₦airaland Forum

Business plan for hay making

The investment for this business need not be fixed land though it is known that the Southern parts of the country generally produce more tonnes of hay per hectare while the far North produces far less unless the land is watered by irrigation. The capital required however can't be land especially in a place like Ilesa where one hectare of palm and cocoa mini plantation can feed a family that work the land by themselves.

The investment for hay making is therefore a pickup vehicle and a storage space. The pickup will be to scout for foliage plants on uncultivated land anywhere and bring it back to base to dry, process and store until it is enough by volume for evacuation.
Foliage plants are identified by the leaf to stem ratio ie more leaf than stem. More flat leaves and lower heavy stems
Stems should be thin to facilitate quick drying
Foliage should be harvested at the maturity stage of pre bloom or early bloom meaning when the seeds are just manifesting
Foliage should be fresh green in color

Then sorting, drying, compacting and storage.

The pickup van don't need of course to be dedicated to the venture but any farmer with a pickup and a storage space should be in the business. Anytime you see grass anywhere, you get down, cut and load it in your vehicle to go and process for storage without you adding any further labor. If you do 100 tonnes a year at 120 dollars per tonne, it is just free money added to what you are getting from other sources. 12000 dollars per annum and you only add effort of drying, sorting, compacting and storing which kids can do