How to Make a Farm Profit With One Acre of Land
- 1). Decide what you are going to raise. Animal-related products include rabbit projects, chicken and egg operations and beekeeping. Vegetable products include market gardens with popular vegetables and high-end herbs like thyme, mint and lavender. Animal and plant projects can both be grown on a single acre and prove mutually beneficial. Chickens can be used to control bugs among garden plants and their droppings and bedding can be composted for fertilizer. Bees increase the pollen transfer in a garden and produce honey products which can be sold as well.
- 2). Select both late and early crops and practice succession planting so that you can gain more than one harvest from the land.
- 3). Farm organically. Organic products earn, on average, 20 to 30 percent higher than foods which have had chemicals used in their production. Use natural compost as fertilization. Use Neem oil for pest and fungus control. Weed and hoe the land to control weeds rather than using an herbicide. Practice companion planting and crop rotation to help control pests naturally.
- 4). Harvest daily during the growing season. This prevents fruit from over ripening, or from being harvested before it is fully ripe. If farming for eggs, collect daily for freshness and to prevent broken eggs.
- 5). Package your product by count or weight in produce boxes, egg cartons or other appropriate containers. Make sure your packaging and labels look professional and enhance the quality of your product.
- 6). Find a market. If you can sell directly to the public by setting up a booth at a farmer's market or road-side stand, you can reap a larger profit because you are not paying a middle man. If you can sell in a health food shop or organic whole foods storefront you will not have to invest the time sitting with your product to sell it.
- 7). Work the soil at the end of the growing season so that it is ready to absorb winter's moisture, and to be planted again the following spring.
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