Hello there, its me here again. If you have been following our agriculture page on this blog, we already posted the VOL 1 of this particular article, where we discussed about five agricultural businesses that you never knew can make you become rich!! In this volume, we shall discuss the remaining five businesses that you never knew could be profitable in agriculture.
Below are the remaining five;
- MEDICINAL MARIJUANA : depending on where you live, growing medicinal marijuana can be an extremely profitable crop. At present 32 of the 50 U.S states legalized marijuana for medicinal use. Most states in the U.S now allows their patient to plant the seeds themselves or to give them to a third party grower to grow and maintain their plants for them. By growing on behalf of many different customers, you can grow hundreds of plants. Many patients would rather pay more for high quality organic plants rather than simply buy their medicine at a dispensary store where they do not know much about how it was grown. Growing legal marijuana can net hundred of dollars, making it the most lucrative cash crop in the world. With more and more U.S states legalizing the plant, even for recreational use and Canada legalizing marijuana federally in late 2018 expects other governments to follow suit in the coming years. What was once a very controversial plant has now become more accessible to the populace. The global medical cannabis market is expected to pass 55billion dollars by 2025. so if you are a small farmer looking to get ahead of the curve, now might be the perfect time to be a part of this growing industry. Of course we will never encourage you to break the law all in the name of profit, so if you are interested in growing medicinal marijuana be sure to check your local laws and ensure 100% compliance.
- SAFFRON PLANTING : saffron might be the most expensive legal crop in the world, selling for about $2500 per bound its certainly the most expensive crop. Its hard to describe what saffron tastes like, but most people describe it as the floral honey flavour. Why does it cost so much, saffron is made out of the stigma of the part of the flower that germinates from pollen grain falling from the crocus plant . it take about 75,00 worth of flowers to produce 1 bound of dry saffron, but to grow that many crocus flowers just takes just a quarter acre of land, so you get an idea of how lucrative this crop could be to grow. Saffron grows best in California or regions with mild winters. Planting them in polythene or green houses can make them a viable crop in other regions though, the saffron plant cannot be easily grown from seeds, to grow it you need to plant the fleshy tuber roots of the plant. Other than that crocuses are not a hard crops to grow. Over the years crocus plants divide, meaning that you can separate them and replant to increase your own farm size or sell your surplus to other farmers. The hard part of growing saffron is the harvesting process which is ridiculously labour intensive, you need to delicately pick the flowers as the loom and then pull out the three blossom flowers. Remember that it takes only 150 blossom flowers to make a single gram of dried saffron. The labour cost is the main reason why saffron is typically grown in Iran and other regions with lower wages instead of in north America despite the crops selling high price.
- LAVENDER FARMING : Lavender is an extremely versatile crop, its flowers can be sold fresh or dried. Dried lavender can also be made into floral arrangements or sold directly to crafters or craft supply shops, of course it is also used to make lavender oil which is a common ingredient in physiotherapy product or skin care products like soaps or lotions and also used in herbal products. You may also have the pleasure of trying a lavender ice-cream which add a wonderful floral flavour to it. Selling dry bouquets of lavender flower is the easiest way to go, which requires a minimal investment into equipment, labour or time. One acre of lavender farm can produce about 12,000 bouquets each year which will sell for $10 or more each, just tie the flowers stem together and hang them in a well ventilated area for at least a week and it is ready for market. Lavender plants require well drained soil but can also grow in a wide variety of different climates, fertilizers and irrigation are not usually needed. Lavender are usually propagated in a green house by cuttings, but the plants will not flower until their second year but they will continue to grow back and flower for 10 years or more after that, they are fast growing and very resistant plants.
- POULTRY FARMING : Maybe you are more of a live stock farmer and all these talk about profitable plants you can grow is not really applicable for you. Luckily they are profitable animals you can rear too and the best choice is producing broiler chickens. Raising broilers are more quickly profitable than raising laying eggs chicken which is commonly what small scale farmers choose. Laying hens take 9months to start producing, whereas broiler chickens are specially bred to reach their targets just within 6-9weeks . the sell able size for these birds is usually around 4pounds and they can sell for $3 to $6 per pound depending on how they are sold in your area. They take up very little space and can be raised on ground to further increase their price per pound, that means you can scale up your chicken business quite quickly by re-investing some of your profits after you harvest every 2 or 3 months. To get started you will want to get a day old chicks or incubate your own. They need to be brooded in a dry and warm place for a few weeks before they are ready to go outside, you will want to contact your local purchasers early as soon as you get your chicks or even earlier, they are often booked for several months in advance. You can also opt to dispatch the birds yourself if you need local food and hygiene regulations. Pasture raised chicken also offer a wider ecological benefits to your land by fertilizing the soil they are reared on so can be incorporated well into a mixed farming system with crop rotations.
- FLOWER FARMING (TULIP) : You may have heard of “De Bol Gewooge” in 1637, where a single tulip ball was worth more than what what an average man earned in a year. While ours today is not anywhere near that profitable, it can still be agreed to have value in the world. The options for what type of flowers you can grow are almost limitless, you can grow a wide range of sun flowers, hibiscus flowers and more. Growing flowers is one of our favourite profitable hubby farm ideas, because it is easy for anyone to get started. All you need is a few dollars for seeds and some basic supplies, flowers are some of the most profitable plants to grow and you start producing an income in your first year. A grower who knows what he his doing, can produce over 100 thousands worth of dollars of flowers in a single small green house in one season. Growing flowers outdoors, you should be able to grow over $150,000 worth of flowers per acre and selling in bulks to wholesalers. Of course you will need to do some market research’s to see what kind of flowers are in demand in your area, but many small farmers find plenty buyers at farmers market held on a weekend in most cities, there are plenty of other places to sell your flower crops as well including grocery stores and even upscale restaurants and hotels, some profitable flowers to consider include snapdragons, sun flowers e.t.c.
This is is the end of this beneficial article, if you find this article interesting and helpful, write your positive comments in the comment section, and you can also stay updated on our blog to get more informative articles. Have a good day and see you soon.
