Farming is for the committed and dedicated individuals. It is a full time job and not a side-hustle. It is not easy to get it right.

Farming is hard work, and it is difficult to do it right. 

I am doing this article to help aspiring farmers understand that agriculture is not for the interested, but for the passionately committed individuals. Farming is not easy; it is hard work, and it is not a business that can get you rich quickly.

There is is a group of people online who are over-romanticizing farming, making it look too sexy, which is a good impression but it would be more prudent to tell the whole story.

I grew up on the farm and I learned at a young age that working from the sunrise until sunset and beyond is the normal lifestyle of farmers. I salute farmers for the hard work they do.

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 Whether your farm is mechanized or not, there are days when your body will be physically exhausted, but you will have to ignore it because there are animals to feed on the farm, crops to harvest, fences to repair, milk to deliver ect. There are times when something will just pop up even when you think that everything is OK. For example, some animals will give birth in the middle of a chilly night and you must be there to attend to them. There is a lot of physical work involved in growing crops or taking care of livestock. Yo have to be there full-time,  a farmer cannot leave animals or crops without care, they must get back home early everyday and miss the late-night parties etc. This is not an easy life for a less devoted person.

Whether your farm is mechanized or not, there are days when your body will be physically exhausted...

No matter how careful a farmer is in planning, budgeting, crop care, livestock management, market forecasting etc, there are some uncertainties for which no human being can properly prepare for. For instance, bad weather, infectious diseases outbreak, blights etc, are some of the risks that arise for all farmers from time to time. Drought or floods can ruin an entire year of harvest, no matter how much work the farmer has put in.

The difficulty of farming starts with the fact that many farmers (especially beginners) are not specialists in any agricultural field. For example, keeping a dozen animals and growing a few crop species requires a broader base of knowledge and responsibilities than any other average job position that you can find in the market. Such a farmer is called to be a veterinarian, animal dietitian, marketing specialist, plant scientist, mechanic, accountant, plumber, machine operator, electrician, communication specialist etc.

...keeping a dozen animals and growing a few crop species requires a broader base of knowledge and responsibilities than any other average job position that you can find in the market.

Farmers may rely on experts to perform the above tasks; however, this may come at a very huge cost which necessitates most farmers to learn how to perform these tasks themselves and cut the costs.   

Having said that, I hope you have a bigger picture now of what farming entails. It is very difficult to get farming right, it requires constant learning, experience, and risk-taking.

You will give it 150% of your day, no holidays, and no paid vacation. However, there is great satisfaction in raising animals and growing crops especially when you know that the world depends on you to eat! Farming is the world's most important career!!

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