Question

What are the trade-offs that farmers must consider when building supply chain competencies.

This is a three paragraph question for 10 marks. Please help.

Answer 1

For a farmer supply chain optimization is a critical element that is necessary to ensure that farmers get the necessary agri-nutrients in time to grow their crops and also able to distribute the ripe crops in time and realize value for their effort. An optimization of the supply chain would also mean that certain tradeoffs have to be made in terms of the cost of operations, availability and reliability of the supply chain.

Strategic tradeoffs in the supply chain management consists of deciding whether to pay greater price to ensure timely availability of fertilizer and agrinutrients for the farmer. While that would ensure that crop quality is augmented, it also impacts the profitability for the farmer. Similar tradeoffs on the output side consists of whether to sell the farm produce to a whole seller or take the produce to the market and sell it directly to retailer. While direct sale margins are higher, additional overheads are involved in taking the crops to the consumer.

Thus supply chain optimization and deciding on the tradeoffs is a critical element for the farmer in order to ensure not only a good produce and output from the field but also maintain a robust profitability for his farm business.