A Profitable Farm Size

For someone willing to start farming or who already runs a farm, achieving a profit is undoubtedly a good sign of farm success. Besides, given that farming is done at various farm sizes. A successful farm size becomes more questionable when deciding on the type of farm having the success potential for food production. By the end of this article, a profitable as well as a successful farm size will be clarified.

Given that the lack of land and land affordability are issues of main interest when it comes to the size of land necessary for agriculture and animal husbandry activities (Pritchard & Polishuk, 2018). The issue of limited land accessibility becomes more severe for youth. Even if some studies in Ethiopia, Philippines, Egypt, Mexico, Uganda, and Burkina Faso highlighted some possible ways for improvement of the land access for young people (FAO, 2014). It is important to emphasize on acreages ranging from small to medium size (i.e. 1-500 acres). Such emphasis is essential due to reasons including:

a)      Easy access or capitalization of the small and medium sized farms for a new farmer, by lease, creative acquisition or through purchase.

b)      The intersection of the growth of customers demand, access to the market, and technological facilities for food produced in a sustainable way so that there is an economic viability for agricultural enterprises ranging from small to medium size. This gives hope that small to medium sized farming enterprises will come at the first place based on financial stability in the future.

c)      Existence of difficulties in preventing wholesale or commodity markets and associated obstacles in setting prices when doing agricultural activities on a large scale (i.e. ˃500 acres).

Of course, it is suggested to produce more, to be flexible financially and to market adequately as applicable, which are suitable for agricultural operations of modest size (Pritchard & Polishuk, 2018). Studies found that top-performing farms adopted three management practices including production strategies which control costs, active marketing of farm products, and adoption of financial strategies like maintenance of cash and credit reserves. It was also suggested that it is possible to have strategies from experiences for ensuring the success in small farm operations (Muhammad, Tegegne, & Ekanem, 2004). This proves that not only large-scale farms, but also small to medium sized farms can lead to a considerable success in farm operations.

It was reported that the farm size does not qualify as a factor for determining whether a farm can give more profit than another. There are other factors which interact with the size of the farm which may have a significant influence on farm profitability. However, when investigated in isolation, both large- and small-scale farms can be less profitable, and both of them can be more profitable (Ibendahl & Griffin, 2019).

By starting modern farms, there will be inspiration attracting several new farmers in agricultural sector, and it is expected that there will be a success for many new farmers in the sector if farming activities are performed at the small scale instead of large-scale operations (Pritchard & Polishuk, 2018). Based on all these considerations, farming on mid-sized farms shows the greatest potential. So, for someone who wants to start a modern farm, it is a good option to invest in medium scale agriculture.

It was found that one of challenges for youth engagement in viable and sustainable agriculture is the limited market accessibility, and that the issue becomes more pronounced for rural young women (FAO, 2014). Since such medium sized farms are easily accessible and that technological facilities can be implemented on them at low cost compared to large scale farms. Hence, for new farmers, especially for young people, medium scale farming can be considered as the best option.

Around the world, some gaps still exist in agricultural training and education. It was noticed that many leading universities in agricultural programs offer curriculums focusing more on agricultural operations relying on both machinery and chemicals at a large scale over an organic and sustainable farming at a small and medium size scale. There is also a less emphasis on alternative models which can lead to a success in agriculture (Pritchard & Polishuk, 2018). Despite recent findings that bigger farms do not always mean better farms (Ibendahl & Griffin, 2019), (Melgares, 2019). It is still likely that economically, when it comes to the farm size, the big is scored as better, while bigger is still seen as the best (Pritchard & Polishuk, 2018). This becomes a big issue that may hinder the promotion of small and medium size scale farming which may lead to a great success by considering all factors which affect the farm profitability.

As reported by (Melgares, 2019), the profitability of a farm is influenced by five factors including allocating acres to given crops, investing in machinery, farm size, operation and maintenance costs of machinery, and the debt level. This shows that exploiting existing machinery and technological facilities among other driving forces can considerably influence the overall farm profitability and success.

It is clear that as a person with willingness to get involved in farming, it is not necessary to wait for purchasing, acquiring and/or leasing more than a medium sized farm. Instead, focusing on factors affecting the farm success and profit, and only securing a mid-sized plot of land is really enough for running a farm successfully as well as for getting enough farm profit. Hence, it is up to you to decide and start farming.

References 

FAO. (2014). Youth and Agriculture : Key Challenges and Concrete Solutions. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) , Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) & the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Retrieved July 15, 2020, from http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3947e.pdf

Ibendahl, G., & Griffin, T. (2019, March 21). Top Farms and the Effect of Farm Size. AgManager. Retrieved from https://www.agmanager.info/finance-business-planning/research-papers-and-presentations/top-farms-and-effect-farm-size

Melgares, P. (2019, October 10). K-State ag economists rank state’s farms based on 10 years of KFMA data. Study: Farm size not always a true gauge of profitability. USA: K-State Research and Extension . Retrieved July 16, 2020, from https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/news/stories/2019/10/successful-kansas-farm-rankings.html

Muhammad, S., Tegegne, F., & Ekanem, E. (2004, August). Factors Contributing to Success of Small Farm Operations in Tennessee. Journal of Extension, 42(4). Retrieved July 16, 2020, from https://www.joe.org/joe/2004august/rb7.php

Pritchard, F., & Polishuk, E. (2018). Start Your Farm : The Authoritative Guide to Becoming a Sustainable 21st Century Farmer. New York: The experiment, LLC. Retrieved July 11, 2020

By

Jean Claude Tuyisenge