NewStats: 3,263,670 , 8,180,964 topics. Date: Saturday, 07 June 2025 at 08:20 AM 3j1p4c

I'm a first time maize farmer, and my maize farm is finally ready for Harvesting. Someone brought in some market women to harvest and buy today.

The rate at which this women purchased is so ridiculous that if I continue selling like this, I won't make what I spent on the project back, not to talk of profit.

It was actually painful because I didn't discuss price with them before they started harvesting, as I assumed the person who brought them already did the discussion, only for this women to come up with a ridiculous rate after harvesting. They claim there's now excess maize in the market.

Another buyer someone called for me offer even worse prices.

It appears they have a maize seller association, where they fix their buying prices.

I'm currently considering harvesting and taking to the market myself, because I'm sure I should be able to sell at X2 of their buying prices (their buying prices is currently between 40 - 55 Naira per Maize on Average, and I think I should be able to sell at 100 - 120 Naira per Maize at the market)

I can't leave the maize to dry because of the rate of rainfall we're currently experiencing.

Any Clue from experienced farmers?

Which state? .

How much are they

JealousCobra:
Which state?

Ogun State

Ayemileto:


Ogun State

Far from me

Ayemileto:
I'm a first time maize farmer, and my maize farm is finally ready for Harvesting. Someone brought in some market women to harvest and buy today.

The rate at which this women purchased is so ridiculous that if I continue selling like this, I won't make what I spent on the project back, not to talk of profit.

It was actually painful because I didn't discuss price with them before they started harvesting, as I assumed the person who brought them already did the discussion, only for this women to come up with a ridiculous rate after harvesting. They claim there's now excess maize in the market.

Another buyer someone called for me offer even worse prices.

It appears they have a maize seller association, where they fix their buying prices.

I'm currently considering harvesting and taking to the market myself, because I'm sure I should be able to sell at X2 of their buying prices (their buying prices is currently between 40 - 55 Naira per Maize on Average, and I think I should be able to sell at 100 - 120 Naira per Maize at the market)

I can't leave the maize to dry because of the rate of rainfall we're currently experiencing.

Any Clue from experienced farmers?

If you are in a good town

Whole not set up corn roasting hubs na

Five spots can finish Ur maize farm

Ayemileto:
I'm a first time maize farmer, and my maize farm is finally ready for Harvesting. Someone brought in some market women to harvest and buy today.

The rate at which this women purchased is so ridiculous that if I continue selling like this, I won't make what I spent on the project back, not to talk of profit.

It was actually painful because I didn't discuss price with them before they started harvesting, as I assumed the person who brought them already did the discussion, only for this women to come up with a ridiculous rate after harvesting. They claim there's now excess maize in the market.

Another buyer someone called for me offer even worse prices.

It appears they have a maize seller association, where they fix their buying prices.

I'm currently considering harvesting and taking to the market myself, because I'm sure I should be able to sell at X2 of their buying prices (their buying prices is currently between 40 - 55 Naira per Maize on Average, and I think I should be able to sell at 100 - 120 Naira per Maize at the market)

I can't leave the maize to dry because of the rate of rainfall we're currently experiencing.

Any Clue from experienced farmers?

The rain will not stop the maize from drying if it is still not harvested. Selling after drying and shelling is the better option

stanvesco:



If you are in a good town

Whole not set up corn roasting hubs na

Five spots can finish Ur maize farm

The best option. I would add boiled corn to it. The guy will make times 10 or more of what he said he sold at recently. Retailing is the ONLY way forward for feather weight farmers. This is exactly what I would do... but I know the guy will give many reasons why he can't do it. He won't want to spend more on set ups which is not expensive at all....he won't want to buy charcoals or firewood, he won't want to get large pots, he won't want to try at all. All he wants is to carry the maize to a slot and get his money back instantly. Lol. Or return the next day....but to through the sales procedure....never...lol. And that is where the real money is. Later, they will say farming is not profitable. When you ed through the tough stages of production, and only what is left is to retail the products....lol...farmers will always shy away from it a d give their products to "powers and principalities" ruling the agro businesses called agents. Lol. Dem go wipe am oraimo cord very well.

