02 Sep 2015

Agricultural business is profitable because of the large and guaranteed market.Agriculture is a high risk undetaking, but could attain good proceeds when well managed. 

Tara Farm’s journey as a business spans only two years, but had proven this to be true. The farm has experienced the good and the ugly of the agriculture business especially the horticulture.

 Situated along the Metsimotlhabe river bank, Tara Farm is an epitome of successful agriculture business. 

The farm focuses in integrated agriculture that deals in horticulture and small stock farming. The farm produces cabbage, tomatoes, spring onion, rape, beetroot and green pepper. According to Mr Jameson Chihwai, the farm manager, horticulture business has potential.

“The business is very profitable the only problem now is that the profit we make goes back to expanding the farm,” explained Chihwai. 

The farm has 13 employees but can boost up to 20 employees during the harvest season. Furthermore, the farm supplies Woolworths and the Horticulture market with their produce.  Besides clearing land to make room for more planting areas the farm also opened a shop that allows them to sell their produce conveniently to all their various customers.

Unlike other businesses that determine the price of their products looking at production costs, horticulture prices fluctuate according to demand and supply.

 “Sometimes we encounter the problem of market flooding whereby there are many farmers selling the same horticultural produce and this result in failure to sell our produce and make profit,” Chihwai lamented.

He added that being close to the river is also disadvantageous as the soil is shallow and mostly clay which is not suitable for horticulture. Moreover there is the problem of occasional floods during heavy rains that affect production at the farm; otherwise Metsimotlhabe River is just a friendly neighbor to Tara Farm.

Chihwai urged farmers to be involved in agricultural shows and associations to help them grow and gain new knowledge on their respective areas of agriculture business. He noted that associations were a great way to share and explore new ideas. 

He highlighted that more could be done through associations to address cases such as market flooding that ultimately leads to vegetables getting spoiled before being sold. 

The farms management intends to start a training center to help other farmers. Chihwai explained that people were interested in agriculture and are able to receive the necessary funds but what they lack is the proper guidance and knowledge to run their businesses. 

Tara farm has the relevant resources and skilled personnel and it is hoping to share what they already know with other farmers. Ends