Diversification is a buzzword right now, and if I’m honest, the phrase makes me cringe a bit, it’s so overused. In reality having multiple income streams in farming has been happening for a long time.
Because it’s the best way to create a sustainable income. Having stock and growing crops is diversifying. Things like converting shed space into rental units is another way that farmers have been using their assets to generate income.
With the way things are in agriculture at the moment, it’s more essential than ever for farms to find ways to spread financial risk by having multiple sources of income, but that doesn’t guarantee “easy money.” They still add to the workload.
With this in mind it’s important to choose your projects, whether they are traditional farming activities or not, using skills that you enjoy and will find manageable. I’m a big believer in “Your Farm Your Way.” You don’t have to copy what others are doing if it doesn’t feel right to you.
Working out what this would look like for The Croft led to the creation of the Your Farm Your Way course, which is still available if you are at the planning stage and would like some guided resources to support and potentially speed you along the process.
One of the hardest parts about needing new sources of income, aside from traditional farming is learning to do things that aren’t in our natural skill set. Marketing is a prime example. Farmers are more used to going to market than marketing themselves. We’re used to spending a lot of time working alone outside with our animals, which doesn’t always make us naturals with using tech and talking to lots of people. And let’s not mention the time it takes to do it, and that’s got to be fitted in around all the animal husbandry. But marketing directly to the public is becoming increasingly necessary to maximise our success with these side projects.
Our May guest speaker inside the My Wee Croftie Community is my virtual assistant, Hazel, who specialises in content creation and has been a huge help to me in improving my own marketing activities. She is going to be helping members work out how to “Market from the kitchen table.” Most of our members have some form of additional income running alongside their traditional farm work. That’s the beauty of the community, it’s a great space to bounce off each other and I can’t wait to see where the insights Hazel has and the following discussion takes us.
If you’d like to join this session or have access to the replay, you can join My Wee Croftie for just $11 a month.