Ayemileto:
I'm a first time maize farmer, and my maize farm is finally ready for Harvesting. Someone brought in some market women to harvest and buy today.

The rate at which this women purchased is so ridiculous that if I continue selling like this, I won't make what I spent on the project back, not to talk of profit.

It was actually painful because I didn't discuss price with them before they started harvesting, as I assumed the person who brought them already did the discussion, only for this women to come up with a ridiculous rate after harvesting. They claim there's now excess maize in the market.

Another buyer someone called for me offer even worse prices.

It appears they have a maize seller association, where they fix their buying prices.

I'm currently considering harvesting and taking to the market myself, because I'm sure I should be able to sell at X2 of their buying prices (their buying prices is currently between 40 - 55 Naira per Maize on Average, and I think I should be able to sell at 100 - 120 Naira per Maize at the market)

I can't leave the maize to dry because of the rate of rainfall we're currently experiencing.

Any Clue from experienced farmers?

I learnt Maize is sold at prices now. You are right

Sell them yourself, either roast or cooked.

Or look for all those mkt where they have market days and take them to.

Yesterday was Sabo mkt in ikorodu.

Zwooks:






Stop being greedy. 40-55 Naira per maize will sufficiently repay all your investments and leave you with at least over 120% profit. You are greedy and don't want people to make money

Have you taken your medication this morning?

epainos:

Have you taken your medication this morning?

What does this one know. Swerve

If you have other means of surviving without putting mind on the money after sale I advice to allow it to dry before selling, if you have good means of drying sell it January or February and you will thank me latter.

What I did: I harvested myself very early in the morning on a market day and hauled to the market.

---

Very early so I meet the retailers before customers start coming. They rush you as soon as you get to the market and you can sell from 5 cobs per transaction to a full bag. It's brisk business as long as your cobs are good.

kripen:
If you have other means of surviving without putting mind on the money after sale I advice to allow it to dry before selling, if you have good means of drying sell it January or February and you will thank me latter.

I don't know why you guys promote dried corn. The cost of production is even high. Lol. Propose drying in this rainy season? Plus...if you understand fresh corn sales, you will never dry again. It is always more profitable.

stanvesco:



If you are in a good town

Whole not set up corn roasting hubs na

Five spots can finish Ur maize farm

Na village side I dey ooo. Na small town.

epainos:

...farmers will always shy away from it a d give their products to "powers and principalities" ruling the agro businesses called agents. Lol. Dem go wipe am oraimo cord very well.

Omo, the powers and principalities strong gan. Na the first time I dey go into large scale farming be this, and the thing do me funny.

Zwooks:






Stop being greedy. 40-55 Naira per maize will sufficiently repay all your investments and leave you with at least over 120% profit. You are greedy and don't want people to make money

Well, you're in a very far distance from reality. Like I said, I don't see how I will break even at that price.

And even if I would break even at that price, there's nothing wrong with wanting more money for my produce.

They resell at a rate of 3 maize for 500, but thinks is OK to buy 9/10 maize for 500 on the farm. Literally, they are selling at 3 times or more what they buy on the farm.

And even the 9/10 maize they pick on the farm, they still take more than that even when monitored. They know you can't count everything, so they'll sometimes take far more than 10.

The entire thing they harvested filled like 7 bags yesterday, and everything they paid is 87K, which is not even up to 1/4 of my expenses.

The money I spent on Labour (Clearing, Packing, Weeding, Planting, Spraying of Herbicides etc) is around 400k, maize seeds for an Hectare came at a rate of 45k including delivery.

If I keep selling at this rate, then I'll need about 42 bags to break even, and around 92 bags to make a 120% profit (as you claimed). Do you think a 1 hectare farm can produce up to 92 bags? I'm really curious and will like to learn from you

Foodqueen:
Sell them yourself, either roast or cooked.

Or look for all those mkt where they have market days and take them to.

Yesterday was Sabo mkt in ikorodu.

laivwire:
What I did: I harvested myself very early in the morning on a market day and hauled to the market.

---

Very early so I meet the retailers before customers start coming. They rush you as soon as you get to the market and you can sell from 5 cobs per transaction to a full bag. It's brisk business as long as your cobs are good.

This is what I'll do now. The community next to me has a market day every 5 days. I intend to start taking the products to the market myself.

