If you thought that farming was just about dipping some seeds into the ground, going in to sleep, and coming back a few months later to harvest what you have sown, you might want to think again- because there’s so much more to farming than a lot of people are obliged to believe. 

The Eight Key Stages in the Farming Process 

1. Selecting your crop: Even before you pick and prepare your land as a farmer, you need to know what crops you want to plant and why. You can’t just decide on what to plant without much thought otherwise you’re getting yourself into a lot of trouble.

There are several things to consider: 

• What’s your budget, and how much would planting that crop cost you?
• What’s the climate like? What crops are within your budget would most likely grow well in that atmosphere?
• From a historical point of view, is there a ready demand for that crop?

All these thoughts and more go into selecting the crop you want to plant. So, after selection, what next?

2. Land Preparation: Whatever crop you have chosen, you need to bring the land to utmost fertility in readiness for it. This will go a long way to determine your yield at the end of the day.
3. Selecting your seed: You can choose the right crop and have the perfect land to grow them, but if you don’t select the right seeds to grow in them, your efforts will be only as good as water poured into a basket. You need to select the perfect seeds for the occasion. 

You might want to ask yourself some of these vital questions when picking your seed:

• What is their resistance to diseases?
• What is their water requirement?
• What is the average yield to sown rate?

Only after you have selected the right seeds can you be confident to move on to the next and most popular stage of the process.

4. Sowing: The other stages are important, but this might as well be the most important and delicate part of the process. 

You can nail all the other steps on the head and still get it wrong here. Hence, for the best possible yields, it’s important to understand many features and factors of the plant, seeds and land you’re working with. 

Another important step often overlooked is the products that are being used in the process of growing your crops. It’s crucial to get soil tests often to keep the quality of your soil type high but is also equally important to use effective crop yielding products. Investing in products like the range from Soilcharge, that include certified organic and biological liquid and granules can assist in the making of healthy active soil.

For more information on their products and ensuring the soil you use is balanced and in the best shape possible, you can visit their website for more information at https://soilcharge.com.au/. 

A great seed planted at the most optimal period on the right land with the perfect soil type would translate into a great harvest in the right season. Or would it? Well, yes! If the next four stages of the processes are properly tended to as well.

5. Irrigation: Besides sunlight, water is one of the most important elements of any crop growth. Hence, after planting, you also need to determine just when you’re going to water it and at what frequency it will be.
6. Fertilization: Adding the right amount of manure and fertilizers can go a long way in boosting your crops’ yield to sow ratio. Therefore, you must map out the quantity, the frequency, and the method of fertilization you intend to apply.
7. Weeding: Crops in the latter stages of their growth are prone to attacks from pests and viruses. A good farmer learns to prepare himself for these things. He does this by occasionally applying pesticides that help keep foreign bodies at bay.
8. Harvesting: Nature sometimes holds weird surprises that even after planting and following all the necessary stages of planting and growing a crop, yields might still be unusually small. Disappointments are part of the process- and so are the possibilities of massive abundance.

Whatever the case may be, keeping to these processes and incorporating some of the products mentioned are necessary for the farming of successful crops and will sure tilt the odds of success in the favour of any farmer.