Agroprosperis 11.03.2019

AP Franchise - a recipe for profitable agribusiness

IF YOU ...

The Agroprosperis Group, which is professionally doing large-scale agribusiness in Ukraine’s 14 regions since 2007, offers a recipe that simplifies farmers' business management and allows them to reach a higher profitability level. Sumy and Chernihiv regions farmers have already taken advantage of the new offer, where a pilot project was launched in 2018. The Vynnytsya farmers are the next in line to try the new offer. What are the first impressions and results?

 

The magic wand for beginners

- We created our company in 2017, - says Elena Proskura, owner of Agro-Pro Ltd (Chernihiv region), which was one of the first to join the project. – From the very start we realized that farming requires every-second attention, extensive experience and profound knowledge to choose the best technology. A modern farmer should be first and foremost a good manager.

He needs to buy quality seeds, to process the soil on time, to find the right equipment and reliable specialists, to add fertilizers and crop protection - exactly what is necessary - to calculate the quantities correctly and to regulate them according to the weather, and for this we need the agronomist background. We also needed huge financial investments, especially as beginners, when absolutely everything was missing. We brought fuel by ourselves, fed mechanics, checked the quality of tillage, if there was a malfunction with a tractor - bought spare parts for it. In the autumn, you need to harvest in time: to catch favorable weather, to hire a harvester, to find trucks to bring the crops from the field, to find an elevator, ready to receive the crops. We had to save on everything, e.g. we rented an old tractor, bought seeds and agrochemicals from what was available, so the yields were low.

 

As Elena recalls, before the cooperation with Agroprosperis they did not feel profits. Everything earned was invested in the farm development. They bought equipment, built premises for crops storing. In the autumn they bought fertilizers, seeds, fuel. Therefore, the family was interested in the proposal to participate in the AP Franchise mainly for guarantees to remove these concerns from them. The contract was signed in 2017 and the field works were commissioned to Bakhmach Agro, which is part of Agroprosperis Group Latagro holding.

 

According to Agro-Pro LLC owner, during the first year of cooperation, good yields were achieved: 2,2 t/ha sunflower, 9,33 t/ha corn. The records were not expected, though, as the autumn tillage was not done. Also, they worked on credit funds, and not on their own. Still, before they took part in the project, the yields were only 0.7 t/ha sunflower, up till 7 t/ha corn.

 

To cooperate in 2019, the participants decided to increase the area from 104 to 124 ha, and already in mid-November 2018 all the fields were prepared for winter.

 

- We used our profit share for our own needs, - the Agro-Pro owner is summarizing with a smile. - Our agreements were fully implemented and even surpassed! So, we have grown a sunflower with high oleic acid content, and it is more expensive than the usual sunflower.

 

The reliable shoulder for experienced

The AP Franchise offer was also of interest to agro-producers who have been working for a long time. They have already survived a lot of difficulties but are still far from reaching the desired profit level.

 

- It is important for such partners to get guarantees. The main ones are protecting the farmer from losses without any conditions; the land leased or owned by a AF Franchisee remains in a farmer’s ownership. We guarantee a timely and quality tillage, deliver quality seeds and crop protection, help to get a loan to secure a franchise contract, and provide qualified counseling, - says Olga Makara, Agroproseries Group CFO and one of the AF Franchise project managers. - Transferring production to the Agroprosperis plant, which is working in the neighborhood, gives an opportunity to reach a new level due to the best technology, implemented in the same climate and on similar soils. Another success factor is the supply of seeds, crop protection and fertilizers purchased by Agroprosperis for its companies and project partners from leading world producers. Also, new powerful import equipment, driven by our skilled specialists, works at our clients’ fields and the entire production is oriented to the highest possible efficiency.

 

Turnkey business for agro-investor

- The Agroprosperis founder is a group of direct investment funds managed by NCH Capital (USA). We have been working directly with the investor for 12 years in a row. And we understand perfectly all the operational complexities of building a stable, profitable business from the scratch - from land contracting to organizing agricultural production, - continues Olga Makara. - Within this time, managing 50 Group companies, we have collected a database of practical solutions and experiments results in key agrarian regions of the country. For an investor who has just started his way in farming, this will take a long time.

 

The agriculture, as one of the Ukrainian economy’s leading sectors, now attracts special attention from those who are considering the possibility to invest free funds into a working and high-margin business. And sometimes, after the land rights registration, new agro-investors are faced with numerous questions. According to Olga Makara, Agroprosperis is ready to address those questions, by accompanying the investor step by step to create a business plan, and then implement all its stages with its equipment and team, while being in direct communication with the client during the year. Therefore, it is quite possible for the investor to have the business on and running, while his or her agricultural investment is working!

 

 

are in your first years of farming. With all your enthusiasm and efforts, the resources are constantly lacking, and the yields leave much to be desired.

have been farming for a long time and love your business most of all in your life. But the constant stress, manual control and lack of funds make you think of quitting.

want to invest in agro, but this is a completely new area for you, and there are more questions than answers.

Fill out the form at the AP Franchise website, proceed to a new level of profits and spare time for your dreams!