Ayemileto:


Well, you're in a very far distance from reality. Like I said, I don't see how I will break even at that price.

And even if I would break even at that price, there's nothing wrong with wanting more money for my produce.

They resell at a rate of 3 maize for 500, but thinks is OK to buy 9/10 maize for 500 on the farm. Literally, they are selling at 3 times or more what they buy on the farm.

And even the 9/10 maize they pick on the farm, they still take more than that even when monitored. They know you can't count everything, so they'll sometimes take far more than 10.

The entire thing they harvested filled like 7 bags yesterday, and everything they paid is 87K, which is not even up to 1/4 of my expenses.

The money I spent on Labour (Clearing, Packing, Weeding, Planting, Spraying of Herbicides etc) is around 400k, maize seeds for an Hectare came at a rate of 45k including delivery.

If I keep selling at this rate, then I'll need about 42 bags to break even, and around 92 bags to make a 120% profit (as you claimed). Do you think a 1 hectare farm can produce up to 92 bags? I'm really curious and will like to learn from you

I have over 60,000 cobs presently with another 300,000 in view

I know the entire maths and expenses involved.


I bagged some maize yesterday and I know the exact amount that can come out from an hectare. So, as you see, I know the maths



When you get sincere with the qty that can come out from your land size, you will see the honest truth



Anyways let's hear marketing options on how to sell maize at quality prices

Zwooks:

I have over 60,000 cobs presently with another 300,000 in view

I know the entire maths and expenses involved.

I bagged some maize yesterday and I know the exact amount that can come out from an hectare. So, as you see, I know the maths

When you get sincere with the qty that can come out from your land size, you will see the honest truth

Well, like I said in my opening post, this is my first time. So, I'm clueless on how much quantity to expect, and you don't expect me to be selling like I'm doing giveaways with this kind of uncertainty.

All the theoretical maths didn't actually work accurately too. For example, theoretically, A 3 acres land size should take 25KG of maize seeds. But when we planted, we didn't even finish the 20KG bag of seeds (we planted manually. I intend to use a machine to plant next time, so as to address this).

Also, I can see we discussed on another thread about the germination rate. I planted Seedco 510 seed variety, I believed pests removed a good portion of the seeds, even after replanting. you on the other hand suggested the germination rate was poor from your experience.

So, I have to make decisions in my best interests, with all these in mind.

You may be making alternate decisions from the one I'm making, based on the information and experience you have, and that's fine.

Ayemileto:


Well, like I said in my opening post, this is my first time. So, I'm clueless on how much quantity to expect, and you don't expect me to be selling like I'm doing giveaways with this kind of uncertainty.

All the theoretical maths didn't actually work accurately too. For example, theoretically, A 3 acres land size should take 25KG of maize seeds. But when we planted, we didn't even finish the 20KG bag of seeds (we planted manually. I intend to use a machine to plant next time, so as to address this).

Also, I can see we discussed on another thread about the germination rate. I planted Seedco 510 seed variety, I believed pests removed a good portion of the seeds, even after replanting. you on the other hand suggested the germination rate was poor from your experience.

So, I have to make decisions in my best interests, with all these in mind.

You may be making alternate decisions from the one I'm making, based on the information and experience you have, and that's fine.

Ok. I am making my decision from some factual information based on production not Nigerian market realities. I just relayed your information to different people on my team and from the information I am getting you are right. You need to sell your maize at least 150 Naira per corn

Everyone around me is suggesting you are right o. 45 Naira is a big rip off, and you should be selling around say 120 Naira per corn. I will work on deeper channels to get information

Ayemileto:


Well, you're in a very far distance from reality. Like I said, I don't see how I will break even at that price.

And even if I would break even at that price, there's nothing wrong with wanting more money for my produce.

They resell at a rate of 3 maize for 500, but thinks is OK to buy 9/10 maize for 500 on the farm. Literally, they are selling at 3 times or more what they buy on the farm.

And even the 9/10 maize they pick on the farm, they still take more than that even when monitored. They know you can't count everything, so they'll sometimes take far more than 10.

The entire thing they harvested filled like 7 bags yesterday, and everything they paid is 87K, which is not even up to 1/4 of my expenses.

