AGRIBUSINESS: KNOW WHEN YOU START A FARM, YOU START A BUSINESS.

If you’re going to make this farming thing work, you have to start taking it seriously.

Young farmers, eager to get their hands wet (or dirty, as the case may be), often overlook one simple thing about starting a farm: It’s not just a farm; it’s a business.

A farm has, in essence, all the same parts and pieces that almost any other business has. Knowing those parts and pieces—adopting them and putting them in place early—as boring as it sounds, can actually make farming more enjoyable in the long run. If there is anything I wish I knew when I was younger, it is that. Whether you’re growing vegetables or raising hogs, it is good to understand all that goes into making a farming business successful, sustainable and profitable, even if all you want to do is get going.

1. Sales Goals
Before you plant a thing, it is prudent to do your budget. This should include how much you need to earn and where all that money is going to go: bills, food, vacation—everything. Separate business and personal expense, but make it comprehensive. With a sales a goal, you can then know how much you need to make and start planning your business.

2. Sourcing Parts
Whether you’re buying pigs to raise for meat or growing veggies from seed, your profit begins with monitoring input expenses. This doesn’t mean purchasing the cheapest materials or resources available—it means shopping around and taking good notes about performance. The temptation with any business is to do as much of the production in house—growing the seeds or keeping a sow and boar, for instance—but the end product must be just as good. If you can’t do aspects of your business well or affordably, it’s worth outsourcing this part of the process.

3. Manufacturing The Product
For farmers, manufacturing is more growing or raising than creating, but it shouldn’t be thought of much differently. You still have to create your product, and this process must be done as efficiently as possible. A new farm, then, should always be monitoring their production to see where they can be more efficient. This may be as simple as keeping tools close to where you use them, as Ben Hartman recommends in excellent book for this subject, The Lean Farm. Or, it may be just making sure you can get to the tools you need. Shaving a couple minutes off of every day will save you weeks or months of work in the long run.

4. Packaging
Your product should be cleaned and packaged, just as if you were selling anything else. This process, like everything else, should be monitored for efficiency, but also for quality control and cleanliness. It is in the packaging stage that the farmer last handles the food so this is the last opportunity to make sure there are no bruised lettuces, rotten tomatoes or anything else that will reduce the public’s perception of your product. Happy customers bring more customers, but unhappy customers may never come back.

5. Distribution
Farmers markets, grocery stores, restaurants and supermarkets are all great ways to distribute food, but only if it’s profitable. Start this process by doing some market research. Don’t sign up for a market only to find out that it’s a bad market (though if that happens, also don’t be afraid to walk away mid-season for something better). Also, keep track of your labor. If you are spending more money than you’re earning to be at a farmers market, then it’s probably not worth it. Try and contract some restaurants instead or start some sort of direct distribution service,

6. Sales
If you do not feel like a people person, or a salesman, relegate sales to someone else in the family. There is still an element of salesmanship needed to run a successful farm, so make sure that whoever is the face of your company is as magnetic, charismatic and friendly as possible. Paying someone may seem like a big expense, but if they can increase sales enough, they may pay for him or herself without much trouble.

7. Record Keeping & Accounting
Record keeping and accounting do not have to be boring or daunting. They can be as simple as five minutes a day or an hour a week of just writing down expenses and income, yields and inputs. Nothing will save you more money than knowing where you money is going or which crops or animals are performing best. Take notes and be diligent—that’s the medium on which success grows.

Jesse Frost is a writer and vegetable farmer in Southern Kentucky, where he lives with his wife and young son on their farm, Rough Draft Farmstead. He has hosted seminars on fermentation, winemaking, mushroom production, and farming. Follow him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roughdraftfarmstead/

VEGETABLE FARMING: TRY GROWING POTATOES IN YOUR BACKYARD

Growing potatoes is fun and not that hard! Farmers can grow unique varieties that are not sold in local supermarkets. Potatoes come in all different shapes, sizes and colors. Did you know that there are purple, red and yellow potatoes ?
Potatoes are a non‐grain food crop. They can grow in harsh climates and many potato varieties can be grown in 90 days or less on small parcels of land.
Potatoes are also very nutritious! They are a great source of vitamin C, potassium, fiber and protein, all with no fat! They, along with many other vegetables, can be prepared as part of a healthy diet.
Luckily, potatoes are versatile and are easy to prepare. Whether baked, boiled, roasted or fried they are a delicious add-on to any meal. Potato skin is also recommend for human consumption as it contains the majority of the potato’s fiber, and many of the nutrients are located close to the skin.

1. Variety Selection
Choice of a potato variety for growing depends on factors such as garden space availability, desired uses, and storage plans. To ensure quality and maximum productivity, purchase certified seed tubers. Certified potato tuber seed is seed of a known variety produced under strict standards to maintain seed tubers that are virus and disease free. Saving tubers from your garden will eventually result in decreased yields and small tubers due to more incidences of disease.

2. Seed Preparation
Depending on the source and the quantity you buy you will receive either small tubers or large tubers. Small tubers (1 to 2 inches in diameter) can be planted whole. Cut large tubers into block‐shaped, 2 to 2 1/2 ounce seed pieces (about the size of an egg). The seed pieces should be firm, with at least one “eye” per section and a maximum sprout length of 1/4 to 1/2 inch to ensure optimum germination. Seed tubers can be cut and planted on the same day, however allowing the cut surface to heal over for 4‐7 days may reduce the risk of seed pieces rotting in the soil.

