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Introduction
You want to start an agribusiness right? Well, before you commit yourself to spending a dime, there are some things you need to know.
You watch videos online of people constructing a 10,000; 20,000 or 100,000-capacity farm or you read how much it cost to build a farm and that’s it, but what you don’t know is that there are other structures you need to have on your farm aside the massive structures for your livestock.
Don’t look at me with a side-eye, I said it and you read right, don’t be a jerk that doesn’t know what’s up with starting and sustaining an agribusiness.
I always say something, the agriculture business is not a get-rich-quick scheme, it is a REAL BUSINESS that must be taken seriously.
Don’t be fooled by all you see online, reach out to a professional and let him/her direct and guide you on what you need on your proposed farm.
Well, to the main business, let’s talk about what structures you need on your farm if you’re a beginner.
Different Must-Have Structures On A Farm
As an OG and a consultant in this agribusiness, I have seen clients reach out to me saying they want to build a 50,000-capacity fish farm or a 20,000-capacity poultry farm without the provision of other structures on the farm. After several back and forths on our consultation call, they realize a lot of things are wrong and they need to go back to the drawing board to readjust their budget to fit what we’ve discussed.
Don’t let me bore you with too much talk and let’s dive into what you want to know.
In this article, I will be talking about the must-have structures on a farm in this day and age.
Main Structure
I know the main reason why you reach out to a consultant is to construct a 50,000-capacity farm whether a fish farm, poultry farm, or pig farm if you’re dealing in livestock production.
The first structure on a farm that the client wants to have is what they actually contacted you for which is either a poultry pen, fish pond, or pig pen so you need to make sure this is done perfectly.
You can watch my videos on different farms that I have constructed across borders below:
NOTE: The price of constructing a farm for a client will vary from another cause of different factors like location, and also the time the project will be executed.
Brooding House/Hatchery
The second must-have structure on a farm is a brooding house or a hatchery.
The type of livestock you want to raise on your farm will determine whether you have a brooding house or a hatchery.
For example, if you’re constructing a fish farm that is getting above 10,000 capacity, I always advise you to have a hatchery pond.
Why do I say so? Even if at the very beginning you buy your fingerlings or juveniles from other farms, as time goes on, it is always cost-saving to hatch and stock your own fish.
Doing this will save you money and help you know how well the fries you’re stocking are performing.
Having a hatchery on your farm will save you a lot of stress amidst other things.
On the other side, if you’re starting a poultry farm let’s say 5,000 capacity, it is advisable to have a brooding space/ house on your farm.
Brooding your birds on the farm gives you peace of mind about the quality of birds you will be putting out. The right medication and vaccination will be given to the birds when due, so nothing really to be worried about.
If you’re thinking of starting a poultry or fish farm in large quantity, make sure you have a brooding/hatchery house in your plan of structures on the farm.
Staff Quarters
You own a large farm yet you don’t want to have a structure for the workers, jokes on you.
Except you’re starting the farm in your backyard, there must be a space for your workers to stay.
I’ve worked with clients that tell me they don’t their staff to stay on the farm, in their words “I want them to resume in the morning and leave at night”, I laugh and tell them they’re not ready for business.
If you can spend thousands of dollars stocking your livestock, then having people to safeguard your investments should not be a problem for you.
At intervals, this livestock (poultry birds, fish, or maybe pigs) needs to be checked on. So, if you don’t have anyone on the farm to do these routine checks, there might be an issue and all your investments are gone.
One of the reasons some clients give is, oh I don’t want them to steal for me, and I tell them technology has made things easy for everyone. You can be anywhere in the world and check whatever is happening on your farm through a security camera.
If you’re wondering how to choose the best security camera for your farm, you can check out this article where I talked about the 6 best farm security camera systems. Read it and make your decisions.
With technology, almost everything is possible, don’t make excuses to limit yourself to achieving greater things on your farm.
Store Rooms
Oh, you think I will forget? Well, you’re wrong.
What is a farm without a store? The number of storerooms you’ll have on the farm will be dependent on the type of stock, the quantity of your stock, and the land mass of your farm.
For example, the recently completed 5,000-capacity poultry pen has two store rooms. One for feed and the other for collecting eggs.
NOTE: if we are going to increase the number of birds tomorrow, we’ll definitely need another store room.
If you’ll have other equipment on the farm like feed machines, this will be a different structure from the store rooms.
Before you construct you need to know what you’re doing.
Other Structures
There are other structures that are not major or compulsory to have but if you’re going to be having a large number of livestock on the farm, you might need to construct them.
They are but are not limited to:
i. A security house: If you’re going to have stocks in a very secluded environment, after fencing, you will need a security house. This is not totally necessary if you don’t want to have it, but is advisable to have it except if you want your security personnel to be sleeping in the main staff quarters.
ii. Power House: You think I will forget this? Sorry to burst your bubble, I will not forget. If you’re buying a bigger generator for your farm which you should (depending on the size of the farm), you will need to construct a generator house.
Even if you’ll be going with alternative power, there will be a room/place where the connections will land to. So think about this in your planning process when trying to start a farm.
Conclusion
Except you’re starting backyard farming, the structures mentioned in this article are very important and you have to make provision for these structures when making your budget.
The reason why it is important to seek professional advice on what to budget for when starting your desired agribusiness.
Don’t get carried away cos the structure you put up is just 20% of the amount you’re going to spend on sustaining this business of yours.
To recap, below are the must-have structures on a farm:
- Main Structures (Fish pond; poultry pen or pig pen)
- Brooding house or hatchery
- Staff Quarters
- Store Rooms
Agriculture is sweet but you’ll spend lots of money to get started and even sustain it.
If after you have put up your structures and you’re wondering what equipment should be on the farm, read this article I wrote on different equipment for poultry farming and 12 important equipment for fish farming.