15 things farmers should avoid when running a farming business:

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#agribusinesstalk 1. Neglecting a business plan – Farming is a business and needs a solid plan for success.

2. Underestimating startup costs – Ensure you have sufficient capital for equipment, seeds, land, and labour

3.Overplanting without a market – Don’t grow more than you can sell or store.

Record Keeping In Goat Farming

As a Goat farmer, you need some basic system of record keeping. Your system should be able to give you the following information:

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#agribusinesstalk 1. The exact number of goats that you have (broken down into different age categories)
2. The dates when your ewes give birth and the number of kids born
3. The number of goats that die (and the age when they die and cause of death)

The Secrets to Making Money in Farming

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#ahribusinesstalk

1.Diversification: One secret lies in diversifying your farm's operations. By growing a variety of crops or raising multiple livestock species, you can spread your risk and take advantage of different market opportunities.

3 Ways to Successfully Run Your Farm Business in 2022

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#agribusinesstalk 1. Focus On One Area

A lot of farmers make the mistake of thinking that the best way to build their business is to expand into different areas straight away. For example, if you are already raising cows, you might decide that you should also raise pigs and chickens.

Key principles in the Cattle Fattening Business
L Sakutukwa +263774325213
follow @agribusinesszw

1. You buy (or produce) cattle at the cheapest possible cost per kg for fattening purposes. #agribusinesstalk (1/10) 2. You buy (or produce) cattle that have the highest or best potential to put on weight (i.e. ability to convert feed to weight gain - known as the feed conversion ratio - FCR). Age, health, body condition Score, muscling score, #agribusinesstalk (2/10)

How to tattoo Goats (thread)
Step 1: Clean the inner part of the ear lobe thoroughly so that the ink can easily fill the holes made by the tattoo pliers. (1/6)
#agribusinesstalk Step 2: Apply or smear the tattoo ink on the area to be tattooed. (2/6)
#agribusinesstalk

Cattle Feedlotting 101 (thread)
by L Sakutukwa +263774325213

1. BEFORE ARRIVAL OF CATTLE
Before your cattle arrive, as a minimum, the following must be in place:
1.1 Cattle pen is ready to receive the cattle. (1/10)
#agribusinesstalk Stocking density ranges between 9m2 (hard floor) to 26m2 (muddy floor) per beast

1.2. Feeding troughs are in place. Trough space per animal at least 0.75 cm

1.3. Drinking troughs are in place. Fresh, clean (fluke-free) drinking water is available. (2/10)
#agribusinesstalk

Optimizing Broiler Feed Conversion Ratio (a thread)

Feed conversion ratio (FCR) is a measure of how well a flock converts feed intake (feed usage) into live weight. #agribusinesstalk #ZimAgricRising. (1/20) Small changes in FCR at any given feed price will have a substantial impact on financial margins. Solving, or preventing, FCR problems in a flock requires both good planning and good management #agribusinesstalk #ZimAgricRising. (2/20)

Early Chick Mortality: Causes and Preventative Measures

Chicks are very delicate, especially during the first few weeks of their life. Hence, it is imperative to have sound management skills to keep your flock healthy.

#agribusinesstalk #ZimAgricRising A high mortality rate is an indication that something is wrong with the flock, and it demands your immediate intervention to stop further losses as failure to do so may lead to huge losses.

#agribusinesstalk #ZimAgricRising

SWEET POTATO PRODUCTION TIPS (Part 1)- A thread #farming #agribusinesstalk
SWEET POTATOES are generally an easy crop to farm as they are not capital intensive and high yields can be realised on small tracts of land. (1/18) There are two broad categories of sweet potatoes:
l The staple type with white flesh and white or purple skin has a high starch and dry matter content.

l The desert flesh and orange skin with a high sugar and beta-carotene content. (2/18)

THE POULTRY FARM SET UP (A Thread)
bit.ly/MagOct2020

Accessibility
The poultry farm should be easily accessible and well protected. The location of the poultry units should take into account prevailing winds. Excessive winds may introduce drafts, which are not desirable. The terrain also should be such that it will not adversely interfere with the construction of houses. Other points to take note are described below. The poultry farm/site must be reachable at all times.

GROWING VEGETABLES IN MAIZE MEAL BAGS (sacks)

STEPS
👉🏾 Moisten the growing medium to allow good distribution of water during irrigation.
👉🏾 In an 50kg maize meal bag you can plant on average of 35 plants.

📷Online 👉🏾 Fill a maize-meal bag with the moistened growing medium such as sawdust or compost.
👉🏾 Use a sharp blade to cut planting holes in the bag at a 20cm x 10cm distance to transplant leafy vegetables such as kale, rape, mustard spinach, Swiss chard, spinach, beetroot and lettuce.

1/ Soil TESTING: The WHY and HOW
@GNKLaboratories
#Windmill
THE introduction of high yielding varieties has resulted in increased demand for nutrients which cannot be achieved from the inherent soil fertility. Inputs such as fertilizer must be used to get optimum yields. @GNKLaboratories 2/ The cost of such inputs is prohibitive while their rational use is imperative.

✍️There is need for soil testing and analysis to determine nutritional requirements for maximum productivity of a given crop.

GOAT FARMING BUSINESS!!
Business models
1. Breeding
2. Meat production
3. Buying and selling
4. Dairy

👉🏾Register a company (can be done later) and give your business a name. Get logos and business cads designed, a number of free apps are available online. 👉🏾Prepare a business plan. Cover in detail marketing, production, finance and human resources. These are the key pillars to tour goat business success
👉🏾 You can start as part time or full time. If employed, you can use your salary to raise capital should you want to start big.

WEEDS: What you should KNOW
1. Weeds are mainly of three types, broadleaves, sedges and grasses.
2. Weeds compete with crops for nutrients, water, and light.
3. Weeds can be controlled manually (hand weeding), mechanically (using weeders or other implements when crops are line sown), through cultural practices (use of weed competitive crop cultivars, stale seed-beds, mulching, crop rotation) and /or chemically (using herbicides).
4. Chemical management of weeds can be done at three stages: Pre-plant (burn-down), pre-emergence and post-emergence.

Pig farm business (check list)

Marketing
• Choose a business name
• Setup your business telephone number and email address
• Design a logo
• Design business cards
• Design brochure
• Order business cards
• Order a brochure
• Register an internet domain name • Set up a website
• Register social media profiles
• Ask your social media friends to help spread the word
• Add your new logo to your business social media accounts

Registration
• Decide the legal structure of your business (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation,

Chapter 1: Introduction to weeds: #INGESTA
@Taona689068961 @zimagricsociety @zfu_official @Farm_Innovation @African_Farming @ZBCtv @corporatefarmg1 #agribusiness #farming #weed_control @SeedCoZim

Weed management is one of the most important parts of any successful… @Taona689068961 @zimagricsociety @zfu_official @Farm_Innovation @African_Farming @ZBCtv @corporatefarmg1 @SeedCoZim …farming enterprise. Across the world the negative impacts of weeds are underestimated by many farmers, because the losses caused by weeds are not always seen immediately.