Agriculture my way of life

22/04/2022

Keeping Farm Records for Better Farm Management:

Keeping farm records is a very important part of farming. The records have to be accurate and up to date, reflecting on all activities that happen on the farm.

It’s always important to have farm records as a farm manager because;

Loan Applications:

When you want to expand your farming business, you will want to have good records to present to the bank. These records will be needed to verify if your business has been performing as required.

Management Purposes:

If you have good farm records this will enable to plan and manage your farm efficiently. It will show you where you have been wrong and what you require to do to make it right. It will also act as a guideline in managing your farm budget.

Farmers must also keep records of their farm activities such as;

Breeding

Feeding

Harvesting

Planting Records

There are two things a farmer needs to have for accurate farm management, farm records, and farm accounts, especially for commercial farmers. Keeping both farm records and farm accounts is vital if you are going to be successful in the farming business. What is a farm record? A farm record is a document (in most cases a book) that is used to maintain accountability of different activities, events, materials, etc. regarding the farm operations. Farm records are different from farm accounts in the sense that farm accounts deal with the financial aspects of all farm operations. Farm accounts deal majorly with the farm expenditures and income and help the farmer to evaluate how his business is doing.

Main reasons for keeping farm records:

1. The requirement of maintaining with lenders, agencies, etc.

Lenders, government agencies, insurance companies, and several other bodies demand good records before providing help to farmers. Extension Agents of Agriculture Agencies sometimes want good records kept by farmers to be able to give them good technical advice on their farms. Financial institution and other lenders would want good records on the farm’s income and expenditure before giving out loan facilities to farmers.

2. Better farm planning and forecasting

Farming is a business and excellent farm records keeping helps the farmer to plan and do realistic forecasting. A record keeping provides valuable information on the techniques that work and why others did not. In budgeting, the farmer can better predict price changes of inputs and make from expenditure and sales records kept from previous seasons. The farmer can determine how much is necessary for farm expansion from good farm records.

3.Better prediction of rainfall and weather patterns

A record on rainfall incidence and amount over a period of time is very relevant. A farmer, from the records, decides when to plant and when to take out other activities on the farm. More so, farmers who depend solely on rainfall, use these records as a guide during the farming season. Besides, temperature changes have significant effects on plants, especially at tender stages. It is, therefore, important for farmers to have a fair thought on temperature changes at certain times in the season. We advise farmers to keep an easy rain gauge and thermometer for the measurements of rainfall amount and temperature respectively.

4.Track income and expenditure

A farmer most of the time is not able to give proper accounts on their cash inflows and outflows. This is mainly because they overlook and do not record “petty” expenses and incomes (like feeding and costs of phone calls). Keeping accurate records will at any time of reconciliation, give the farmer the accurate amount of money spent or gained from the farm. Moreover, this helps in accurate planning and budgeting.

5.Better management of the farm

A farmer who keeps records on seed germination rates of the seeds bought is in a better position to choose better seeds for seasons. Besides, records keeping help to decide the right type of crop to grow on a particular type of soil, at a particular time of the season for best yield and better pest and disease management. In the case of livestock, the farm keeps farm records of the bloodlines, pest, and diseases, feed types and consumption, etc.

These records help to stop inbreeding, control pests and diseases, supply the best feed for optimum performance and a whole lot.
Farmers cannot continue to avoid this activity for the cause of time consumption or any other. So we advise that spending an average of ten minutes each day on the farm to keep farm records is very much worth it. It will save the farmer time and money.

Different types of farm records:

What are the types of farm record? There are different types of farm records a farmer must keep to running a successful farm business. They are;

Daily farm records:

These are the records of all important daily activities and events that occur on the farm. These records help the farmer maintain track of past farming activities and plan for future activities.

Records of farm implements and equipment:

This is used to maintain an inventory of all the equipment on the farm and their quantity. It can also contain the date of purchase of the equipment and their description.

The cash book and payment receipt:

This is one of the types of farm records a good farmer must take note, cash book, and payment receipt is a farm record book of all financial transactions, both income and expenditure, of the farm. With it, a farm manager can access loans, detect fraudulent practices and identify the state of the business. It is a farm record accounting book. In addition, the farm manager can create productive decisions based on the figures present in the record.

