Problems and Functions of Farm Manager

Back to: AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE JSS 1

 

Welcome to class!

In today’s class, we will be talking about the Problems and Functions of Farm Manager. Enjoy the class!

FUNCTIONS AND PROBLEMS OF A FARM MANAGER

A farm manager is a person who takes care of the activities on the farm, been it crop farm or animal farm. They also help in the day to day activities of the farmland, it is their responsibility to ensure that the farm runs efficiently and profitably. They can also be called Agricultural manager.

Not everybody can become a farm manager, they must have a certain qualification to be able to carry out the work perfectly.

FUNCTIONS OF FARM MANAGER

There are various functions that the farm manager is responsible for, few are listed below.

1. Planning.
2. Making policy decisions.
3. Budgeting and maintaining financial records.
4. Recruiting, training of farmworkers.
5. Organizing and maintaining/repair of farm properties, equipment and machinery.
6. Advertising and marketing of farm products.
7. Keeping an up to date knowledge of pests and diseases.
8. Budgeting and maintaining accurate financial records.

So now, let us pick a few of the listed above and do-little explanation on them, for us to grab it more.

• Recruiting, training of farmworkers:

This is one of the works of the farm manager, they recruit or employ people to come work on the farm and the train them well in all aspects that are required in managing the farm daily.

• Advertising and marketing of farm products:

It is another work of the farm manager, they advertise what they have produced and market them to the people in need. Advertising and marketing can not be done in a spot, the farm manager most move around to market because that is how marketing is done.

• Budgeting and maintaining financial records:

They also do what is called budgeting that is, they make plans for the business before going into it, doing that makes them know how much it will cost and the profit that will be made. Maintaining financial records is also very important because mistakes must not be made in the process of farming.

• Keeping an up to date knowledge of pests and diseases:

The farm manager must also be well aware of the pests and disease of the farm and must know the appropriate pesticides and herbicides to be used on time be any damage is done to the animals or farm crops.

PROBLEMS OF FARM MANAGER

The farm manager as a person faces many problems or difficulties, all of these problems fall under one of these four categories.

1. What to produce
2. How to produce
3. How much to produce
4. When to produce

• What to Produce:

The problem involves selecting the combination of crops and livestock to be produced. Agri-business produce only crops, only livestock or the combination? Which crop or crop rotation? Which livestock? The management selects from among the many alternative combinations, which will maximize profit, or best meet some other goals.

• How to Produce:

Many agricultural products can be produced in several ways. Beef can be produced with a high-grain ration or a high-roughage ration. Crops can be produced with large machinery and little labour or smaller machinery and more labour. A manager must select the appropriate combination of

inputs, which will minimize the cost of producing a given quantity of some commodity.

• How Much to Produce:

Production is determined primarily by the number and levels of inputs used. A manager is faced with various problems such as how much fertilizer and irrigation water to use, seed application rates, feeding levels, labour and machinery use, and determination of rates and levels for other inputs. The input levels selected will determine the level of production and profit.

• When to produce:

This is a relevant question because the production and marketing of agricultural output have very much to do with periods, which inform certain management decisions. The farm manager should know when the consumers need a certain product to produce them for the people to pay.

 

In our next class, we will be talking about Simple Farm Tools. We hope you enjoyed the class.

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