Are your chickens healthy?
If you know what to look for, you can treat sick chickens, prevent diseases from spreading in your flock and select healthy chickens when buying new ones.
Dehorning beef cattle
Dehorned cattle are easier to work with, house and transport. The chance of bad bruising is lessened, as is the danger of injury to udders, flanks and eyes, as well...
How to use water wisely
Maintain a healthy kitchen garden by irrigating at the right time and giving plants the right amount of water, says Bill Kerr.
Preventing disease in goats and sheep
Preventing disease requires good management and a programme for vaccination, deworming and dipping, explains Peter Mashala.
Green peppers: how to grow them
Green peppers like plenty of sunlight and moist, warm soil. If using seed, plant under a shelter about eight weeks before you anticipate the last frost in your area, then...
How to grow sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes are easy to plant, need little looking after and deliver high yields. They are usually grown in sandy soil, which makes them easier to dig up. But they...
Beef cattle breeding – all year, or in a season?
Breeding in a beef herd can take place all year, or in a short breeding season. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Use the best one for your needs.
Plan your harvest
When planting a crop on a continuous basis, the tendency is to plant the same quantity regularly. This seems logical, but it's not the best way to proceed, as yields...
Growing onions
Onions are one of the first crops of spring. They are very versatile and can be stored during winter. They are frost resistant and grow in most climates.
Basic goat management and feeding
Proper management of goats is very important because they can cover a large area in a day searching for food. They are also intelligent and can get through fences and...
How to grow and harvest carrots
Carrots grow well and develop long straight roots when planted in loose, deep, rock-free, sandy loam soil.
Small-scale egg production
To provide eggs for your family, start off small by keeping about 12 layer hens, and then start your own small business. You can grow as your resources grow and...
Cane growers: get help keeping your books up to date
There are many complicated financial topics that concern all farmers, from pay as you earn (PAYE), value added tax (VAT), provisional taxes, income tax, management accounts and financial statements.
Farming with pigs on a small scale
Farming with pigs on a small scale can be economically viable, but invest in proper infrastructure and good feed from the start. It's not easy to farm with pigs, but...
Advice about borrowing money
With farming profitability under pressure, it often happens that a farmer works all year to produce a crop to sell, but at the end of the season does not have...
Growing your own seedlings
If you don't want to buy seedlings from a commercial nursery, you can grow your own. If they are successful, you could maybe even sell them.
How to transplant seedlings
Last week we discussed planting seed directly into the ground. While this works for some plants, for most it's better if the seed is first planted in seedling trays or...
Planting seeds – part 1
Now that you are done with preparing your beds and ready to plant, you have to decide how you want to go about planting your seeds.
Buying a good ram
Fertile, good-quality sheep are key to better production, healthy lambs and high-quality meat. Since one ram mates with up to 40 ewes in a season, and its genetics make up...