Record of agricultural inputs:

This record is used to keep track of all agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, seeds, and etc. The record often contains the amount of that was bought, the amount that has been used, and what is left.

Records of livestock and livestock products:

Farmers keep different records of livestock for every type of livestock on the farm. Also, for livestock that have products, for example, eggs from chickens, the farmer keeps a record that accounts for the number of eggs laid every day. If a farmer has cows for milk production, he keeps records of the cows gave how much amount of liters of milk produced per day.

Annual valuation record:

It is imperative that at the end of every production year, a farmer should evaluate his or her venture to know the current state of the business. The farm strength and weakness have to be found; this is possible when the farmer has the annual valuation record. This farm record keeping book shows the value of stocks presents on the farm from the beginning of the year to the end. It will aid decision making to prepare the farm arrangement for the next production year.

Records of animal feeds:

This record is used for maintaining an inventory of the types of animal feed and the quantity purchased, used, and quantity in stock on a daily basis.

Production records:

Production records are used to document everything that is formed on the farm. These production records are prepared every week. And then summed up at the end of the month and at the end of the year. Thus, there is a weekly record, a monthly record, and an annual record of everything formed on the farm.

Records for farm use:

Used for recording the date the land was arranged for farming, the number of plots or hectares used in planting, the plants planted on the farm and where they are planted.

Workers records:

Workers record is used to keep the record of staffs, their salaries, and payment. It is also known as labor record.

Sales record:

Sale records are used to keep a record of all sales completed from the farm produce.

Yield and production record:

This is one of the necessary farm records to be kept on a farm; it is the farm record that explains the yield or the output of the farm. For both animal and crop production; the daily or seasonal production rate records in this record. It explains the success rate of the farm during the production year.

Farm input utilization record:

This farm record shows all the input acquired and utilized during the production year, it shows the relevance of a particular input in the production. It shows the level of input application and it is used in combination with output record to determine resource productivity.

Profit and loss record:

This is the principal record; it shows the economic stage of the business. This farm accounting record is the record most farmers tend to keep; however, the aforementioned records are prerequisite to this record. This farm record book is generally prepared at the end of every production period, usually at the end of the year to verify whether the business is making a profit or otherwise.

These are the different types of farm records an aspiring successful farmer must prepare and keep; they are computer-aided farm records.

The importance of farm records are copious and cannot be overruled;

the uses of farm record:

Procurement of a bank loan.

Aids productive decision making.

Help to detect fraudulent practices.

It helps to know the economic status of the farm.

It shows the strength and weakness of a farm.

04/04/2022

When you order 200 broiler chicks it's normal to have 2-3 mortalities but if the number exceeds that then the chance of losing all are too high, mortalities are mostly caused by the following
1.Your absence, chick's need your presence mostly from day old to at least 2weeks because some needs to be helped for them to eat and drink, out of pourtly water etc. remember the chick's don't come with hens to take care of them be their very important.
2. Cleaness always keep the pourtly clean most chicken's die because of pourtly diseases, symptoms
-Lack of appetite
-Coughing
-And sometime's they stop growing.
-The number of chicken in a pourtly matters
-Avoid people to enter the pourtly

Most people decide to stop pourtly because of losses because of pourtly diseases by selling to wrong people (low prices)
Giving on credit
Lack of proper market

Like the page as we will post proper market ideas and full summary of pourtly management

01/04/2022

Appearance of healthy animal

👉The healthy animal is alert and aware of its surroundings. It is active and holds its head up watching what is happening around it.
👉It should stand on all of its feet. The separation of an animal from the others in its group is often a sign of a health problem.
👉An animal which is not interested in its surroundings and does not want to move has health problems.
👉The healthy animal will walk easily and steadily with all of its feet taking its weight.
👉Steps should be regular. Irregular movement results from pain in the feet or limbs.
👉If you go near an animal that is lying down it should stand up quickly otherwise it has health problems.
👉The eyes should be bright and alert with no discharge at the corners.
👉Most animals have erect ears which move in the direction of any sound.
👉Ear movements will also be quick to get rid of flies, he body temperature of the pig can be checked by touching the ear when an unusually high temperature will be noticed.
👉The nose should be clean with no discharge.
👉In cattle the muzzle should be moist not dry, In sheep and goats, the nose should be cool and dry.
👉Healthy animals frequently lick their noses with their tongues.
👉There should be no saliva dripping from the mouth. If chewing is slow or incomplete there must be a problem with the teeth.

