Thread by @JayMukanya

The curious case of a goat cellphone farmer. I would like to state upfront that the line of this thread is not to discredit full time farming, there are instances where that it is preferable.. This thread shares insights from farming remotely and is based on my own experiences.

My interest in farming started at a tender age when every school holiday of my high school, I would visit my late uncle who had an A1 farm in Nyanga, Zimbabwe. I credit him for inspiring my passion in farming.

What really struck me was that my uncle, in his later and most successful years, did not “work” on his fields. He would spend his time planning, reviewing operations, attending workshops, finding markets for his produce and visiting other farmers.

Being the inquisitive kid that I was, I would spend hours and hours chatting to my uncle about his vision for his farm and drawing from his wisdom and he always mentioned a statement that stuck with me and have now taken as my own guiding principle “farming is all about systems”

Setting up remote farming operations for me was more by default rather than by design. I have an 8-5 job as a partner of a big 4 accounting firm but I also enjoy farming and wanted to be successful at it so I needed to develop something that would make me enjoy both.

In developing my remote farming system and using some of the wisdom I learnt from my uncle, I needed a framework to use to use. I came across this model which I have used as a blueprint for my remote farming operations.

Key takeaway 1... to run a successful remote farming operation, you need to invest a lot of time developing the processes and to do this, you need to get your own hands dirty. You cannot develop a system without detailed knowledge of how the pieces fit together.

The first thing I did was to spend lots of time on the farm getting my hands dirty understanding the day to day operations. I took annual leave and spent time getting my hands dirty taking care of the goats I had bought to understand the operational side of the business.

I did this to ensure I understood the operations inside out and when I then entrusted employees to run the show, they would be doing something I was already familiar with. During that time I also visited lots of other goat farms with a focus on learning their operations.

Key takeaway 2... Most farming operations fail because of lack of strategic direction. This is amplified where you need to manage your operations remotely. I believe this is something each farmer should focus on, not only remote farmers.

I spent lots of time shaping the strategy of my goat farming operation and up to today that strategy is still alive. I also put together a business plan to execute the strategy. Each year, I spend time reviewing the business plan and making the necessary changes.

Don’t fall for the template business plans.... develop your own plan using information from your own farm and environment. A business plan essentially looks at what opportunities exist, how you plan to pursue those opportunities through managing risks using resources you have.

Key takeaway 3...A Harvard study on the best environment to work in states amongst others “It’s an entity where information is not suppressed or spun; the business adds value to employees, rather than merely extracting it from them; and there are no stupid rules.”

How a farmer leads people determines how successful the operation becomes. A brilliant strategy and operational processes will fall flat if the people who are supposed to execute on the strategy and run the processes do not buy into the strategy and are not motivated.

Essentially your workers need to be empowered to make decisions when you are not available. You cannot micro manage your workers when running a remote operation. I empower my employees to make operational decisions and only focus on bigger issues and strategic issues.

Lastly on workers, reward them in ways that contribute to your strategic objectives as a farmer. I implemented some incentive schemes linked to weaning rates, goats sold and profitability. That ensures alignment of objectives. It has worked really well for me.

Key takeaway 4...For a remote based farmer, connection technology is key. At a basic level I invested in ensuring that I was always connected to my farm and had information wherever I was in the world. Your employees need to feel your presence even though not physically present.

I use livestock management software that is loaded on my phone and my stockman’s phones and at the most basic level, it is an automated record keeping system. I can get updates on the different processes we run on the farm through the application.

I also use video calling which enables me to get visuals of any goat I might be interested in or where I need to assist the stockman diagnose some illness. Video technology and tagging goats also enables me to take stock of my goats at regular intervals.

Key takeaway 5. Invest in developing the skills of your employees. The learning doesn’t have to be formal. It just needs to be strategic. Whenever I go to the farm, I make it a point to take one thing that I teach my stockman to increase his knowledge on goats.

Key takeaway 6. Visit your farm regularly especially during critical time in the production cycle. Surprise visits are also key to ensure you keep your workers on their toes. The frequency of visits shows how passionate you are for your operations.

Key takeaway 7... Analysis of farm records is really crucial for a remote farmer. Our goats are weighed monthly and I track the weights closely and take the necessary actions based on results. I also closely monitor the financial performance of the business.

As a parting shot, I am using this model to manage 3 operational sites in Modimolle and Vereneeging in SA and Muzarabani in Zim. It has worked very well and I will make the necessary tweaks as we go but the focus on strategy, people, technology and systems will remains!

“........systems will remain.”I had butchered the Queen’s language there.