Tuesday, January 28, 2014

"Selecting Profitable Enterprises to Ensure Economic Sustainability"

This week I focused on particular marketing strategies through ATTRA's resources links. I read three comprehensive pdf files on marketing strategies. They are called "Alternative Agronomic Crops," "Evaluating a Farmer Enterprise," and "Moving Beyond Conventional Cash Cropping." The links to view these online are listed below:
https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=84
https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=277
https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=104
1. I will briefly write about the take away messages that I learned from these files.
First of all, if you are a farmer looking for experience to work on a farm to gain experience prior to starting your own farm, apprenticeship opportunities are available through ATTRA. Follow this link to find an opportunity for you: https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/internships.
2. If you have experience working on a farm and are interested in purchasing land, it is suggested to find land purchasing opportunities through your local NRCS office.
3. Choose a centerpiece enterprise; something that will work well with your land based on soil quality and other similar contributing factors. Choose something that has infrastructure that could work well with other products. Pay attention to what farmers around you are growing. Try to tap into a market that hasn't been discovered yet. Along the lines of that, crop planning is one of the most important aspects of farm planning. It is important to study the markets (identify wholesalers, retailers, etc.), learn the specialty market standards required, learn about the equipment, read about your new enterprise, talk to others who are already doing it, and make your connections before you grow your crop.
4. Establish income goals for your farm. Ask yourself the following questions: Do you want farming to supply all of your income? Do you want your farm to supply enough income that you only work part time? Do you want your farm to support your family for a long- term (ie, retirement fund, college tuition?) Do you want to bring your children or other relatives in as business partners eventually? Do you want the farm to supply enough money for health insurance?
5. Once you have started your farm, it is important to not let your business growth get ahead of itself. Ask yourself periodically questions such as the following: How are my financial backing or resources? Do I currently have adequate access to equipment? If you find yourself to be lacking in some areas, it is important to take a step back and work on getting more experience, strengthening connections, finding resources, etc.
6. When considering farm profitability, add your costs from machinery repair, labor, and all other farm expenses to your desired profit to determine the amount needed to pay costs and profit (margin.)
7. A few things to consider when planning your enterprise as a successful farmer: Capacity (acreage, infrastructure), record keeping, certification, communication, and sales/ promotion.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

South Carolina Regional Study

Recently I have been studying a lot about the different regions of South Carolina. Farmers are very limited to what they can grow due to the type of soil and other conditions that are controlled by their locations. I have learned that our state varies widely in terms of topography and other geographical conditions, which makes for an interesting array of farmers across the state.
Here are some interesting maps that display the regions of South Carolina.


Here are some significant marked areas in each region that influence agriculture in that area economically and geographically. 
Blue Ridge Region- Blue Ridge Mts, headwaters of Saluda River, Lake Keowee, Chattooga River area, Greenville, Pickens county, Oconee county
Piedmont Region- Catawba river, Old English District: York, Chester, Union, Fairfield, Lancaster, Kershaw, Chesterfield County
Sandhills Region- Congaree river, the Sandhills, Lake Murray, the Broad River, Saluda, Columbia
Coastal Plain Region- Pee Dee, Santee, Lake Marion, Lake Moultrie, Edisto River
Coastal Zone Region- Barrier Islands, Sea Islands, Ace Basin: Ashepoo, Combahee, South Edisto Rivers 

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Farm Incubator Toolkit

Exciting news! ATTRA's Sustainable Agriculture Weekly Harvest Newsletter recently posted a link to a new guide, called "The Farm Incubator Toolkit." It was developed by the National Incubator Farm Training Initiative (NIFTI), was published by the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, and was sponsored by Tufts University.

The definition of a incubator farm is "a farm that provides infrastructure and support to reduce the risks for new farmers launching their new farm businesses." The incubator farm is one of the most upcoming and progressive practices in the ag world. I see the potential for incubator farms to usher in new generations of farmers. I find it very exciting to see new documents such as the Farm Incubator Toolkit being created, because the more information that is out there, the more likely farmers will be inclined to go into agriculture.

This guide is a "manifestation of the collaboration of incubator projects coming together in a national community of practice where the knowledge and best practices can be shared with one another to the ultimate benefit of farmers and the food system as a whole." The end of this document includes many marketing and financial resources that apply to farmers specifically in the incubator farm business, as well as to farmers in general. I am investigating many of these resources for my own resource guide. Needless to say, I am very thankful for ATTRA connecting me to this new document!

http://nesfp.org/sites/default/files/uploads/nifti_toolkit_v2.pdf

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Cotton, Cotton, Cotton

I adventured to Pleasant Hill, SC again and got the opportunity to see the cotton modules! Cotton is my favorite row crop, so this was quite exciting. Dr. Cribb talked to me about the cotton industry and walked me through how they pack the cotton into the modules. The machinery that packs the cotton is very similar to a combine. The machinery is called a "module builder." Use the link below to watch a video of a module builder in action if you are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbp7tvDpaeQ
I also learned about the anatomy of cotton and how to pick it, which is the old-fashioned way. To pick it, you have to take the cotton out of the cotton boll and pick the seeds out of it. This is what they had to do before Eli Whitney's cotton gin was invented. Here is a picture of cotton in the cotton boll.

Lastly, I learned about the business and marketing behind cotton farming. Here are a few facts for you.
-Each cotton module weighs about 30,000 lbs., the equivalent to 15 tons
-Once cotton goes through the cotton gin, it will be about 7500-8500 lbs. of marketable cotton. The farmer can receive about $7500-8500 for this amount of cotton
-Farmers can also sell the cotton seeds for about $1500
Here are some photos of me with the cotton module! As you can see in the both images, there is a lot of cotton left of the ground. This is because the cotton module builder is quite ineffective. It is more cost efficient for farmers to use the cotton module builder than to hire field hands, so for this reason most farmers chose to use this machinery despite its inability to pick up all of the cotton on the field.