Triple K

Japan now has a number of farmers who have great imagination and unprecedented actions and have accessed high turnover. The followings are methods and cases from agricultural managers who have outstanding management concepts. 

Branding of agricultural and livestock products increases profit
Corporations of agriculture provide platform for exchange 
The four elements for branding of agricultural and livestock products are: 1.Delicious 
2.Resounding regional brand 3.Background 4.Sales distribution. In general, prices of agricultural products are controlled by product specifications and market, so profits of farmers are limited. Therefore, livestock industry in Japan indicates producers’ names to emphasize the brand, with a view to increasing profits. For example, the “Miyaji pig” kept by Mr. Miyaji, is famous for its good taste. The price also increases because of the brand and its distinction in the market.

 In addition, Mr. Miyaji founded an agricultural organization - farmer network, which provides a platform for farmers who want to share the technical guidance and channels for sales. At the beginning of the operation, the farmer network followed the way of Europe and the United States to raise funds, helping the new-joined farmers’ life expenses. 

Direct access to ensure the quality of agricultural products 
Dry farming method to increase the production capacity 
High-quality agricultural products may be deteriorated because of the distribution process. Therefore, the agricultural enterprises in Japan give up the sales access of farmers’ association and create their own path instead to do the transactions directly with consumers. In addition, because the price of rice is going from bad to worse, the agricultural enterprises use the dry seeding method to cope with this situation, and also develop agro-processed products to increase revenue.

 Local supermarkets, local government and the farmers co-stimulate the agricultural economy
 To address the issue of the decrease of farmer’s number and the sustainability of farms, Japan’s local government plans to "activate farming" by local supermarkets, local governments and farmers to foster agriculture and local development. 

The largest local supermarket provides technical assistance to better local agricultural development, and deploys their staff in learning farming technology to make them able to guide other farmers to ensure the sources of crops in the future. Moreover, by using single-year purchase decision, the supermarket helps to stable the operation of agriculture and livestock industry. Vegetables are sold based on classification; that is, poor-looking but delicious products are sold at lower prices. Furthermore, processing farm products may assist farmers to cope with the vegetables which do not meet the standards. 

Agricultural enterprises issue corporate bonds to schedule fund 
Direct delivery to ensure the quality and expand sales channel 
Japan's agro-enterprises issued corporate bonds to raise funds for its operation. Because the bonds require no interests, the company gives out fruits in summer and fall as in return. And the success of issued bonds is attributed to the accumulated people network while the enterpriser was running the direct market.

 In order not to cater to the needs of wholesalers and affect the quality of agricultural products, agricultural enterprises give up corroborating with the sales market access. Instead, the agricultural enterprises use the "local packages" of the post office as a marketing channel and also place catalog into their personal direct sales to promote their agricultural products.

 Provide technical services to help farmers’ economic independence 
Implement mutual system to reduce farmers’ economic costs 
The aim of the Japanese Red Dragonfly agribusiness farm club is to help farmers become economically independent, assist local agricultural development, and develop organic agriculture to protect the environment. The Red Dragonfly agribusiness farm club provides technical services of farming and organic agriculture, covering the entire process from production to sales, sales positions from membership-based cooperatives to the retail delivery. 

Farmers contracted by the company's mutual system use the ways such as joint procurement of agricultural machinery to reduce costs and help their economic independence. "Alternation of generations" is the urgent task for Japan's agriculture. The Red Dragonfly company looks forward to spotting and cultivating the young farmers who are possessed with the ability of management or accounting, so that they could be apart from simple work model and activate local agricultural marketing. 

Adopt terraces system to create a new link between rural and urban areas 
The development of irrigation equipments and agricultural machines makes terraces which can not be tilled with agricultural machinery an ineffective asset. Japan’s local government and NPO integrated the National terraces and lease them to the public for one-year term. The applicants could have technical guidance eight times per year, which is provided by the local-farmer mutual aid clubs. In this way, it transforms the ineffective asset－terraces, into a way which provides agricultural life, natural beauty of scenery, and low-pesticide rice for urban citizens. And its revenue is three times higher than mere agriculture. 

Dairy farmers hope for the Government to understand their situation and provide funding 
British “foot massage tour” stimulates the development of dairy 
Japan's livestock industry operators are dissatisfied with the government because they did not investigate and reconsider the reasonable cost for livestock industry. So they hope the authorities concerned can inspect those situations personally to understand the facts. For instance, the milk price and the grant is in accordance with the cost of production of dairy farmers, but the cost of production is based on "average amount," which is an illusion of fairness. In addition, the Japanese government has planned a food supply and production base in order to ensure the sufficient food supply during disasters in the country. But the dairy farmers would like the Government to take into account their survival, using those budgets as financial assistance to them. 

In order to make the situation of dairy farmers known to the public and the government, the Japanese dairy farmer enterprise AB-MOBIT introduced a British tradition－"foot massage" culture, by walking routes of leisure to enjoy the beauty of nature. Visitors can learn the ecology, local history, culture and so on of the dairy farmers through the walking. Moreover, AB-MOBIT looks forward in this way to stimulating the development of dairy, while convey the actual situation of dairy to the world. 

Local support of agriculture, ecological agriculture and organic agriculture 
The Shimosato farm at Saitama Prefecture in Japan implemented the Mokich Okada International Association (MOA), which uses the linkage of biology to operate, and it can be called "ecological agriculture." The farm uses the home-made organic compost and liquid fertilizer－cow dung or kitchen waste, to throw into the underground manufacture combustible gas tank to produce liquid fertilizer. In addition, the farm uses the natural enemies to kill pests instead of using pesticides. To till the soil and implement the pant operations for a long-term, the crops are made to be resistant to pests and diseases. Biomass electricity gas, solar power, etc. are used to provide wells, pumps, and inside power usage. Cars are also transformed into the structure that can consume wasted food oil as power sources. Because of the above methods, operators have been selected as "the master of agricultural technology." And at the same time, because of the example it has set up for ecological agriculture, people in related fields domestic and abroad are applying for studying in this farm.

 Shimosato farm currently uses a new type of agricultural patterns－“Community Supported Agriculture” (CSA) to operate. By CSA, the operators sign a contract with dozens of consumers through monthly fee or annual membership fee and regularly distribute the agricultural products to the members. This is due to the reflection of modern agriculture, which tends to use large-scale of pesticides and chemical fertilizers and damages the ecology, and an action against transnational economic, which hinders local development. 

The operators of Shimosato farm believe that to reach the success of organic agriculture, there are three major directions: 1. Amateur farmers－choose a small field, and farm it three days per week. The quantity of crops is approximately equal to the whole family’s consumption. The farmer needs to find another income source. Because the risk is low, this type of farming is suitable for mid-aged people who are about 40 to 50 years old. 2. To make a living by farming. Self-purchased land farmers may choose the cheapest land to operate large-scale farms, or choose a place that is close to the consumers. Start from the smallest farming area, and cooperation with restaurants can also be taken into consideration. 3. Lands up to 2 hectares need about 30 consumers to maintain the operation. Before the lands are suitable for organic agriculture, they need at least three to five years of preparation to really prepare. It takes more than a decade to harvest stably, so farmers need to build a good mental construction before getting started.