Starting A Maize Farm Business

Maize farming may be a simple business to start but behind it are requirements needed to gain success. Knowing the fact that maize is commonly used in different area especially as a food supply to a lot of countries.

It actually takes a lot of years to gain experience in maize farming or any kind of crop you want to farm.

It actually need at least 3 years of experience to be successful and if you do not have enough experience you can start by applying as an apprentice in a farm and learn some skills of a farmer.

Managing a maize farm is not that easy, it takes a lot of effort and some risk especially if you do not have money to start maize farming. You can ask financial assistance from your local bank. But before doing so, you need to be familiarized with the kind of job you need to face everyday in maintaining a farm.
After you have acquired skills, you may now start searching for your financial resources. You may need to
get a loan to start maize farm. You will be needing equipment and farm tractors, or as a start up you can actually rent machines and equipment.

If you are currently working in a company, you may not need to resign your job, of course as a newbie with this kind of business you need to back up things just in case something may go wrong along the way. But as soon as you see the need for a full time management on your farm and it is on the way to success, you may give up your outside job and focus more on your maize farm.

 

Basic Preparations for Establishment of Maize Farm:

• Preparation of the land: In Nigeria this is mainly done in February to prepare the maize farm land before the months of rainfall which is most preferable for growing maize.
• Sowing: This starts from the month of April
• Cleaning and other tasks
• Harvest
• Post-harvest
• Storage and conservation of seed for the next growing season
• Shelling and selection of the seed-grain
• Marketing

The last bullet is marketing which is the most critical part of the business. If you are a new farmer you need to take time to prepare marketing plan. You may need to learn the “4 Ps” in marketing which includes Product, Pricing, Promotion and Placement.

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As for product, maize is known to be one of the in demand crop in any country so you may not need to worry about it because you are producing maize which is very useful and the demand is high now days.
In pricing, you need to be extra careful on how much you will sell your product, you need to consider everything you have spend including services, maintenance and other expenses you have incurred from the beginning.

Promotion usually starts with the wholesalers and price takers. Given the fact that wholesalers do not have full control of the product and the price, it will make production and distribution important. Wholesalers who are successful in promoting the product are those who add services on their product. And as for placement or distribution, the wholesaler may put up an outlet where identified market and buyers are within the area which will determine if you are successful or not in your maize farm after you have successfully established your maize and distribute it on your market and buyers.