28/03/2022

Let’s talk broiler chicken production costs
Feed companies like to talk about food conversion ratio. Farmers care more about “Money conversion Ratio” Will I make a profit and how much?
So, this depends on what are your production costs, your overheads and the market price.
Direct costs are the easiest to calculate. Chicks, feed, vaccine, disinfectant, litter, heating, labour, water electricity, transport, packaging.
Indirect ones are harder. Cost of financing, opportunity cost, management time, infrastructure depreciation.
And then there are the effects of volume and turnover.
However, to make it simple here are the current direct costs for 100 broilers in my area (Livingstone) using National milling feed.
I've added a very rough estimate for overheads at 10%.
Item Price K Number Total K
Chicks 16.50 100 1650
Starter 439 2 878
Grower 419 2 838
Finisher 418 4 1672
Litter 37.5 6 225
Heat 185 1 185
Vaccines 51 2 102
Labour 400 1 400
Disinfectant 53 1 53
Transport 50 6 300
Plastics .3 100 30
Total 6333
Cost per bird at 95% sales 67
Market Price 85
Total sales 8075
Direct costs 6333
Gross profit 1742
Fixed cost estimate @10% 633
Net Profit 1109
Break even yield 74 birds

There are several ways to increase profits. The most obvious is to increase the number of chickens. This increases profit up to the point where you have to drop the price to sell larger volumes. The other way to improve profit is to cut costs. This assumes that the costs cut do not affect production. If they do, they may or may not increase profit depending whether production loss is more or less than cost saving. Increasing volume reduces some of the costs. Cost per bag or per chick for transport goes down as the number goes up. Another way is to increase the price by adding value to the end product by cutting packs of pieces, selling particular cuts that are worth more or smoking them.
Costs and prices vary from farm to farm and town to town so never use my costing. Do YOUR costing. For your town for your market.
Slightly over estimate costs (here I put 5 finisher when 3 or 3.5 may be enough)
Never estimate on 100% sales. Assume you may lose 5%.

28/03/2022

Non disease problems

Difficult births
These are extremely rare with local goats. Occasionally though, a kid can get stuck if it is wrong way round or twins can become tangled. It is more likely to happen if the baby died before birth. To remove a stuck baby, look for the front legs and pull outwards and slightly downwards. If the baby has died it is sometimes easier to cut it up and remove it in pieces.
You may need help from someone with small hands as most goats pelvic bones are smaller than my hands.

Abortions
Abortions are due to a number of factors. The most common are the following in order of frequency observed
1. Malnutrition Especially in July/August when there is little vegetation.
2. Early pregnancy -mother too small to carry the pregnancy well.
3. Dewormers or wrong dose of dewormers.
4. Worms (causing poor condition)
5. Stress, especially moving them from one farm to another when pregnant.
6. Disease. Some sexually transmitted diseases like brucellosis can cause abortions.
7. A few abortions will not have a discernible cause but the number should not be high

Broken bones
Broken bones can occur from fighting, falling off things or getting a leg stuck in a fence or crack. Young goats sometimes get stepped on by larger animals like cattle. Straight single bones are easily set and splinted. You can use cardboard and strong tape, plaster-of paris, wood or anything that holds the bones straight long enough for it to heal (2-3 weeks) Breaks in the shoulder or hip or compound fractures where the bones are in many pieces are quite difficult to set and may heal badly.
Frequent occurrences of broken bones indicate a need to supplement the herd with calcium or di-calcium phosphate.

