Making a farm profitable in today’s world is a bit more challenging than it was 10 years ago. With input costs up and prices down, it’s kind of hard to make money and everyone is looking for a way to make their cash flow work! Anyone who is an entrepreneur in the agriculture space knows that you have to diversify to balance out swings in the market and keep a consistent cash flow. My farm is diversified in the fact that we have traditional row crops, corn and soybeans, and livestock, cattle. But, within the cattle, they are diversified as well. We have a cow/calf herd as well as feed out our calves to slaughter. (I know, slaughter is such a negative term!)
Many people struggle with managing a diverse farm. For many years being a dealer of seed or equipment was a great option. Sometimes, providing a service for other farmers is a great option. Royce and Lonnie provide custom silage chopping for other farmers that raise cattle so that they too have feed for their livestock during the harsh, cold winter months.
Recently, some farmers are monitizing their social media. Others are cashing in on agritourism. But, here are some other ideas to produce more on farm income:
- Drone Imaging
- Adding Livestock
- Making an end product to sell retail
- eggs
- honey
- candles
- popcorn
- produce to farmer’s market, roadside stand, restaurant or grocer
- U-Pick Farms
- Start a Cooperative of producers to increase selling power
- Baked Goods – Always a hit!
- Greenhouse
- Aquaculture
- Aquaponics
- Distributer Storage
This is far from a complete list, but it’s just a few ideas I threw down to share to get ideas flowing.
Check out 12 Ways To Sell Your Products from Grit!
