Sustainable agriculture is the agro business of the future, as it is not only about being socially responsible, but also about cutting costs. Even a small family farm can launch a home-based business. But how exactly do you start a sustainable agribusiness? What are the steps one must take to achieve sustainability? Mostly, these steps are not unlike those of any traditional agro business, but there are some important elements that are specifically unique to sustainable agriculture.
Steps to Launch a Sustainable Agro Business
In contrast to traditional agriculture, sustainable agriculture focuses specifically on the social aspects of agro activities due to the consumers’ rising concern about where the products came from, how they were grown, and what production methods were used. This has led to agronomists realizing the benefits of producing a local product for their communities, re-establishing the consumer’s connection to the land with the main aims being to increase crop yield and product quality. So, what are the exact steps to take for those who want to launch a sustainable agro business? Here are the most significant steps that are an absolute must.
Setting goals and objectives
Launching a sustainable agriculture business starts with defining the values that it will stand by. And although the goals and objectives that the agronomist sets in the beginning may undergo changes later on, the main purpose is to have a firm foundation before building anything.
Developing a business plan
A business plan is what no business launch goes without. The main point here is to determine the bottlenecks to business profitability, including production costs and marketability. And for a business plan to be helpful, the farmer needs to be honest about the state of things, which will help to make critical and reality-based decisions for the business.
A critical part of a business plan is to assess risks. For instance, there may be another farm nearby, lack of workforce in the area, or government regulations that can get in the way. However, don’t forget to assess opportunities too. A farm nearby notwithstanding, there may also be a neighboring city with enough population to create demand for several farming businesses at once.
Building up a production plan
The purpose of creating a production plan is to help farmers choose the most practical operations for the following factors:
- Weather/climate – The rainfall and temperature patterns in the area
- Soil type – Soil condition and management needs
- Water – Water needs based on rainfall and crops that will be grown
- Production quantity – Producing enough product without making costly mistakes
- Production duration – The optimal time needed to make a profit
- Labor – Regular human labor needs
- Land size – The optimal land size that the farmer will be able to support throughout the year
To help with assessing all those factors remotely and easily, farmers can use online tools for field management. One such instrument is Crop Monitoring by EOS, which automatically analyzes data retrieved from multiple sources, including satellite imagery and ground stations, and provides users with all the needed information on one screen. The platform allows you to access the soil moisture data, temperature and other weather-related data (historical data, current weather, and 14-day forecast), crops’ health (based on vegetation indices), and field productivity zones.
Above all, the app has a scouting feature, providing the opportunity for remote scouting management. It goes like this. The farmers see the problem area that needs to be checked, pin the area on the map, create a scouting task, assign a scout, and receive a scouting report after the scout is done investigating the issue. Such online and precise field management allows for great cost reduction thanks to opening ways for the most optimal use of resources.
Implementing plans
This might be one of the most challenging parts of starting a business. But no matter how difficult it is, there is time to put plans into action. The main point here is to be confident in the quality of research and preparation that was done while planning.
Tracking performance
When running a sustainable agriculture business, it’s critical to monitor its performance, identifying what needs to be modified, including not just crop yields but also bookkeeping and marketing activities.
Overall, although sustainable agro business requires a more thorough planning compared to the traditional business’s needs, it keeps gaining popularity, primarily due to its marketing advantage. And certainly, mistakes are inevitable, but the experience of other farmers’ can be quite valuable for you when planning your business goals and objectives.