3. Soil Preparation and Fertility
Potatoes grow on a wide range of soils, but are best suited to a sandy loam or a soil that is well drained. Very sandy soils may require extra watering to maintain adequate soil moisture. Fine‐textured soils that are high in silts and clay may not be well drained, and they tend to produce poorly shaped potatoes.
If possible, a soil test can be performed before planting. Contact your local Extension office for details on soil testing. The best soil pH for potatoes is between 5.5 and 6.0. A pH above 6.0 may increase the incidence of common scab (a disease) on tubers. If a soil test is not available, follow these recommended guidelines:
Rototill into the seedbed about 2 pounds per 50 feet of row of 12‐12‐12 (N‐P‐K) analysis fertilizer.

Beside the row, apply 1/3 pound per 50 feet of row of 46‐0‐0 (urea) fertilizer one week after plant emergence and again between 4 and 6 weeks after emergence. Instead of working the fertilizer into the soil, water thoroughly so that the fertilizer moves into the root zone.
Do not amend the soil with lime or manure in the same year that potatoes are to be grown. Lime and manure increase the risk of potato scab disease.

4. Planting and Care
Potatoes are a cool season crop; ideal temperatures for crop growth are 65 to 80 during the day and 55 to 65 at night. The soil should be cultivated 6 to 8 inches deep in the spring, and large soil clods should be broken up or removed before planting. Plant potatoes when soil temperatures are above 45 F. Cold, wet soil at planting time increases the risk of seed piece decay, and planting into cool, dry soils can cause delayed sprouting and emergence of the potatoes.

Plant tuber seed pieces 3 to 4 inches deep. Leaving 30 to 36 inches between rows and spacing seed pieces 9 to 12 inches apart in the row will generally produce an acceptable yield of medium‐sized tubers. Five pounds of seed potatoes should plant 40 feet of row with 12 inches between seed pieces. You can expect to harvest 3 to 5 pounds of potatoes per potato plant. Larger tubers are produced at wider plant spacings, though some varieties, for example, Yukon Gold, develop growth defects such as hollow heart at a wider spacing. Potato plants should be “hilled” when the plants are 8 to 12 inches tall.

Mound the soil to a height of 3 to 6 inches and approximately 12 to 15 inches from the base of the plant. Use care to prevent damage to the plant roots, which may extend 8 to 12 inches from the base of the plant. Hilling maintains suitable soil cover for tubers as they expand.

Tubers that break the soil surface may have green areas that contain bitter tasting glycoalkaloids and should not be eaten. Discard or cut off the green portions.
Avoid planting potatoes in the same location year after year. To lower the risk of disease and insect problems, do not plant in areas where tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, radishes or beets were grown the previous year.

5. Water Requirements
Potatoes are very sensitive to soil moisture and do best with a consistent soil moisture level. Even soil moisture levels throughout the root zone should be maintained, though over‐wet and saturated conditions should be avoided. In general, 1 inch of water per week from rainfall or irrigation is adequate. As much as 2 inches per week may be required on sandy soils with low organic matter.
Dry soil alternating with periods of saturated soil can result in poor quality tubers with defects such as knobs, growth cracks, hollow heart and internal browning. Long periods of excess moisture, particularly near maturity, may lead to decreased yields and poor quality tubers.

6. Pest and Disease Control
You can help alleviate pest problems by changing the location in your home garden where potatoes are planted, through regular inspection, and by removing “volunteer” potato plants, which can serve as a host for diseases that can damage the new crop.
Shallow cultivation is preferred for weed control. For late season weed control, pull weeds instead of hoeing them to prevent tuber damage. Mulches can be beneficial in weed control as well as helping to maintain soil moisture.

Scab disease may be a problem. Scab is caused by a common soil borne organism that causes disease only on tubers. Some varieties are more resistant than others to scab; tolerant varieties include On away and Superior. Tubers with scab are fine to eat. Just peel or cut off the circular rough skin.
Insects such as the Colorado potato beetle can be controlled by destroying eggs which are laid on the underside of the leaf. This can be done by crushing the eggs or removing the leaf with the eggs and disposing of them in the trash away from the garden. Additionally, you will want to remove larva and adults by hand, disposing of them when the numbers are small. The potato is subject to several seed, foliar and tuber disorders that may affect quality and appearance.

7. Harvesting
Time of maturity varies for each variety. Indicators of tuber maturity include complete vine death, “skin set” (tuber skin does not peel from the flesh when pressure is applied) and desired tuber size. Mature tubers store better and are less likely to bruise or decay than immature tubers. New or small tubers can be harvested early without destroying the entire plant by careful digging and removing some of the tubers. The remaining tubers should be left to grow and reach full maturity.
Harvest potatoes before a severe frost. Use a spade or fork to loosen the soil and gently lift the tubers out of the soil. To prevent greening and sunburn damage, do not allow tubers to be exposed to light after harvesting

8. Storage
For two to three weeks after harvest, store tubers in the dark at 55 to 60°F with high relative humidity to heal bruised and damaged areas that could provide entrance for disease organisms.
Store only the healthy potatoes that are reasonably free from soil. After healing, proper storage conditions should include cool temperatures (near 40°F), darkness to prevent greening, high humidity and adequate ventilation. Storing tubers in plastic bags (or any tightly sealed container) will restrict the movement of fresh air around the tubers and can lead to rot.

Culled from: Wikihow