Agriculture has seen enormous change in the course of last fifty years. Farmers rarely depend solely on Mother Nature for their crops' survival any more. Technology has provided enormous help to farmers and they can now take systematic and well planned steps to improve the productivity of their farm land and the quality of their output.

Training Programmes
Universities and institutes all over the world are now providing training in various facets of agriculture - and they are not limited to soil analysis; seed testing techniques or making a farmer aware of the various types of plant diseases. Farming is now big business and many of these programmes are now designed to equip a farmer with the necessary expertise and business knowledge covering elements such as marketing the produce and negotiating finance at the best possible rates.

Before a farmer chooses a particular programme, many of these institutes will assist in conducting some form of needs analysis so that strengths and weaknesses can be identified and the appropriate course elements and streams can be identified and selected.

There are various courses on farm business management, accounting, finance, on-farm food safety, sustainable farming practices, value-added processing, farm diversification and human resources management. For those new to the agriculture industry, the breadth and diversity of courses on offer allows the acquisition of skills that may be useful in other industries, should the need arise in the future.

Agricultural education generally consists of both formal teaching in-class and informal and practical training in the form of short courses and workshops.

Financial assistance
There may be some options for financial assistance available for those seeking agricultural training. The current eligibility criteria for both formal and informal training are such that only those seriously considering, or already engaged in, farming will tend to enrol. The basic requirement at the time of writing is that an applicant must be an established farmer with gross farm sales of a minimum of �5000 and a family income of less than �22,000 per year. That said, people who are planning to establish a farm, or are relatively new to farming, may also be eligible for some degree of funding support.

Farming goals
In order to be able to judiciously choose and make full use of any training, a farmer must be very clear about his or her goals. They must decide whether they are taking to farming as a hobby or with the intent of making it their full time occupation. Many farmers aim to own a few animals, grow some fruit and vegetables and achieve a decent rural standard of living. Others, who own smaller plots of land, aim to intensely cultivate the plot and earn a supplementary income. There are of course those who simply want to take advantage of certain tax deferrals by engaging in farming.

Serious Farmers
If we focus our attention on someone whose main source of income and primary livelihood is farming, it is important to understand what crops they can produce. The final output depends almost entirely on the size and quality of the land; the better the soil, the more options that will be available.

Soil type
Soils which are mainly clay have an inherent drainage problem. However this problem can be improved by installing drainage systems. This can be expensive and this additional cost needs to be included in a farmer's budget and financial forecasts.

Sandy soils, on the other hand, can barely retain water and present their own set of problems. Since sandy soils can be watered extensively to balance out the water loss and watering is generally cheaper than installing drainage systems, the overheads may be reduced.

The pH measure of the soil is also crucial; saline or alkaline soils severely limit crop options. There are soil maps available with local authorities in every county which detail the properties of soil in every area. There are also several agencies providing agronomic services at a reasonable cost.

Once the soil has been tested a decision can be made regarding the best crop to grow, bearing in mind the critical acreage for production of certain crops. For example growing grain on less than 200 acres would not generate enough income to sustain a medium-sized family, whereas, garlic grown on just 5 acres may provide enough returns for that same family.

Water
There is a vast amount of information available on the water-use requirements of various crops. In most parts of UK the local water authority controls water supply and distribution based upon past records and present requirements. The quantity of water a farm may draw is determined by its 'water rights' and is a critical factor in determining the most appropriate crop.

Other agricultural services
We have focused on basic agriculture and crops but there are, of course, a wealth of other services in the agricultural industry. These range from plant and equipment supply and maintenance; financial and management services; consultancy; livestock supply, veterinary services, crop and livestock markets, wholesaling and disposal, to name but a few.
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