Friday, March 29, 2024

Top 5 highly profitable farming businesses

Farming can be a slow-to-grow business, so when you’re starting a farm, it’s important to have at least one of these  highly profitable farming businesses. This venture should fit with your overall farm plan and it needs to be something that will pay for its initial investment within a few weeks or months. That way, these profitable farming businesses begin to support your other, perhaps slower, farming endeavors. Here are those ventures :

1. Broiler Chickens

If you’re starting a livestock farm, think about starting with a fast-producing animal like broiler chicken. The temptation is often to raise laying hens, but broiler chickens are ready for market in six to nine weeks (depending on target weight) instead of 9 months, like the eggs from laying hens. These broilers are often at a sellable weight in just a couple of months and go for  ksh 300 to ksh 600  per kg depending on your market. They take up very little room, can be raised on pasture and bring in a nice chunk of change very quickly.

Considerations

To start, you will need to purchase chicks or incubate your own. Brood them in a warm, dry place for a couple weeks before putting them outside. Broilers also have many predators, so make sure they are well protected. Contact local processors early on to set up an appointment—they may be booked several months in advance.

2. Micro-greens

If square footage is valuable on your farm, consider microgreens. Although they can be a fussy endeavor, microgreens can provide a large profit very quickly. Most are ready to harvest within two to three weeks and bring upwards of ksh15000 per harvest. One thing with microgreens is that they need to be sold fresh, and they need to have a market. Otherwise, it can be a grave waste of seed.

Consideration

Find a consistent market before diving too heavily into micro greens—retailers, restaurants or a farmers market are all great places to sell. Start with some shoots, like peas or skuma wiki (kale) and then move to a few of the less robust crops. Like all plants, micro greens need consistent water, sunlight and airflow to produce a healthy, consistent crop.

3. Rabbits

Another spectacularly fast-producing livestock for a budding farmer I rabbit. In roughly the same amount of time as broiler chickens, you can have rabbits ready for market—depending on the breed—in eight to 12 weeks for a 1 to 3 kg animal. Researching your local processors or home-processing laws before diving too heavily into raising rabbits is advised. This will make sure it’s legally viable. However, their niche quality among chefs makes them highly marketable and profitable.

Considerations

Rabbits, like chickens, are a favorite treat for predators, so they must be kept well-protected. Not every rabbit is going to do well on pasture, so look for breed stock from someone who is already raising them in this way if that is your intention.

4. Flowers

Flowers are an excellent opportunity to make a lot of money on a small amount of space. In just a couple of months, you can have a garden full of cosmos, celosia, sunflowers, zinnias and other annuals to start filling vases and peddling to local businesses and at farmers markets. At Ksh 1000 to Ksh 2000 per bouquet, it doesn’t take long to start raising capital so you can invest in bulbs and some of the more exotic flowers.

Considerations

Flowers are very similar to vegetables in that shelf-life matters. Make sure you have a nice cool place to take your flowers to get the field heat off and keep them fresh for market. ‘Local flowers’ is a popular enterprise right now, so make sure you are not diving into a saturated market before, well, diving in.

5.Mushrooms

You probably didn’t see mushrooms coming, but don’t underestimate the potential of fungi in the marketplace. Mushrooms in particular, can be grown just as fast as broiler chickens (8 to 12 weeks) and fetch a price of Ksh 1000 to Ksh 1800 per 1 kg. It is admittedly not always easy to sell fresh mushrooms, but they can be dried to be sold as a value-added item rather easily. Once they are done producing, you can split the remaining substrate into new blocks. This means that they are very easily propagated.

Considerations

Disease can be an issue in growing mushrooms and you will need a steady supply of organic substrate as way to sterilize it. The mushrooms should be chilled right away after harvest, and they have a week or so of shelf life, so they should be sold quickly. In general, however, they are extremely easy to grow and can be sold at markets, restaurants or retail shops.

Next time you want to venture into farm business, just think of these profitable farming businesses.

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