Page 11 - Agric Info Mag 01 2017

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The five (5) major steps in-
volved in farm are: Step 1: Establish Family Goals

1) Establish farm family goals; This step involves identifying the short, medium and long
term (5 years) goals of the farm-family, as it pertains to
2) Assessment of productive ca-
pacity; investments, production, marketing, and other social
needs such as education, housing and retirement. It cre-
3) Assessment of Market
Trends/opportunities ates a personal canvas by looking into the needs and
wants of the farmer that should be satisfied over a period
4) Assessing best Selection of
enterprises; of five years. These needs provide a footing for evaluating
the levels of profit required from the sale of farm produce.
5) Complete cash flow and in-
come statements.

Step 2: Assessment of Productive Capacity

When analysing the status of the farm, the farm planner takes into consideration the physical
and human resource available in determining what strengths and weaknesses exists on farm.
This ensures that the farmer can focus on diminishing the weaknesses and building on the
strengths of the farm to ensure increased profits. Characteristics such as farm location, topog-
raphy and soil characteristics, local climate, current livestock and crop enterprises grown are
assessed to determine appropriateness and performance potential. The human capacity relates
to the number of workers, skill set and appropriateness in relation to the proposed production.