Many people in the agricultural industry consider permaculture to be the future. With permaculture, all elements of the ecosystem mimic natural settings, leading to enhanced outcomes and longevity for various farming projects.
However, you’ll need to think carefully about whether your permaculture ag business is actually healthy. Is it something that’s really supporting the life you want and delivering results? That’s what we take a look at in this guide.
Table of Contents
Can it survive without you?
First thing you’ll want to do is figure out whether your permaculture business can actually survive without you if you’re not there to constantly tinker and adjust. Does it stop functioning?
This issue is a significant problem for a lot of agricultural businesses. Many companies rely on constant labor input and management with expensive fixes along the way. However, the whole point of permaculture is to create a self-sustaining ecosystem; they get rid of all of this work.
Are yields predictable?
Another problem a lot of people in the sector run into is unpredictable yields. The amount of crop being produced every week, month, and year, varies significantly, making it hard to forecast the future. Wild growth and interrelated ecosystems are fun to set up but ultimately businesses depend on cash flow, and if your land isn’t producing the crops that you need to thrive, then it’s going to waste.
Are your crops healthy?
You’d also want to ask yourself whether your crops are healthy. Permaculture is more challenging than regular mono cropping in terms of yields because there are so many other variables. While farmers have strict playbooks they can use for conventional corn and weeds, permaculture crops can become unhealthy and it’s often difficult to determine whether they’re in a good condition.
Using a drone inspection company is one approach. These allow you to survey vast tracts of land. You can also use sensors to monitor current conditions.
Does soil health improve without extra effort?
You also want to ask whether your soil health is capable of improving without massive effort and intervention on your behalf. A lot of permaculture farms get into trouble when natural ways of enriching existing soil are simply lacking.
Sometimes, it can take years or even decades for soil quality to improve to the point where regular crops have become viable. If your ecology is cooperating, you should have more life than not, but don’t expect it to do that. Also, permacultures are not always self-reinforcing and need additional inputs from you. It’s up to you to determine whether these are worth it.
Are your systems simple to explain?
Lastly, you want to ask yourself whether your permaculture/agriculture systems are simple to explain to others. After all, you’ll highly likely need to employ someone at some point. Complexity doesn’t necessarily mean you’re on the right track. When it comes to permaculture, nature is often the natural method that works the best. If you are having to train people up for months to use your systems, then it’s probably not worth it. It’s costing you a lot of money and you may be missing out on cheaper methods to produce.
