Running a farm is no easy feat, and life’s many unpredictable twists and turns can have a dramatic impact on everything from your running costs to how much profit you make this year.

It’s not easy running a farm, especially in the early days. But after you’ve become settled, you might begin to look out at all those vacant acres you’ve got around you, and begin to wonder whether it’s a good idea to expand your operations. While having money behind you to do this is important, it’s not the only factor that you should be thinking about. Below, we take a look at five considerations to think through carefully before making too many plans.

Raising pigs isn’t often a vocation that most people think of when they’re in school, but it’s a wonderful move that could see your farmland being worked over in a way that machines just cannot do. Rescuing and raising healthy pigs may not be something that you’re used to, but it’s something that is going to keep the farm that you run going. Pigs, intelligent and charming creatures that they are, have the ability to prevent you from ever having any food waste. Being able to raise and sell pigs can keep your farm in business and keep the pigs well-fed.

If you’re going to put the time and money into cultivating tree crops, you want to seek out varieties that will give you the biggest yield and most profit possible. You also should look at niche crops, as the return on investment (ROI) for produce with less availability is high.

If you’re running an establishment or something similar, then you’re going to need to make sure you’re running a tight ship. One thing all seem to complain about is the equipment and how it isn’t right for them. Equipment can slow any type of business down, no matter what it is. But when we’re talking about agriculture, things can get a lot more complicated. Livelihood of the stock is involved, and if you ship to local stores, then the produce they’re relying on can be affected. That’s really going to be the last thing you want, especially when there’s a chain reaction of events that’s going to take place if part of the equipment breaks. So, you need to be asking yourself if the equipment you have is right for you, and if it isn’t, here’s a few things that you can do to put yourself on the right track.

There’s nothing worse than running a successful farm by yourself. Most people on the outside hear the word farm and think of the man with the hat and the wheat between his teeth. They don’t realise that it’s early starts, long days and an awful lot of management going on behind the scenes. It’s up to you to assess the needs of your farm, and when you become more successful in your venture; whether that’s selling the products of your animals, selling your crops or having a fun farm open for children and families, you may need more help than you’d planned for.

It’s not something any of us enjoy thinking about or planning for, but sometimes even our most reliable equipment breaks down.

When it does, you have the choice to repair or replace that piece of equipment. Even if you think you have a solid understanding of the financial realities involved, the full picture might be a little more complicated than you expect. Here’s what to keep in mind next time you’re facing this dilemma.

There's a strange attitude that a lot of people hold when it comes to interior design that, in order to be stylish, a home has to be ultra modern and sleek. Now, that might work for certain homes but the truth is that if you live in somewhere like a farmhouse or any other more rustic style of home, that kind of design simply isn't going to work. But does that mean that you're never going to be able to have a stylish home if you live somewhere like that? Of course not! The truth is that any home can become incredibly stylish if you're willing to put the effort into it. You've just got to keep in mind a few simple tricks. With that in mind, here are some ways to make sure that your rustic home is a stylish one as well.

As the weather starts to get warmer, you’re going to get much busier with farm work. There will be plenty of things to plan for and get started. It’s easy to get lost in the business of making a successful farm, which can be both good and bad. It’s great to have a passion you can throw yourself into, but the heavy workload can also cause issues to arise.

If you are new to farming you might be overwhelmed by the amount of work you have lined up before the harvest season. They say that a farmer’s work is never done, and this is right. The key is knowing when you need to be ready with one phase, so everything goes smoothly. To get a good harvest, you will have to look after everything around the farm that will be needed. Below you will find a few tasks you should prioritize.

Agriculture is increasingly becoming dominated by big players. According to USA Today, the amount of 2000+ acre farms have doubled since 2007, displaying starkly what small to medium size farms are up against in the current agricultural business climate. Family farms are being pushed to put their lot in with national-level producers, or fail.

If you ask most farmers what their biggest problem is when it comes to farming, it will more than likely be the pests that continually try and snack on all of their crops. There are lots of bugs and insects that will feed on the likes of wheat and maize which can often result in a reduction of a crop’s yield. Because of this, farmers have a lot less to sell and they struggle to make a profit. In some cases, these hungry little pests can cause some hard-working farmers to go out of business.

We often think about farming as an industry that is trapped in the past. When you think of a farm, you might imagine a team working tirelessly on the land farming livestock or crops. But farming isn’t like this at all anymore. These days, farming is far more technologically advanced than most people think. Here are a few of the different types of technology that you will find being used on a typical farm today.