HOW TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL FARMER:

1. PATIENCE:

As a farmer you have to learn how to be patient because raising crops or life stock takes time. 

Plus, it might not always turn out the way you expect. Farming comes with lots of unexpected circumstances, like pest infestations and disease outbreaks, market glut. Slow or unexpected results shouldn't frustrate a farmer set on being successful. Instead, take it in stride and plan for how to get it right next time.

2. DEVELOP A STUDENT MENTALITY:

Approach the industry with a student mentality. You have to be willing and able to adapt to new technology, environments, and methods.

Curiosity comes hand in hand with a student mentality, and as a farmer you need lots of it to find success.

3. KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:
Knowledge and skills pair nicely together. In addition to learning new things, you need to be knowledgeable in every aspect of your farm. 

This includes close familiarity with every crop, finding out what works best for the farm, and how it operates!

4. BE A PROBLEM SOLVER

As a farmer you need to be a problem solver. A successful farmer knows how to deal with issues on all fronts of the business. 

You need to be able to identify and solve problems in order of significance.

5. BE ORGANIZED:

As a business owner you have to keep track of a lot of factors, to keep your business running. 

To become successful you have to be organized, staying on top of your daily tasks, and remember a lot of farming is driven by time, product, and labour management.

6. BE GOOD WITH NUMBERS:

When it comes to facts and figures, the farmer has to know what to do with them. Numbers play a bigger role in farming and most farmers don't know.

As a farmer you need to have financial skills, in order to track inventory, budget, and analyse profits, among others. Being bad with numbers can lead to miscalculations when it comes to plant growth.

7. BE A GOOD SALES MAN/WOMAN.

To get where you want to be your business needs to make sales. In order to keep your farm afloat, you have to make a profit. Doing so requires customers. You need to be able to communicate effectively in order to network, market, and sell produce.

Farm smarter with #OptimistFarmer