By Roelof Bezuidenhout
One of the many big mistakes farmers can make is to bluff themselves about their farm’s potential. Ask yourself what kind of production and income you can seriously expect from your parcel of land. Then plan accordingly. Overestimating the possibilities can quickly get you into financial trouble and even ruin your natural resources.
On a positive note, your farm could have much more potential than you realise – something that can be unlocked simply by farming a bit differently. Perhaps running better adapted livestock, or a mixed herd of cattle and small-stock, or planting a different crop on soil that is most suitable for it. Or you might be underspending – skimping on inputs. Nothing grows or produces without input.
To get the best recipe, ask the more successful farmers near you. Travel to them if you have to. Get professional advice if available. Visitors to your farm often see things you don’t because you’ve become blind to them and are mostly too busy to note what outsiders might observe.
If your land has some obvious shortcomings – poor soil or grazing, difficult terrain, or is simply too small – think carefully about what you can do to improve the situation. The point is you can’t squeeze more out of land than it can yield. You certainly can’t progress without a good plan to begin with, although that plan will – and must – change as you go along.
With some really good thinking and planning you could eventually buy or hire more land and use some of the income to develop your base property into the “model” farm you might be dreaming of right now.
Of course, building a model farm is an expensive undertaking, so you need a clear picture of what you’re aiming for. Most new model farms I know were created with money earned elsewhere. That is to say, successful businessmen using their wealth to buy land and develop it – stud animals, big green machines, shiny sheds, big trucks and brand-new cruisers. They’re probably not making much of a profit out of that farm – if any.
So, again, the model farm of your dreams must fall within your means. There’s nothing to beat an ordinary, well-managed, functional farm that provides an adequate living for the family. Full-time farmers take a lifetime to grow their bank accounts through hard work, discipline and planning. They don’t farm for show.
Strangely enough, a few sheets of clean paper and a sharp pencil can help make your dreams come true. On the first sheet write down a list of your farming enterprise’s shortcomings and what you can do to improve them. Then list your farm’s plus points and what you can do to further capitalise on them. On another sheet, draw a plan of your farm as it looks now. On the last sheet draw a plan of what you want it to look like at some time in the future – fences, pens, dams, pumps, pipes, lands, roads, the lot.
Now that you have a clear idea of your goals and challenges you can sit down, relax and decide where and when to start on this new, stimulating path. Tomorrow is as good a time as any…
Roelof Bezuidenhout is a fourth-generation wool, mohair, mutton and game farmer and freelance journalist. Attended Free State University, majoring in animal husbandry and pasture science. Other interests include golf, photography and geology.