The money I spent on Labour (Clearing, Packing, Weeding, Planting, Spraying of Herbicides etc) is around 400k, maize seeds for an Hectare came at a rate of 45k including delivery.

If I keep selling at this rate, then I'll need about 42 bags to break even, and around 92 bags to make a 120% profit (as you claimed). Do you think a 1 hectare farm can produce up to 92 bags? I'm really curious and will like to learn from you

I love this humility.. A lot of factors determine profitable farming especially at the primary level, one of such is size of cultivation... The little I know in crop farming, the larger the size of farmland, the more the quantity of produce to be harvested, the more the profit.

You should not make loss if you sell a cob of maize for at least N50. I am not saying you should not charge higher so that you can raise your income/profit from the farm.

I think you need to check the elements of your costs and amount inccured on each to know where you need to apply cost reduction techniques.

Like someone rightly said, eliminating the activities of middlemen in transactions will give you more income and consequently higher profit but necessary value addition (with its consequences) will be taken care of by you.

Lastly, you should think of intercropping the maize with other crop(s) on the same piece of land so that the cost will be distributed on all crops planted on the land.

Zwooks:
Everyone around me is suggesting you are right o. 45 Naira is a big rip off, and you should be selling around say 120 Naira per corn. I will work on deeper channels to get information

Thank you.

youngzoologist:


I love this humility.. A lot of factors determine profitable farming especially at the primary level, one of such is size of cultivation... The little I know in crop farming, the larger the size of farmland, the more the quantity of produce to be harvested, the more the profit.

Yes, the bigger the farmland, The more profitable it is.

Peacefultosin:
You should not make loss if you sell a cob of maize for at least N50. I am not saying you should not charge higher so that you can raise your income/profit from the farm.

I think you need to check the elements of your costs and amount inccured on each to know where you need to apply cost reduction techniques.

Like someone rightly said, eliminating the activities of middlemen in transactions will give you more income and consequently higher profit but necessary value addition (with its consequences) will be taken care of by you.

Lastly, you should think of intercropping the maize with other crop(s) on the same piece of land so that the cost will be distributed on all crops planted on the land.

Yes, you're right. I already noted the things that shot up my cost and will address them.

I also intend to plant Cassava/Potato/Beans with the corn the next time I'm planting.

100-120 is high o. Commerce doesn't work out like that. You sell to those who resell. If they overdoing the pricing process, consider taking it to towns around you, rent huge pots, buy firewood and cook it before selling at around N100 in order to recover you capital.

Ayemileto:

If I keep selling at this rate, then I'll need about 42 bags to break even, and around 92 bags to make a 120% profit (as you claimed). Do you think a 1 hectare farm can produce up to 92 bags? I'm really curious and will like to learn from you

Once read an article on daily trust about a farmer, I think in Gombe, who got 80 bags of 100kg from one hectare(not acre o). Your output is low.

Ayemileto:


Thank you.

I forgot to ask for details.


I want to believe you are selling fresh. If you are selling fresh, how many cobs do you have in your bag. I want to know so I can confirm your output per acre and speak more accurately

Zwooks:



I forgot to ask for details.


I want to believe you are selling fresh. If you are selling fresh, how many cobs do you have in your bag. I want to know so I can confirm your output per acre and speak more accurately

It should be at least 223 per bag on average.

The women used 4 of those big beans bags, and 3 of those 50KG rice bags.

I came up with the 223 figure because the women took 18 for N1,000, and they had 87 stacks after grouping the maize into 18 per stack.

(87x18) divided by 7 will give a little over 223 for each bag.

If we add an extra 50 for the stacks that are more than 18, then it can go up to 230 per bag on average.

Ayemileto:


It should be at least 223 per bag on average.

The women used 4 of those big beans bags, and 3 of those 50KG rice bags.

I came up with the 223 figure because the women took 18 for N1,000, and they had 87 stacks after grouping the maize into 18 per stack.

(87x18) divided by 7 will give a little over 223 for each bag.

If we add an extra 50 for the stacks that are more than 18, then it can go up to 230 per bag on average.

Igbese eeeeee. They are assassins you are dealing with


Please stop selling. I will also visit the markets by 6-7am to investigate how it is sold next week