Making Your Small Farm More Eco-Friendly

When it comes to farming, you automatically think of tractors, huge pieces of machinery and all the pollution that comes with it. It's safe to say that most people wouldn't associate farming with being eco-friendly. However, that doesn't mean your small farm can't be! After all, the last thing anyone wants to harvest the land at any cost and potentially destroy it for future generations.

By adopting greener ways of working and technologies into your small farm, you can help preserve the land and your legacy for many years to come. Meaning you can still produce the same great quality foods as you have always done. 

Lighting.

Changing your lighting over across your structures and vehicles to energy-efficient lighting is a great way to start making your small farm more eco-friendly. Replace lighting across your farm with durable LED lights including on vehicles too, is not only greener but as they last longer, they are more cost-efficient too. Look at getting high-quality 4wd driving lights, floodlights and indoor lights installed across the board.

Maximize Natural Resources.

One of the benefits of having a small farm is that you have less to water. Utilising rainwater for crops and to supply any sanitary equipment such as toilets and hand wash stations along with using it to hose down outside areas that need cleaning regularly. This will help reduce your water usage and could help save you money on utilities too.

To further conserve more water, a drip irrigation system is found to save up to 50 -70% more water than other traditional methods.

Machinery.

Invest in good quality machinery to help you farm your land. This will mean that, over time, you will need to carry out fewer repairs. Whilst it may cost more initially, paying for better quality technology or farming equipment means it will last you longer and cost you less in the long run. That being said, if you can, it may be worth investing in used equipment to save on the environmental impact scrapping certain machinery can have. This option may save you money, freeing up funds for other things around the farm.

Protect Your Land.

Overplanting and premature erosion can wear away at the landscape. In time, this will create a space that is no longer fit for its purpose. Taking the care today when it comes to how much and how you are farming. This will help protect your land for the future.

Farming practices such as no-till have been found to help reduce erosion and preserve soils. No one wants to deplete nutrients found in soil. this won't help anyone. So think about preserving uncultivated, or less cultivated areas to help promote biodiversity and keep your farm in its best condition for many years to come.

Renewable Energy Sources.

How about adding a renewable energy source to your small farm! This could help you sustain your farm resulting in lower bills. Depending on the type of farm you run and your climate, you can choose from installing solar panels, wind turbines or even harnessing hydroelectric power to power your machinery!