“How to Start Maize Farming”
Comment Page 1

Hello to all. I have read the different questions and would like to give some tips:

1) Information regarding how much labour charge would cost for the people working in your farm, should be researched locally as labour and sales price of crops varies from one city/country to another depending on the standard of living. For example, the price farmers would charge in Ghana for one month might/could be different from the the price they would charge in Congo. I suggest if you would like to go into farming as a full time job, you should research these properly, be fore you start.

Also, for a new farmer with very little or no experience, it is advisable to do your assignments/research properly, be ready to get your hands dirty, start with a small portion of land to try out your farming adventure, see what the out come is, if you are happy with the results and you think farming is for you, then go ahead. Labour charge would depend on many factors but not limited to: Where the farm is located, would you provide accommodation? Would you give them a piece of land to farm on? Would you hire part-timers or fully employed staff? Would you prepay, postpay, pay as you go, profit sharing, salary or and bonus depending on the yield? Would you hire from the city or in the villages, contract work per season? Retirement benefits etc...Once you decided on which scheme/basis you would like to hire, depending on which method you choose depending on what your goals are, you will have an idea.

2) Try to be realistic as much as possible. Do not get caught in the "Farmers make easy money or Farming is easy," because you will face lots of challenges.

3) On this site I also notice most people have lots of acres of land. Good, now, no one can decide for you how many acres of land you should start with. That is why, I said "be realistic." Where the land is located is very important. Is it near a river, lake, no water, dense forest, dessert, near the road? How do you get there? Where is the local market from where you are? Is it easy to transport what ever you grow? What is the weather like in your area? Rainy, sunny? Do you need to irrigate? If, yes, what equipments would you need? Is it a forest? What equipments and labour would you need to fell down the trees, prepare the land ready for farming, are these equipments available for hire/rent, or do you prefer to buy, if yes, how much?

By the time you put these bits together, you will have an idea of the budget you need to start and get the farm up and running.
How much is Maize in the local market now? Maize traders would be able to tell you the average price for most of the year.
Regarding some of the questions on this board regarding pesticides, please go to the nearest government local farming authorities or some experience farmers in the area, they will be able to give advice.
Generally, in Africa it is not easy to get funding, although it is not impossible neither. Once you start and you are consitent, the local authorities would come or you could go to them and present your project. Someone was asking about tractors, nowadays, for a beginner it is high risk and unlikely for any bank, company, co-op, investor to give you a tractor. As they do not know what the out come will be.
It is possible to start big in farming...You have to have the capital. Or, you start small. be consistence, learn about the trade and with time someone or a company may invest in your project as they can see what you have already done.
If you intend to go into farming, start today, do not waist ??? years of your time in the name of research, get to work and get familiar with reality of being a farmer.
Would you send a tractor and your $ to someone anywhere in the world because they say they have got X-amount of acres of land?
Land is worth nothing, until you make use of it. Maise is harvested every three months. If you have a well setup and running farm, you can plant and harvest Maize 3 times a year.
One of the question coming up on this site is how to conserve maize and sell when the market price is better? Depending on the scale of your farm and the number of staff you have available, you can build a large suspended traditional shed, using local materials like Bamboo, wood sticks, ropes, which can be found in your farm or nearby area, surround the shed with a thin net wooden stick support to keep animals and birds away. Have someone to set fire permanently and keep and eye on the maize, it is an inexpensive way of doing it.
Hope this helps. Elisabeth

United States. I see that many of you are interested in starting up small farms of maize or other crops. One very important consideration is the use of a proper seeder so that your maize seeds are spaced at the correct distance and planted at the correct depth. We offer a small hand-pushed seeder that will accurately plant maize and other seeds. If you have a tractor, we have one and two row planters that can be used for larger farms. In most cases, the planters can be used for a number of different crops (maize, beans, peas, sorghum, peanuts, cotton) by simply changing seed plates.