Poor mothering
Some goats will not feed their baby. The baby can be saved by catching the mother daily 3-4 times a day and holding her while the baby feeds. This is more common with first time mothers. Any goat displaying this behaviour a second time should be culled from the herd.
Some mothers can not count and will feed one out of two twins. Isolate the mother and babies from the herd for about three days until the babies are big enough to look for their mother and know which one she is and they should be ok thereafter.
Sometimes at times of nutritional stress (such as in august), a goat gives birth but has little or no milk. The only way to save the baby may be to feed it from another mother or bottle feed it cow’s milk. The best way to avoid this problem is to avoid having babies in August or from July to mid September. This can be achieved by separating the male goats five months earlier. The problem can also be reduced by supplementary feeding in august.

27/03/2022

ULCER TREATMENT

Get raw pawpaw and wash it. It must be raw, not ripe

Do not peel it and do not remove the seeds.

After washing the outside neatly, slice it without peeling it into small small pieces. The cutting should be small like sugar cubes.

Put all the small pieces of the raw pawpaw into any clean container.

Fill the container with water to stop at the same point the sliced pawpaw stopped.

Leave the pawpaw in the water for four days. For example if u soak it on a Monday, I count Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be the fourth day.

On the Fourth day, the water will be looking white in colour. Seive it and throw away the pawpaw and the water becomes your cure for ulcer.

DOSAGE: drink half a glass of the pawpaw water every morning, afternoon and evening. You will no longer feel those ulcer pains because it will heal the wounds inside that are causing the pain.

This morning, afternoon and evening drinking of the pawpaw water can continue for weeks and months depending on how severe the ulcer is. It is not relief. It is a cure.

This treatment mentioned is not a reason not to go to hospital, because not all internal pains are ulcers.

26/03/2022

Interesting facts of chicken egg fertility that you may not know.

🪶 It is possible to have a rooster and a hen that are active but a hen can still lay eggs that are not fertile:

I know you may be wondering how, and here is the explanation.
Unlike other birds where you find partners, in chickens there is no courtship or romance. A rooster just forces himself on the hen. So what happens is when a rooster mates a hen, his injected semen is stored in numerous s***m storage tubules (SSTs) located in the area where the hen’s uterus joins the va**na. But this only happens provided the hen likes the rooster. If she doesn’t, she can sq**rt out the semen to avoid hatching his offspring. Therefore a hen may still proceed to lay eggs that are not fertile despite even mating with a rooster every day.

🪶 Even if the hen approves the rooster, some eggs may still not be fertile:

Since the s***m is released shortly after an egg is laid, and each egg takes approximately 25 hours to develop, an egg produced on the day of mating will not be fertile.

An egg laid the next day may or may not be fertile, depending on the timing. An egg laid on the third day definitely should be fertile.

So as you can see your hen can still have the first two or three eggs that are not fertile despite the hen and a rooster having mated.

🪶 You don't need a rooster everyday for the hen to continue laying fertile eggs:

The amount of time during which the hen will continue to lay fertile eggs depends on how much s***m fills the SSTs, which are capable of storing semen from multiple matings and multiple roosters.

Highly productive hens generally remain fertile longer than hens that lay at a slower rate. The average duration of fertility from a single mating is 10 to 14 days.
So it is possible that once your hen has mated with a rooster you can even take the rooster away and you can still have fertile eggs for the next 14 days.

🪶 For first time layers if a rooster has mated with a hen, all her eggs are not always fertile:

Generally speaking, a hen who has mated will be fertile between 7 and 10 days after. It takes that long for the s***m to reach the oviduct where eggs are made. So it is possible that after mating, your hen can still continue to lay eggs that are not fertile for the next 10 days. This is why it is encouraged that for hens that are laying for the first time it is better to eat the eggs for the first two or three weeks instead of attempting to hatch them.

🪶 Not all roosters have fertile s***m:

This is a sad one. Just like in humans, even in chickens we also have roosters that are infertile.
Why? Who knows. It's maybe just something in his genes not working as it should. Again, very like the human condition. There's not always a rhyme or reason.

NB- This article has been compiled to help people understand why at time they may hear those who provide hatchery services referring to their eggs not having been fertile. We know some have been wondering why the eggs are said not to be fertile yet they have the recommended number of hens and roosters that are also active for that matter.

While the article has been compiled from various sources that we believe to be credible, it is only for general information. For specifics relating to one's flock we still recommend that farmers use the services of professionals.

