Module 12
Module 12: choose your Major.
Twenty commodity businesses in five faculties. Your Major applies the Core Course to one product, ends with the entry route for a small holding, and becomes the subject of your Capstone.
Twenty Majors
Every Major carries a diagram of how the business runs, a South African benchmark table against your market, the Dictionary terms it introduces and the calculators for that commodity. A graduate says they majored in it.
Grains and Oilseeds
Maize
Can a maize enterprise on my land make money at the price my market actually pays, and if it cannot as a bulk crop, where in the maize chain is the money?
6 unitsDoneM2Small Grains and Sorghum
Is there a profitable business in wheat, barley, sorghum, millet or the health-food grains on my land, and who will buy it?
6 unitsDoneM3Oilseeds
Can soya beans, sunflower or groundnuts make money on my land, and how close to the crusher and the feed mill must I be?
6 unitsDoneHorticulture
Citrus
Can I build an orchard business on oranges, lemons or soft citrus, and can I survive the years before the first harvest pays?
6 unitsDoneM5Deciduous Fruit and Table Grapes
Can apples, pears, stone fruit or table grapes pay on my land, and do I have the climate, the water and the cold chain they demand?
6 unitsDoneM6Subtropical Fruit and Nuts
Can avocados, macadamias, mangoes, bananas or the other subtropical crops build a business on my land, and how long will the trees take to pay?
6 unitsDoneM7Potato
Can potatoes make money on my land, and can I get the clean seed, the water and the buyer that the crop demands?
6 unitsDoneM8Fresh Vegetables
Which vegetables can I grow and sell profitably from my land, week after week, to buyers I can reach in time?
6 unitsDoneLivestock
Beef
Can cattle on my land earn a real return, and which part of the beef chain - breeding, backgrounding or finishing - fits my land and my market?
6 unitsDoneM10Sheep and Goats
Can small stock make money on my land, and how do I sell into a market where demand is strong but formal buyers are few?
6 unitsDoneM11Pork
Can a pig unit on my land turn feed into profit, and can I secure feed, genetics and a buyer at a cost that works?
6 unitsDoneM12Poultry and Ostrich
Can broilers, layers or a poultry niche make money on my land, and can I get the chicks, feed and buyer that decide the margin?
6 unitsDoneM13Aquaculture
Can fish farming on my land meet a growing demand for fish at a feed cost and cold-chain cost that leaves a margin?
6 unitsDoneFibre and Leather
Wool and Mohair
Can wool sheep or Angora goats earn a fibre income on my land, and can I reach the auction systems that pay for quality?
6 unitsDoneM15Cotton and Hemp
Can cotton, or industrial hemp where the law allows, earn a reliable income on my land, and how much of the value can I keep?
6 unitsDoneM16Hides, Skins and Leather
Is there a business in the hides and skins that every livestock chain produces, and at which step - collection, curing, tanning or manufacturing - does the money sit?
6 unitsDoneIndustrial and Beverage Crops
Sugar
Can I grow sugarcane profitably as an outgrower to a mill, and what does the mill’s contract mean for my income?
6 unitsDoneM18Tea and Coffee
Can tea, coffee or the herbal teas earn a premium on my land, and can I reach a processor and a market that pays for origin?
6 unitsDoneM19Tobacco
Can tobacco pay on my land after the contractor’s deductions, and how exposed am I to its falling price?
6 unitsDoneM20Wine
Is there a business in wine grapes or winemaking on my land, and can origin and a brand earn the premium the investment needs?
6 unitsDone