Agriculture: Every Industry Has Unique Quirks *

*This is a collaborative post.

Not until you actually get into it, but business has its own unique way of operating. You yourself will realize when you start a business, that you want to do things a certain way. It’s not to ignore advice from people who have been there and done that, but do whatever allows you to be most comfortable. In fact, every industry has its own unique quirks so how you manage them is up to you. Every business must come up with ideas to take on the challenges of the day and that often leads to creative thinking. This leads to managing those quirks of the industry and making processes which help you function to a high standard. For example, the food and beverage industry has a health and safety standard around germs and bacteria that needs to be managed. How you go about it, is up to you but you have to meet the same standard. For agriculture, the quirks are perhaps the most unique of all.

Not your Schedule

You cannot work to your own schedule in the agricultural industry. Put simply, you are racing against time. The seasons are your clock and they will manage your routine. If you are even a couple of days late to harvest or sowing, you might lose half your crop. It’s quite incredible but mother nature does not wait for anyone. Thus if you’re thinking of starting a farming business of some kind, know that your life will be changed forever. Now you need to pay more attention to the rolling over of seasons. Every agricultural business has its own way of doing things but they all must get done in relatively the same time frame. The autumn and the spring are the two most important times in farming, so get used to living your life in 6-month rotations.

The Caring of Livestock

If you have a farm with livestock you’ll need to obey animal rights laws. You must take good care of the animals you harvest in one way or another. For example, if you have cows you’ll need an effective hoof trimming machine which humanely traps the animal so they don’t shift around and hurt themselves. Then while in the hoof trimming box, they can be worked on to make their hooves more comfortable, giving them a better quality of life. Many of these needs are written in law, so you have to take care of each animal in different ways. For horses, you need stables and allow them to sit, stand and lie down comfortably. The same goes for smaller animals like chickens. They can’t just have a shelter over their heads but rather they need a chicken coop. Cleaning the animals must also be done regularly, so caring for livestock is a very complex task.

These are just some of the unique quirks you’ll have to get used to if you enter into the agricultural industry. However, with great equipment you can make it easier and safer for yourself and the animals.