What Makes For a Successful Tomato Farmer

I posed this question to BJ. BJ is not his real name. But that is the name he goes with.

BJ, after his lorry.

BJ has been farming tomatoes for at least 10 years. He averages 8-10 acres of tomatoes at any given time.

Therefore, BJ’s opinion on what makes a great tomato farmer is worth writing.

1.   Be present, or go home

There is no place for remote work at the farm. Be present or go home.

There are many benefits to being present. According to BJ, the most important reason to be present has to do with employees.

“Employees are people”, he said. They [employees] need to see you working and taking pride in the work. He is walking the talk. I found him in muddy gumboots having been point in watering earlier in the day.

2.   Be consistent, it is a marathon

It might take a while to identify the main crop that you will specialise in.

But, once you do, stick with it through thick and thin. Let not your strategy be to plant anything with a root.

Every crop can be a goldmine.

And for the sake of your sanity, do not try to time the market. An algorithm that can help you successfully time the market has not been invented yet.

What you need is to settle into an even rhythm of all-year-round production. It is a marathon, not a sprint.   

3.   Experiment, experiment

Propagate your seedlings.

Buy ready-made seedlings.

Buy seeds and take them to a propagator for propagation at a fee.

Buy variety A.

Buy variety B.

Do the math. Study the figures. Figure out which strategy or seed or variety is best for you.

NB. When it comes to experimentation, there is a process. You do not just experiment fwaaaa! The first step to experimentation is to do it on a small plot. If the results are encouraging, you can do massive adoption. Never do a new thing (new seeds, new propagation method, new chemical) on the entire farm for the first time.

4.   Beat production, not the market.

As farmers, we have little control over prices. It is a buyer’s world.

The focus, therefore, is not on beating the market. It is on beating production.

If you produce at least 20,000kgs per acre (very possible), there is no way you will make a loss. Even when the wooden box is retailing at Kshs. 2000. Like now.  

5.   Market, even a bad one

Know a market or 2. Even a bad one.

***

After the meeting, I took the walk home. Phillip Kimani’s mix, a comforting companion in the silent river valley.

On the way, a couple caught my attention. They looked like successful managers or business people. Late 30s to early 40s. Shirts stretching comfortably over rotund midriffs. A Toyota Harrier in the background.

I observed them as they surveyed about 2 acres of what I imagine are their tomato investment.

The man, as all men do when at the farm, was holding his waist. He wore a self-congratulatory expression that said “I cannot believe this is going so well!”

The tomatoes, which are about 3 weeks, would give anyone tomato fever.

Tomatoes that age are the cutest little spindly things. All hairy stems and dark green leaves.

It is when they become teenagers you begin stacking on anti-headache medicine. I stood with them and basked in our innocence. One of these days, I might get their story too.