Efficient and Sustainable Farming Tips

Farming is one of the largest industries in the world, but it can be incredibly expensive to own, run, manage and maintain a farm, particularly through periods of drought and disease. Sustainable farming techniques provide farmers with high yields, using the processes and resources that nature provides instead of working against them. These tips should improve efficiency on any farm, improving both yields and yield quality.
• Feed is typically either the biggest or second-biggest expense on any farm, often accounting for up to 60% of total farming costs. Any waste in the feed system can lead to huge losses, so putting into place an efficient feed system either right from the very beginning or as soon as possible could drastically improve production. Animal feed that has been pelleted using an extruder spheronizer is often far more economical than regular wet or dry animal feed, and when used with a diet feeder system that can alter intake and can adjust diet according to set variations could save farms significant sums of money.
• One of the most simple yet most effective forms of pest management is to rotate crops, avoiding the problems that go hand-in-hand with leaving the same crops to grow in the same field year after year. Because most pests tend to have a tendency to feed on just one plant, planting crops in the same place in the same field season after season is a sure-fire way to increase the population of pests. Crop rotation also allows farmers to plant crops such as legumes or soybeans which nourish and replenish the soil, improving soil quality for future crops.
• Enhancing soil enrichment is incredibly important, as it cuts down on the need for commercial pesticides and fertilisers. Unhealthy soil will produce unhealthy crops, and if crops are unhealthy, not growing correctly or succumb to disease, they are inedible, unusable and ultimately, a waste of money. Getting the soil quality right is arguably the most important step. Healthy soil is positively teeming with nourishment, which helps to produce robust and hardy crops that provide a much greater yield. To improve soil quality, you can use natural and organic soil nourishment methods, including leaving behind crop residue in fields once the crops have been harvested, using compost made from organic materials or spreading the field with animal manure, or planting cover crops, which helps to prevent soil erosion.
• Measure performance in an easily recognisable and quantifiable way. Chances are, if you're running a farm already, you'll have mass amounts of data relating to feed, yields and much more. But none of that data is useful unless you it has a direct effect on your farmers and your animals. Instead of measuring performance using tons of data that is difficult to quantify, measure it using performance indicators that can easily be tracked by those working the farm, such as milk yield and feed intake.