26/03/2022

In just 2 years, 3months, you can be worth K3.3 Million from just an initial investment of K20,000
.one late evening I arrived at home with 3 little pigs I had just bought from 10 miles..I was not ready for them but I needed to start from somewhere so I put them in a Chicken run at the corner of the fence. A month later they started making noise in the neighborhood so I moved them to the farm where there was no one and I used to go to feed them as my neighbor kept an eye for me until I found a caretaker and that is how the farming began.
It is almost a year now and the pigs are flourishing beyond my wildest of imaginations. I could have never imagined we could get here without any money because people used to say you need alot of money to keep pigs. It is not true. On average a pig just eats 1Kg per day meaning one 50kg of feed costing just K120 can take care of a pig for a full month.

The miracle of pigs is that if you buy a pig (piglet) at K500, within three months its value would have increased to K3,500. At six month that pig would be valued at K6, 000 and if its pregnant it will be K10,000. 00. In summary, an investment of 10 pigs (each K500) at total K5, 000 kept for 6 months will reap you K60, 000. 00. Per month all costs on a pig is average K200 (feed + care).

Imagine all the ten pigs are female, they will be pregnant at 6 months (gestation is 3 months 21 days) and bear an average of 10 piglets each. In total you will have 110 pigs after 10 months.
Sixteen months (1 year four months )later the all 110 pigs will average a worth of K6,000 each and you the owner will be worth K 660, 000. 00.

Imagine half of the 110 pigs, 55 pigs are female. If they give birth after 3 months, 21 days of gestation, you will have 550 pigs. All the other cost will be covered by the other 55 male pigs which you can slaughter and sale. Six months later, you will be worth K3, 3000, 000. 00 (K3.3Million) in just 2 years, 3months, 21 days you can be worth K3.3 Million.

24/03/2022

Congratulations to all the graduating students from Zambia college of agriculture monze

20/03/2022

The best time for artificial insemination occurs in the last part of heat. That is, cows observed on heat in the morning are inseminated in the afternoon & cows detected on heat in the afternoon be inseminated in the morning, the following day.

Agribusiness Magazine March 2022

19/03/2022

SIX FACTORS TO LOOK AT WHEN YOU ENTER YOUR POULTRY.

• Bird distribution over the floor area.
Are specific areas being avoided suggesting an environmental issue (draft, cold, light)?

• Bird respiration.
Are the birds panting? Is the panting specific to one area of the house suggesting an
airflow or temperature issue?

• Bird behavior.
Feeding, drinking, and resting. Normally, broilers will be evenly split between these
behaviours.

• Brooder condition.
Are the birds gathering around the heat source or are they running away from the heat source e.g if they are getting away from the heat source it means it's too hot and if they are gathering around the heat source it means it's too cold.

• Litter condition.
Are areas capping due to leaking drinkers or excess water from cool cells? Is cold air
entering the house and falling to the floor? Are droppings wet and loose or solid and dry? Do they have feed particles in them?

• Feeders and drinkers.
Are they the right height, is there feed in the feeders, or are the drinkers leaking?
What is feed quality like?

10/03/2022

ECOMING A MILLIONAIRE THROUGH PINE (TIMBER) PLANTATION*

LAND AREA DEFINITION

1 hectare = 100m x 100m
1 lima =50m x 50m
In 1 hectare there are 4 limas.
Recommended Spacing
2.5m between plants and 3m between rows.

PLANT POPULATION IN ONE HECTARE.

In one hectare
(100x100)/(2.5x3)= 1333.
This means that in 1 hectare you can plant 1333 pine trees.

MATURITY PERIOD

You start harvesting between 10 to 15 years.

PROFIT MARGINS

Fully grown pine (timber) tree costs on average about K1200 depending on volume size.
K1200 x 1333 = K 1599,600
That's K1.6 million Kwacha😍😍.

Note: This is for people who planted some 10 to 15 years ago and are harvesting now.
So 10 or 15 years from now expect an upward trend or trajectory, let's say K2000 or even K2500 per fully grown pine tree.
K2000x 1333 = K2,666,000.
Almost a K2.7 Million Kwacha from just a single hectare.
Now let's say you do 10 hectares you'll be worth 27 million Kwacha after 15 years.

