8. Planning Stages
Business plan
To start any business, whether it is a farm or a factory, you must prepare a business plan. Information in each section of the business plan should be concise and include an evaluation of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that may apply.
Production plan
Every farm is unique, in terms of location, soil quality, labour requirements and so on. The business plan must therefore include a “production plan”. This encompasses all the details explaining how your farm operates and what products it will produce for market.
The production plan includes such things as land, buildings, equipment, supplies and processes, as well as laws and regulations that influence the business. Production is the core income-producer for a farm, so this section must be very detailed.
You will need to do extensive research into the capabilities of your land, the type of farming you choose, market requirements and the buyers in your area.
Equipment
Within the business plan, you must include the cost of equipment and storage facilities. These are needed for storing feed and the plants that are produced. For example, cow manure is a good fertiliser for crops but needs to be stored.
If you run a dairy farm, you can milk the cows by hand. However, having automated milking equipment can cut the time required to produce milk.
Finance
Commercial banks offer a wide range of finance, investment and risk management solutions across a diverse range of agribusiness products and services for the agricultural value chain.
The Land Bank of South Africa is an agricultural development finance institution that supports economic growth through the provision of retail, wholesale, project and micro-financial services to agriculture and related rural services.
It offers long, medium and short-term loans. Alternatively, click here to find out more about the various financing options available to you.
Training
For training in agriculture ARC (Agricultural Research Council) offers a number of courses which include: Pig production, beef cattle management, small stock management, poultry production and meat processing.
Other courses offered by other institutions of ARC are:
- Grain Crops Institute – Maize and dry beans
- Plant Protection Institute – Bee keeping.
- Vegetable and Ornamental Plants -Vegetable hydroponics.
- Fruit, Vine and Wine Institute – Preserving of fruit