Content

• Steps
• Tips
• Warnings

Not everyone can become a farmer. Just knowing how to run a farm or even managing a farm doesn't make you a farmer. You can dress like a farmer, behave like a farmer, even talk like a farmer. But does all this make you a farmer? These are all distorted stereotypes and preconceived notions about who farmers are.

If you want to know what it means to be a real farmer, not in the ordinary sense, read the steps below.

Steps

1. 1 Understand that farming is a huge responsibility. You are responsible for all the work, all the sites and businesses that make up the farm, and you have a responsibility to properly manage it all. You run a business if you don't have a full-time job and the farm is just a hobby, not to make money on it. But no matter what, you are still responsible for managing this farm, for its functionality, and in no other way.
2. 2 Be well informed about what the farm is producing, how to grow crops and raise livestock. This is another responsibility for the farmer. Do not rely on false information and city notions and opinions about what crops to grow, how to care for livestock, and in general how to run a farm. Most people living in the city or the suburbs have no idea what it means to run a farm at all, and accordingly, trusting the media, they have a very far from reality idea of ​​how to raise animals, how to work on a farm, what it includes. the pros and cons of this case.
   • In obtaining the necessary information and knowledge in this area, trust those who already have real experience and knowledge of farming and animal husbandry.In real life school, you will gain real experience and knowledge.
     • With this knowledge and experience, you can freely teach others who do not know anything about agriculture and farming, and what all this includes, to destroy urban myths about all this.
3. 3 Apperciate things which you have. Most of the farmers are not rich, do not have enough money for different "toys" for one day. But, as a farmer, you get used to working with what you have, no matter what it is, the material lying somewhere in the barn or the very earth that is under your feet.
   • Land is one of the main attributes that any farmer or grower should value. You can expand or buy new land, rent someone, but the fact remains that it is impossible to farm without land on which crops and livestock are grown.
   • However, don't be afraid to build up your capital by increasing your farm's productivity as much as possible. There is a fine line between working with what you have and spending money on buying what you need (and don't want to) buy for your farm. Know when and where to cross this line and stick to this rule.
4. 4 Listen to your intuition and be creative. The farmer does not sit in a room or office all day doing the same things day after day. Intuition is often needed when faced with situations, standard or not, that require problem-solving skills. Not all, but many farmers have such skills and are able to find out at a moment, for example, why a car suddenly broke down, or how you can fix a section of a fence line or gate through which cattle can escape.
   • This is where creativity is used. Sometimes, as a farmer, you will be faced with a problem that cannot be solved in the usual way. This is where creativity is needed, you need to become something like an inventor and use the material at hand to create something that will help solve the problem. It will take a lot of thought (maybe even realizing the obvious) in order to find a reliable solution, and not just a temporary fix for the situation in the hope that this will not happen again, which is unlikely.
     • For example, you have to repair an old barbed wire fence all the time, because the cows are constantly looking for holes in it to break out. It is possible to temporarily repair an old fence by patching holes in the hope that they will hold up. But the right decision would be to dismantle the old fence and replace it with a new one, so that no matter how many cows are pushed, it cannot be moved.
5. 5 Learn to be flexible and take risks. Farming is one of the most volatile professions in the world, depending on the volatile economic market as well as the weather. Both of these factors are equally unpredictable, and both can lead to both disaster and the success of your business. Because of this unpredictability, you will have to learn to take risks and take advantage of the opportunity and bet on what you think can fix the situation. For many, farming is figuratively compared to the Texas Hold'em card game, with the only difference that the game, unlike the real situation, ends quickly.
6. 6 Learn every day. You will have to learn a lot from the moment you decide to become a farmer. You have to learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of other people. There is an expression for airplane pilots that also applies to farmers: "Learn from the mistakes of others, as your life is not long enough to have time to do all of yours."
   • Get ready for a new farming experience that literally makes you say, "This has never happened to me!" or "I didn't think this could happen ..."
7. 7 Get ready to be a jack of all trades. You will have to become a welder, mechanic, electrician, chemist, plumber, construction worker, accountant, veterinarian, entrepreneur, trader, and even an economist. Make sure you know what skills are needed for specific situations.
8. 8 Understand that farming takes hard work. Farming is not an easy business, not for everyone, and certainly not for those who do not want to sweat, hate manual labor and manual labor. If you are the type of person who prefers to sit at the computer all day, go shopping, work in the office without earning a single sweat, farming is clearly not for you.
9. 9 Handle your money wisely. A good farmer knows where to invest money, and why, and does not waste it lightly. So, if you are able to spend money on something that is not profitable, or you can rather buy the latest fashionable equipment, recreational vehicles to impress your neighbors, and not buy cattle or additional land, then you better not become a farmer.
10. 10 Treat the land, the animals, the forces of nature, and the life that depends on it with respect. They are the ones you need as a farmer to grow crops and animals. The place of your residence will determine what unfavorable weather conditions can be expected, and how favorable it is to raise this or that type of animal.
11. 11 Be respectful of the equipment you are working on. Farm machines are not toys and should be treated accordingly. Fooling around with them is tantamount to playing with matches, you can get burned or worse.
12. 12 Establish contact or liaison with other farmers and people associated with the agricultural industry, but are not themselves farmers. Do not think that you can become a good farmer if you cannot make connections, no matter how, during community meetings and face-to-face conversations, or over the Internet. You cannot find a market for your product or sell livestock or crops if you cannot or don’t know how to communicate and keep in touch and talk with other people. Make friends, acquaintances, find business partners among a variety of people related to agriculture, whatever they are, farm equipment mechanics, local butchers, local barn vendors, potential buyers, other local farmers or traders.
13. 13 Observe safety precautions in farm management. Safety means adhering to all safety measures in all affairs and actions performed on the farm. For more information, see How to stay safe on your farm.
14. 14 Love and be proud of what you do. As a farmer, you grow food for others who are unable to grow for themselves due to time, inappropriate place of residence, or life choices. Unlike other people, you live your rural life to the fullest: the ups and downs, the hard work that accompanies them. In America, only 2% of the population is engaged in farming. In Canada, only 5% of the population falls into this category. Therefore, take pride in the fact that you are part of a minority that provides food for other people.

Tips

• Be prepared to work alone most of the time. Life in the countryside is for the most part, one might say, a hermit's occupation, as is farm work.
• Use common sense. Farming is not for those who cannot hear their intuition or use common sense to make the right decisions in business.
• Know that hard work, responsibility, creativity, flexibility, intuition and the ability to learn, among others, are the qualities required to become a farmer.
• You don't have to dress like a farmer in public to be recognized as a farmer. In fact, you don't need to show that you are a farmer with clothing or appropriate speech.
  • In public, be yourself, dress, behave and talk as usual.

Warnings

• Farming is not for everyone. There is a reason why the age of modern farmers is over 50 and no less than 30!
• Don't be silly to want to become a farmer just to become a farmer. This is called vanity.If you want to be a farmer, you have to understand what it means to be one.