In modern times like today, many people perceive that success is be doctors, architects, teachers, and so on.

This assumption provoke young people to barely have interest in becoming young farmers.

For today's younger generation, becoming a young farmer is not a difficult endeavor. Agricultural knowledge and information can not only be obtained from formal education but can also be accessed through the internet.

If young people want to become a young farmer, but have never planted or raised livestock before, this article will help you to prepare things that you need.

Start Being a Young Farmer From Scratch

Becoming a farmer is not instant, there are many things you need to learn and do, more over if you start from ground without any previous farming experience.

1. Build your motivation
   Agriculture demands great deal of effort and immense responsibility. You need to determine or build motivation why you are interested in becoming a farmer. When you start from ground, it may take extra time than those who already have knowledge of agriculture. Therefore, you need motivation and determine what makes you interested in farming and need to be patient and enjoy the process.
2. Choose the type of farm
   In agriculture, it is basically divided into two categories: farming or plantation and raising livestock. Products from farming or plantations include grains or cereals, vegetables, fruit plantations, and even straw and silage production. Meanwhile, products from livestock include production of beef cattle or dairy cattle, production of laying hens or broilers, production of honey bees, and so on. You need to decide your focus in farming to set direction and goals going forward.
3. Research as much as possible
   Look for sources of knowledge as much as possible from everywhere. Learn from agriculture books or articles on internet, videos on learning agriculture, everywhere you can access. In doing research, aside learning on agricultural products and farming methods, also do market research and market risks to know more about ins and outs of agriculture.
4. Meet experienced farmers
   In addition to seeking knowledge through book and internet sources, you also have to meet experienced farmers. Meet farmers who have the same farming fields you want to do. Search your mentor in agricultural business by connecting with experienced farmers.
5. View the location of the plantation
   Undoubtedly when you do agriculture business, you need land for farming. Maybe for those who live in urban areas, it will be difficult to find a location because of the limited area. Try looking around or surveying locations that are suitable to be used as garden based on plantation field you choose.

Becoming a Beginner Young Farmer

After taking the steps to be a young farmer from ground, next stage is that you need to learn by jump directly into the field to be a novice young farmer. What do you need to do to learn to be a novice farmer?

1. Learn to work as a farm laborer
   The first step to becoming an experienced farmer, obviously, starts as novice farmer. Try to offer your services to work in agriculture or plantations as laborers or farm laborers on agricultural land owners. From there, you learn more on the intricacies of agriculture and field conditions.
2. Join the novice farmer training program
   Like any career, everything starts from the bottom. Becoming a reliable farmer starts from the bottom. Try looking for training programs to become farmers. In this case the government organizes programs that include farming and agriculture through local government agriculture offices. You can also find references on farming and agriculture at Yayasan Agri Sustineri Indonesia (YASI) web page.
3. Prepare for working hours beyond 8 hours a day
   During harvest season, it is clear that work will increase because harvest yield must be stored and managed properly before weather or bad things arise. Additional work at harvest time will take longer to complete and you will be in the garden or field longer than usual. Experienced farmers will not complain about this because the harvest time is the time to celebrate the results of the long process that has been done. You need to get used to working beyond 8 hours a day, especially during the harvest season.
4. Learn to deal with problems
   Doing work in agriculture, not only dealing with planting and harvesting. There are many things and issues, maintenance of agricultural machinery, tillage, cleaning of agricultural areas, and other issue. Frequently ask your mentor what the problems are and how to deal with them. The problems faced when going directly into the field cannot be easily learned from other sources such as books, the internet and so on. You need to face it head-on and experience it in the process of becoming a young farmer.
5. Passion for learning new things
   After trying go to farm location directly, you may find a lot of new things that you haven’t seen before. Things like spraying pesticides on plants, cleaning the soil, applying fertilizer, plowing the land, using agricultural tools, and so on. Learn to do these new things well and do not reluctant asking your mentor when you don’t know how to do something.
6. Wearing peasant outfit
   While doing his work, a farmer needs clothes that are suitable, safe and comfortable to wear while working. A farmer also wears clothes suitable for working in the fields, such as t-shirts, jeans, boots, hats, gloves, and is usually equipped with wearpacks.
7. Learn to manage crops
   A farmer’s earnings is from harvesting their agricultural products. In addition to learning how to farm, you also need to learn crop management, sales strategies, target markets, and benefit of your farming production.

With the explanations above, it’s time for you to exercise. Today’s young generation needs to look at agriculture as a professional course considering agriculture is the main sector in fulfilling resources and economic needs.

Then, are you ready to become a young farmer?