LETS BE GENERATIONAL THINKERS BY MAKING LONG TERM INVESTMENTS ESPECIALLY FOR OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN

07/03/2022

GROWING POTATOES IN BAGS/SACKS

What I love about potatoes is that they can grow almost anywhere, even with limited space. You can grow them in reusable potato growbags or sacks(mumasaka) which you can find anywhere. These are easy to place on a balcony, patio, greenhouse or just in your backyard. What’s more, they make harvesting pretty easy!

What you need to grow potatoes in bags

Your choice of seed is very important especially if you’re growing potatoes for the first time. It’s best to plant an early varieties such as Duke of York, Homeguard or Orla because you can harvest them earlier than maincrop varieties, giving you a better yield.
Use a good multi-purpose compost or a mixture of 60 compost to 40 topsoil (avoid manure). You can also use fertilizer but this is optional. However, for is maximum yield, it’s recommended. To start with, choose an area with at least 6 hrs of direct sun per day to place your potato bags/sacks/planter in. Make sure the containers you are using have good drainage.

Most potatoes should be planted between November to February. However, with a good water supply, they can planted at anytime of the year while avoiding the colder months.

Chit the potatoes (sprout seed potatoes before planting) to produce sturdy shoots. This encourages faster establishment and helps them grow better. You can chit by leaving the seed in an open egg tray about 4 weeks allowing them to sprout. The place should be cool and have light to prevent rotting.
Keep a eye on the potatoes and place them so that the parts with the most ‘eyes’ face upwards. The potato’s eyes are the small buds in the skin where the new shoots sprout from.

Planting

Fill the bags to about 20cm with your mixture of top soil/compost or multi-purpose compost. Then, spread 3 or 4 seed potatoes evenly on top of the compost and layer with another 10cm of compost mix.

When the plants start growing, gently cover the shoots with more of the compost mix until it reaches just below the top of the bag/sack. Don’t forget to keep the compost moist but not soggy. However, when the temperature is high, you can water heavily than lightly because the water has to go down to the lower roots. Keep an eye out for pests, especially chewing insects which can affect the vigor of your plants. Occasionally dig up a small tuber and check for any damage to the young potato. If you use clean new compost, you won’t have any major soil borne insect problems.

Give your potatoes a feed which has a high potash content. This substantially increases the potato yield. Avoid using feeds with a high nitrogen content because this encourages the growth of excess leaves at the expense of the potato crop. Potato blight can rear it’s ugly head during humid periods. Therefore, it’s better to avoid recycling compost. Also, buy certified seed rather than planting old potatoes to help prevent blight infection and other diseases. As already mentioned, grow early varietiesor look for blight resistant seed potatoes such as Sarpo Mira, Setanta or Orla. Please check with your local seed supplier.

Harvesting your bag potatoes

You will know they are ready to harvest when the flowers start to bloom for a couple of weeks. You can test to see if they are at the size you want by gently removing some of the topsoil and having a look. Leave them to grow to maturity and pick when ready.

You have to harvest early potato varieties as they are needed because they don’t store very well. You can leave maincrop varieties in the bags for longer periods as long as the bags are in well ventilated areas.

Once you harvest, store the potatoes in hessian bags or in sand in a cool environment. Avoid storing potatoes in polythene bags because they’ll ‘sweat’ and rot. Also, check your harvested potatoes occasionally for signs of rot, and if you find any, remove them

01/03/2022

HEALTHY TIPS TO SUCCEED IN LIVESTOCK BUSINESS

👉Prevent contact with infected livestock
👉Avoid overcrowding in the house
👉Keep the young animals separate from the adults
👉Isolate sick animals
👉Avoid equipment for sick animals being brought into the house
👉Prevent unhygienic people from entering the pens
👉Get accurate and early disease diagnosis by a qualified veterinarian
👉Avoid unnecessary medication
👉Eliminate ticks, lice, mites and control predatory animals.
👉Consider droppings as a potential source of diseases
👉Keep the pen clean and dry
👉Keep the feed and water uncontaminated
👉Feed must meet all the nutritional requirements of the animals
👉Ensure periodic vaccination
👉Maintain a record of the incidence of diseases and treatment administered