Which is the best tasting sheep breed? Can you rear it for money? Does it have many demands? Join me as we go through this very interesting topic about sheep. Most people do not mind having a decent chunk of good-tasting lamb and mutton. Thing is, they do not exactly understand where the meat has been sourced from and which sheep breed is behind the impressive taste. Here are some of the best tasting sheep breeds that are preferred by shepherds from:

Oncoming food crisis 2021 and beyond- here’s how to survive and profit as a farmer or investor 

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1. Suffolk

This is a very popular sheep breed, that is reared for its meat and milk. It is also loved for its excellent reproductive capabilities and is thus a great choice for farmers who want to increase the size of their flock faster.

These sheep are usually calm and docile, and they have an appearance that’s different from that of other sheep. You can tell them apart from the other breeds due to their black face, ears, and legs, which do not have any wool.

This breed has an impressive feed-conversion characteristic and happens to have a very fast growth rate (one of the fastest amongst all sheep breeds). Its meat is loved for having the following properties:

• Good texture
• Excellent taste
• Distinctive flavor
• Decent moisture content
• Less fat content

The ewes usually give birth to 3 lambs annually, and these lambs grow up pretty fast. Suffolk has been found to be a very great terminal breed with other sheep breeds. The crossbreeds produced are quite heavy and can be marketed at about three months of age, or with a weight of about 100 pounds. The fact that you can sell the lamb at a very early age simply translates to less medical expenditure, less feeds, and less labor in general.

Suffolk is a great breed, but they only perform well on a good pasture and require consistent supplementation. Supplementation is a must if you do not have top-notch pastures. Some shepherds complain about how this breed feeds a lot, but this should be normal, considering that they have a very fast growth rate.

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2. Charolais

This is one of the recognized domestic sheep breeds in the present-day world, that have their origin in Burgundy (France). This breed is medium to large-sized and has somewhat larger than average muscles. You can recognize them by their pink-grey faces and legs, and the generally fine to medium wool that covers their body.

This breed has generally been used as a terminal sire to help increase the muscling process of the lambs. The resulting cross breeds also have a faster-than-average growth rate.

Charolais are generally heavy muscled, and they give rise to lean carcasses, that are quite ideal for the meat trade. Generally, we can say that the Charolais is a desirable sheep breed amongst shepherds due to the following properties

• Fast growth
• Lean quality meat
• High yield
• Easy lambing

They are, unfortunately, poor foragers, and would need supplementation if they do not have access to good pastures.

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3. Cheviot

This breed was originally a mountain breed that was reared in the Cheviot Hills that are found between Scotland and England. Cheviot is quite hardy and can withstand very harsh winters. You can tell them apart with their small head that is covered with very fine white hair, which is also found on their legs.

This breed makes it to this list due to the two outstanding traits that make it ideal for use in sheep farming, which are:

• Although they are short, they also have very good meat quality, and they are hardy. The ewes are known for having very strong mothering instincts, and for having problem-free lambing.
• Cheviots usually perform quite well on poor quality pasture and can survive without high supplementation needs.

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4. Tunis Barbari

Tunis is suspected to have originated some 3000 years ago in the African nation, Tunisia. They are fat-tailed sheep that regular lamb eaters prefer.

Shepherds have identified these sheep as being impressive foragers and grazers. They do not usually need extra supplementation and are very profitable.

Also, as much as this breed is a dual-purpose breed, nowadays these sheep are mostly raised for market meat production. They’re hardy and can do well even in a hot and dry climate.

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5. Icelandic Sheep

Viking settlers introduced this sheep breed to Iceland about 9000 years ago. It is currently known to be one of the purest sheep breeds in the world, owing to the fact that it has not been crossbred with other sheep breeds. Their meat is appreciated in all corners of the world for having a mild flavor, as well as its organic purity.

Icelandic sheep are yet another breed of sheep that can earn you impressive profits. They do quite well even on poor pastures, without requiring extra supplementation. The meat of Icelandic lamb is quite tender and is loved for its very fine texture. Their lambs are ready for marketing at about 4 to 5 months.

How will the agricultural industry behave in this decade? Which trends can you benefit from? Here’s what the experts have to say about it

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6. Blackbelly (Barbados Blackbelly and American Blackbelly)

The Barbados Blackbelly is one dark-haired breed that came from Barbados. The American Blackbelly, on the other hand, resulted from crossbreeding the naturally polled Barbados with the following sheep:

• Mouflon sheep
• Dorsets
• Merinos

These breeds happen to be very similar in their general characteristics, and they both have small carcasses.

