

5. Now choose what you want to produce. You may decide to produce more than one type of produce - hence reducing the likelihood of serious failure (ie. if one fails, another may turn a profit).

What is Management?

Management involves making decisions, and then following through to implement those decisions. This generally requires long term planning. Planning should be routinely reviewed and modified to fit changing situations.

Making good management decisions requires two things:

1. Full knowledge of the possible options (ie. What are all of the choices). Lateral thinking helps greatly in being able to devise different and innovative options. Successful farmers are often good lateral thinkers.

2. The ability to foresee all of the important implications arising from following each alternative choice (both short & long term implications). Part of this process involves determining and considering the likely problems associated with each option (ie. this is called Risk Analysis).

Starting Out

Due to a number of key factors, such as cost and suitable knowledge, the people who are most likely to become farmers are those people who have been raised or lived on a farm. This is not always the case and recently there have been increasing numbers of people who are leaving urban lifestyles for a farming life. Hobby farmers often start with a small allotment, while maintaining their mainstream work or income until they are comfortable about making a living from their 'hobby'. Some progress to larger properties once they have hopefully established the skills, knowledge, and financial backing to enable them to farm profitably on a larger scale.

Improving an Established Farm

Farming is a dynamic business, don't let the old cliché of the slow talking man on the land fool you. Those farmers who don't keep their finger on the economic pulse soon go out of business. In Australia, many soldier settlement farms were established after the world wars. Many soldier settlers have gone on to create viable business enterprises for themselves and their offspring but the majority struggled and eventually opted for a less harsh lifestyle.

Improving an existing farm requires assessing the positive and negative aspects of what exists on the property, and weighing up your options for improvement. Are the pastures weary? Do the fences need attention? What about the stock, for example, are these cows second rate milkers because no breeding program has been in place. Obviously the list of questions goes on and on and should continue even when you feel that you have rectified many of the existing problems.

Share Farming

There are many forms of share farming arrangements available and they tend to be individually tailored to the situation. Often they will involve a percentage of the profit in lieu of wages for a farm worker, but may also include other factors such as rental or lodgings, or partial wage plus a smaller percentage of profits, etc...The share farmer may have total managerial control of the property albeit with some budgetary considerations in place. If you are a potential share farmer be sure to thoroughly investigate any proposed arrangements you may be contemplating before you sign any binding agreements, in particular ensure that any estimates of future profits are realistic. In addition be sure to put down in the agreement all responsibilities of both parties, including who is responsible for which costs (e.g. rates, services, insurances, cost of materials).

Leasing

Leasing or renting is generally considered a more flexible way of farming than share farming. Farmers can expand or reduce the amount of leased land to match market forces (subject to the availability of land for leasing). It does however have the problem of "insecurity of tenure".Leasing can allow a farmer with limited capital to start a new enterprise. A major problem with leasing land, particularly for short term periods, is that most farmers will be unwilling to spend much time and effort on maintaining or improving the leased property, unless they absolutely have to (e.g. replace fences that are falling down). This can result in a decrease in the productivity of the leased land, often in a very short time. Some lease agreements stipulate certain activities that must be carried out on the part of the leasee (person who is leasing the property), such as maintaining fences, controlling weeds, and maintaining pasture quality.

Managing Livestock

Livestock management involves firstly choosing what animals to grow, secondly the stages of their life to be involved in, and thirdly the methods to use in caring for them.

All these questions can involve choosing from a multitude of options; with your choice normally being determined primarily by three things:

1. The physical facilities which you have available (ie. Area of land, buildings, land quality-type of pasture, buildings, etc)

2. Manpower, expertise and money available (eg. It is no good selecting a technically complex farming operation if you don't have the expertise to carry it out, or the money to employ suitable staff).

3. The Market   Select livestock which there is (and will continue to be) a demand for.

Choosing the right animal

Some animals require more space than others. Some localities are better suited to some types of animals. You need to choose both the type of animal (eg. horses, poultry, alpaca, ostriches or cattle), and the breed (eg. Friesian, Angus or Brahman cattle).

It is important to select the right animal and number of head for the land size available.

Stages of the Life Cycle

• Some farmers breed and rear young animals, others buy young animals and grow them on.
• Some farmers grow animals for a particular product, while others may grow the same type of animal for a different product (eg. cattle may be grown for veal, for beef or for dairy).
• Select the stage of development you wish to produce on your farm.

Methods of Caring for Animals

This can involve such things as feeding, watering, grooming, control of pests or diseases, breeding & rearing young, providing shelter, managing periodical agistment.

Identification of resources, both natural and man-made, will have a great affect on determining the method of care.

Managing Crops

Crop management involves choosing and planning a production schedule, and then monitoring the growth of plants to carry out various work tasks, as and when they are required.

Typically, the following tasks may be involved in the production of any type of crop.

Soil Preparation    Treatment may involve tilling the soils, adding lime or sulphur to adjust pH, formation of rows and furrows, addition of organic matter into the soil, etc.

Fertilising    Select the right chemical blend for the crop and the stage of growth. Consider chemical and organic alternatives. Satisfy any nutritional disorders.

Irrigation    Design and install irrigation system, develop irrigation schedule, consider water quality, establishment of drainage channels.

Weed Control    Identify weeds and select control method. Consider chemical and natural methods. Maintain hygienic farm.

Pest & Disease Control   Identify pests and diseases and select control method. Consider chemical and natural methods, such as IPM. Maintain hygienic farm. Consider legal restrictions and licensing.

Harvesting   Select optimum stage for harvesting (timing). Harvest using economical method. Consider labour requirements. Reduce/prevent damage to harvested produce.

Post harvest Operations    Select optimum transportation and storage facilities. Consider refrigeration and cooling, packaging and marketing. Dips, sprays or waxing after harvesting may improve shelf-live and marketability.

Crop Selection

Crop selection is an important aspect of crop management. With the right crop, labour can be reduced and profits increased. Poor crop selection can result in low market demand, increased work to ensure a marketable crop, poor yields, poor quality product, or even total crop failure.

Agricultural and horticultural crops can include a wide variety of things, including: pasture (for direct grazing or harvesting as hay), oil crops, grains, seed, fruits, vegetables, nuts, pharmaceuticals, fibres, and timber.

Courses

Some farmers succeed without any formal training, and others with formal training sometimes fail.  An education in agriculture can be very helpful, but study is only part of what is needed to succeed at farming.

Often a short course may be all that is needed to provide what is needed; and sometimes it is a great deal more.  Just a few of the short courses on offer include:

Farm Management

Agricultural Marketing

Animal Breeding 

Beef Cattle

Aquaculture

Animal Husbandry III (Animal Feed & Nutrition)

Dairy Cattle

Equine Behaviour

Horse Care

Certificates, Advanced Certificates, Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas are also offered for those wishing to study further.

Whether you want to properly prepare for a future career in farming, or enhance knowledge and skills for a career already commenced: you are well advised to consult experts through our career advisory service. Click here to do so