Running a successful farm is no easy task; it requires a great deal of knowledge, experience and hard work. If you're new to this business and want to run your farm in a safe, sustainable and productive manner, here are two practices which you should consider implementing.  

Have your farm's water tested 

Agricultural practices are hugely dependent on water; it's used on a daily basis for irrigating crops and pastures and for livestock watering. As such, it is extremely important that farmers take steps to ensure that their water is free from harmful chemicals and bacteria that could compromise the health of their animals and the edibility of their crops.

When water containing pathogenic microorganisms is used to irrigate crops, the resulting produce may be deemed unsafe for consumption. This could have serious implications, particularly for a small farmer who may not be able to financially recover from such an incident. On livestock farms, low-quality water which contains certain types of bacteria can endanger the health of animals and in the case of dairy cows, negatively impact their milk yield rates. This can have significant financial ramifications for the owner of the farm.

This is why it is so important to have your water professionally tested. A water testing lab will be able to provide you with an in-depth analysis of the mineral, nutrient, chemical, bacterial and viral (both pathogenic and non-pathogenic) content of the water on your land. Testing facilities of this kind can also inform you of how acidic or alkaline the water is. Armed with this knowledge, you can then take steps to improve the quality of our water, if necessary.  

Rotate your farm's crops

Crop rotation is a farming practice that dates back many centuries; this in and of itself, speaks volumes about the effectiveness of this method. As its name suggests, crop rotation involves changing the type of crop grown in a particular field every year. In order for this practice to yield any benefit, the new crop must not be from the same family as the old one; so you would not for example, grow aubergines in a field one year, and potatoes in the same field the following year, because both of these are part of the Solanceous plant family.

There are a whole host of benefits to crop rotation. Firstly, different crops require different nutrients from the soil, and so by changing the type of crops grown in a field from one year to the next, the soil never ends being severely depleted of any one specific nutrient, and therefore remains nutrient-rich and fertile. This in turn can improve crop yields.

Secondly, rotating your farm's crops can reduce the presence of pests, as different types prefer different crops. This means that if you've been experiencing a pest infestation in one crop field, this problem will likely clear up when the time comes to rotate, without the need for excessive use of costly pesticides.