How to Starting a Potato Farming Business

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

How to Starting a Potato Farming Business

You may have a land waiting to be tilled and you are wondering what kind of crop to grow. Growing potatoes can be the answer you are looking for. This article will guide you what you need to know to start your own potato farm.

Potatoes are one of the most popular and versatile vegetables today. They are great for baking, frying, roasting, mashing and for salads.

In the US, Idaho is the largest producer of potatoes, contributing to one-third of the country’s total potato harvest.

There are more than 400 varieties of potatoes that you can choose from. In starting your own potato farm, you need to decide which variety you want to grow. Best way to find out the best variety for you is to conduct a research among potato farmers in your area. Ask them what works well in their soil and what they like to grow. Remember that different varieties grow better in a specific area than others.

You may also want to research what varieties are best for what purpose like boiling, baking or roasting. It will help if you know where you will market your produce after harvest. Example, if you intend to supply French fries vendors, it is best to choose among King Edward, Maris Piper and Sante.

The two main types of potatoes are waxy and floury. Waxy potatoes do great for salads or any dish where you want to keep their shape once cooked. Examples are Charlotte and Maris Peer. Floury potatoes, on the other hand, works better for if you want fluffy potato dishes like mashed potatoes. The popular varieties are King Edward, Estima, Maris Piper and Desiree.

There are also three types of potatoes depending on the length of time it will take you from planting and harvesting your crop. These are first earlies, which are usually ready in about 10 weeks, second earlies in about 13 weeks and maincrop in more than 20 weeks.

Potatoes are grown from small potato tubers called seed potatoes. Farming practices include setting aside around five to fifteen percent from their potato harvest for re-planting. However, one can buy certified seed potatoes from commercial suppliers.

To establish your potato farm, you need a well-drained land. The process it takes to grow potatoes includes clearing and preparing the land, purchasing of seeds and planting them, application of fertilizers, herbicide and insecticides, and harvesting.

Guide to Growing Potatoes

Potatoes prefer a moist, slightly acidic soil. They are greedy feeders though, which means you have to put a good amount of manure or compost in your farm to help feed them and improve soil texture. You can use some comfrey leaves to fertilize your soil. You can wilt them for a day and place them at the bottom of the trench and cover them with a little layer of soil.

Another factor that contributes to successful potato farming is the effective management of diseases and insect infestations using chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. Potato growers apply pesticides after planting to prevent pests like late blight and potato beetle. Blight is a fungus appearing in high humidity conditions that spreads over potato leaves causing it to die. Large-scale potato farmers apply pesticides through sprinkler irrigation systems or aerial spraying while taking careful steps not to contaminate groundwater.

Potatoes love lots of water and needs a full sun that is why potato farmers also need to determine the amount of moisture in the soil as well as monitor and maintain moisture levels. The traditional test they use to know if they need to irrigate their crops is to throw a clump of soil up into the air to see if it breaks apart or not. Irrigation systems are used to control soil moisture and temperature more accurately. The irrigation system is often used on soil that is medium to light textured.

You will know that your potatoes are ready for harvesting when the potato plants begin to brown and wither after a few weeks of flowering. Take note that you must dig them before a hard freeze. If you are storing the potatoes, dig them up after two to three weeks from the day the plant dies. Lay them out for two to three days under the sun but not rain. This way, the potatoes will dry out and mature the skin, and protecting them during storage.

Q. What you use for seedlings in potato farming?
A: Potatoes usually grow from the extra pieces cut from seed potatoes, this is called eyes of potato.

Q. What is the soil requirement for potato farming?
A: Normally the soil required for potato farming is loose, deep, light and well-drained. Potato trees are aggressive in rooting so light and loose soil is a huge advantage. These plants are grown through hilling process. You should add more compost at the time of digging.

Q. What is the best time for potato harvesting?
A: The best time to harvest potatoes is early summer to late fall but mid November to December is the best time to prepare soil.

Q. What are the common threats for potato plants?
A: Insect, pests and potato late blight are main concern for potato plants.

References

How to Starting a Potato Farming Business

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Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

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Tuesday, November 5, 2013