There are many benefits to implementing a farm inventory management system. From providing farmers with operational transparency and control, to assisting farmers in planning and making reasonable estimates for the upcoming year.
According to Dumsani Nduli, director at Sizalo Bonsmara, effective farm inventory management may not appear to be a huge deal, but it is one of the most important activities of a growing small farming business.
Keeping track of inventory on a farm is connected to different parts of farming like planning activities, recording things, tracing all production, and budgeting for different seasons.
“The farm inventory system is everything that may be of value on the farm or adds value to the system. It is like keeping track and maintaining all the stock and assets in the form of software or application,” he explains.
Successfully monitoring business inventories not only aids in improved decision-making but also supports digitised farming with a comprehensive farm management platform, he adds.
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Benefits of a farming inventory system
Good farm record-keeping helps with planning and forecasting, and helps you to know which strategies work well. By looking at past data of what you bought and sold, farmers can better predict changes in prices for things they use and produce.
For example, if a farmer keeps track of the germination rates of the seeds they buy, they will be in a better position to choose seeds for the seasons.
Similarly, keeping good records about cattle helps farmers make smart choices about breeding, keeping the animals healthy, feeding them well, and running the farm more efficiently.
It also helps with cost management. By keeping accurate records, farmers can easily tell how much money they spent or earned on the farm. This makes it easier to plan and budget at any time.
There is also the benefit of regulatory compliance. Lenders, governmental organisations, insurance firms, and others usually want detailed and up-to-date records of the farm’s income and expenses before giving loans to farmers.
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Tips for inventory management
One big challenge in managing a farm’s supplies is making sure you have enough of everything you need. It’s crucial to keep track accurately because if you have too much or too little, it can cost your farm extra money. This is why Nduli recommends an automated inventory management system.
“An automated inventory management system is required to maintain appropriate stock levels that do not burden your agribusiness with excessive costs. By analysing out-of-stock patterns, you may compute the minimum number of farm inputs, herbicides, fertilisers, and so on that should always be in stock in your inventory,” he explains.
Nduli further mentions that spreadsheets are great for keeping inventory data, but they can’t track the arrivals and departures of your merchandise in real time. As a result, following each sale or buy, the inventory must be manually updated. This is not just a waste of your time, but it is also inefficient.
“The amount of time, money, and effort required to handle your items is considerably reduced when inventory management activities are automated. A farm inventory system simplifies the process of updating and synchronizing inventory with sales in real-time,” he explains.
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Enabling effective operations
According to Nduli, once a farmer decides to expand his operations, inventory management can become challenging. In essence, keep all records in one space to keep up to date with the inventory system.
“A farm inventory system with a sophisticated multi-location inventory management system gives you better visibility into inventory counts across several sites and helps you manage your operations more effectively. By using the public list of to-expire and expired products, agribusinesses, particularly contract farming organizations, can ensure that inputs and natural resources are used as efficiently as possible,” he explains.
Ultimately, using a cutting-edge and well-known farm management platform is beneficial to farmers. It provides immediate visibility into the status of every product in stock. This gives you peace of mind and freedom to focus on other pressing things.
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