Possible global food shortage is a common topic these days as the scholars fear that the earth may not be able to meet all our needs in the future if we keep on exploiting it at the rate we do. Some countries are facing food shortages even as we speak and lots of people die of starvation in spite of all the effort taken by the governments and international organizations to address this issue. Even though we may not be in a position to assist those rather unfortunate people living in those countries, we can at least do our part by minimizing losses associated with harvests. Farmers know that most losses are inevitable but, there are some that can be remedied, specially post-harvest.
Weighing and measuring
Although we may feel that what is lost at the time of measuring is small, when you consider large scale farms, this amount is considerable. Most of the time, farmers take their harvest to a measuring or weighing point to get the readings and, afterwards, once the load has been delivered, it will be measured again. This loading and unloading of harvest can cause a lot of damage even though most of tend to overlook thinking that this is necessary. However, if you have sufficient funds, you should consider installing on board systems such as grain cart scales so that you will not have to stocking and dispatching over and over again even before the harvest has been delivered either to the buyer or to the storage point.
Storage
Obviously, the harvest has to be stored as the whole yield will not be consumed at once and also make the product available to the consumers throughout the year. Even if you are simply selling it to a buyer at the moment you harvest, you still might need to store until the buyer takes it away. Special considerations should be taken at the point of storing as pests as well as funguses can harm the harvest while being stored and, also losses can occur from squashing if the products are easily perishable such as fruits or vegetables.
Transportation
Another juncture where the crops can be damaged is when they are being packed and transported. If you are a large or a medium scale farmer, getting your hands on a weighbridge for sale may assist you in getting the correct load transported every time without having to load and unload simply because the consignment is too large to be allowed by law or too small to be cost effective. Even in transportation, the storage concerns will surface and, therefore, care should be taken to address them. It is incredible when you think about how much difference you can make and how you can assist in a global project such as empowering sustainability by simply paying a little bit more attention and care to your day to day activities relating to harvesting.