As a farmer, you have to live a different life from that of others. Especially when you are into the livestock production aspect you have no choice but to accept your way of life. No free day or holiday for livestock farmers. You should know this before you even try to embark on the journey.
Today I was having a discussion with my boss and someone passed by the roadside and then greeted him. He responded and then added, “How is your little child? Did she go to school today?”. I never thought twice about his questions not until we saw the woman smile so heavily and respond that she didn’t go to school today because it’s Saturday. 😂
We both burst into laughter and then told her not to count it because that's just our way of life as farmers, we have no weekends because every day is another day to work and attend to the livestock.
One difference between livestock farmers and crop production farmers is the fact that once the farmers have planted their crops then they can just keep checking back once a while, maybe some days or the week or even months and some take years to check back depending on the type of crop planted. So it's a little easy to get by and they will just have to chill till the harvesting season.
But the aspect of why it's so different for livestock farmers is that there is no way we can do without getting to the farm all day to check out the improvements and performance of all of these animals. They also need to be fed all day, if not fed then there is a higher chance of these animals dying. No farmer will ever wish or pray to experience such.
How my day went was just a little stressful but I had a nice time.
I woke up in the morning to attend to a customer who had called me yesterday night to confirm the price of the fish he would be buying after negotiating. Then I woke up, drained all of the water and then selected some of the bigger ones, and then weighed them for him upon his arrival. I told him about the goods he wanted to buy and he told me he would come to checkout later.
Maybe he never knew there were demands for the fish. A few moments after I dropped his call, I got another demand again asking for some amount closer to the one he also wanted. I told him immediately if he would be getting the fish or not he should make known. But his response was not encouraging, he hasn't paid me any amount nor advance for what he wants to buy. Then I had no other option than to change my mind.
As a businessman who would not want to disappoint a customer who is ready to buy from me, I had to sell to the one who is ready to pay me immediately and then lose that customer to someone who is not ready and still proposing to come and check and not be assured if he would buy or not.
Just another few minutes later he appeared and was ready to check on the fish. I told him I already sold part of it to a customer who was ready to buy since he didn’t take business seriously. He was so angry and challenged me for defaulting on our agreement. I told him there was no agreement from the onset since he has yet to even pay me any amount or advance for what he wants to buy. He wanted to make me feel like a bad person but I cleared him with business facts. If it were him would he hold on to uncertainty and leave certainty alone? He kept mute and asked me to weigh the remaining then he paid for it immediately 😂.
I smiled. I thought he would delay it again and he won't even get anything left. I had been waiting for this man to come and carry his fish since morning up till now and I never saw his brake light since not until I called him again to lament on why he delayed his arrival failing his promise and proposed time. He was sorry and apologized. I smiled again. This unserious fellow.
So what do you think about the decision I made disappointing him? Is it worth it? Or should I have not done that?