Even with the small body size, they do not disappoint when it comes to excellent taste and quality of meat. Unlike the other breeds that we have already mentioned here, this breed is not very common amongst farmers who rear sheep for meat.

Farmers who rear them have often reported that Blackbellies are great at resisting parasites, as well as heat stress. These sheep do not also clear pastures very fast and do not have many feeding demands.

Their ewes give birth twice a year, and they get 1.5 to 2.3 lambs each lambing session.

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Sheep farmers make lots of money selling part of or their entire flocks. We have seen from time to time how the agricultural industry is bound to thrive owing to the fact that food is a basic need. As the human population increases, so does the demand for different types of food, including animal proteins such as lamb and mutton. That said, there are investors who have discovered ways to make money even as the looming food shortage becomes a reality. Have a look at the recommended resource below:

Recommended Resource | How To Invest In The Agricultural Sector This Decade 

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That’s all for this article about the best tasting sheep breed. I hope you now know which sheep breed will fetch you more money in the meat market. If you came across this post as you were looking for ways in which you can make more money as a farmer or investor in the agricultural industry, then you should have a look at what the recommended resource has to offer.

I wish you well,

Eric, Investor and Team Member at Gold Retired!

Who is the biggest farmland owner in America? This question has popped up quite a number of times so far, with there being some recent developments that have sparked people’s curiosity in as far as this matter is concerned. But why should people worry about who owns the most farmland? Let’s find out about that and more herein.

The oncoming food crisis – Are you well prepared to survive and thrive?

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The biggest farmland owner in America

As of now, we can confirm beyond a reasonable doubt that Bill Gates is the farmland King in America. Bill Gates is a man who needs no introduction, at least to a large number of people in the world. Harvard’s most successful dropout, as he’s commonly referred to as, has accumulated a number of accolades so far, the main being the world’s richest man on a number of occasions. Whereas he may have been overtaken by other tycoons in terms of richness, Bill Gates is still striving to make more headlines by the day.

The Microsoft co-founder has managed to rise to the status of America’s largest farmland owner by quietly purchasing huge plots of land across various states in the country.

Bill Gate’s portfolio comprises close to 242,000 acres of farmland, as well as close to 27,000 acres of land for other ventures and activities distributed across 19 states.

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Where are Bill Gates holdings at?

The largest chunks of land owned by Bill Gates are in Louisiana and Arkansas. He owns 69,071 acres and 47,927 acres of land in both states, respectively.

Bill Gates also has close to 16,000 acres of land in his home state, Washington. This includes a 14,500-acre parcel of land located in the Horse Heaven Hills region, which he purchased for close to $171 million.

Bill Gates’ land ownership schemes are managed both directly and indirectly by Cascade Investment, a firm that he created to enable him to manages his fortunes effectively.

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How did the news of his land ownership spread?

A major hint of Bill Gate’s large farm holdings came to public knowledge back in 2014, through the 2014 Wall Street Journal profile of the popular money manager, Michael Larson.

Michael Larson is the Chief Investment Officer at Cascade Investment. In the journal profile, he stated that Cascade owns not less than 100,000 acres of land distributed across the following states:

• California
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Other states

Some land parcels are, according to Michael, 7 times bigger than the popular Manhattan.

Where are the top investors in the agriculture sector investing their money in this decade?  (Not where most think)

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Cascade Investment

Cascade Investment LLC is a holding and investments company that has its headquarters in Kirkland, USA.  This company is controlled by Bill Gates and managed by Michael Larson.

A significant number of people do not know that more than half of Bill Gates’ fortune is linked to assets outside his Microsoft shares.

Cascade took over from Dominion Income Management, which was the investment vehicle that Bill Gates relied upon to manage his holdings. Dominion was managed by Andrew Evans.

Cascade has a wide variety of investments, including:

• Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
• Canadian National Railway
• FEMSA
• Berkshire Hathaway
• Strategic Hotels and Resorts
• Republic Services
• Deere & Company
• Bunzi
• Carpetright
• Diageo
• Beyond Meat
• Microsoft
• Vroom
• Autonation
• Ecolab
• TerraPower
• StorageMart
• Transformco
• Ritz-Carlton

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Why does Bill Gates have so much farmland?

It’s still not clearly known why Bill Gates has such a vested interest in farmland. Its also still hard to determine how exactly he is using or planning to use his farmland. Efforts to reach Cascade to get answers to such questions have proven futile so far. The only thing that’s well known by now is that Cascade is quite supportive of sustainable farming.

Bill Gates has also focused on Agriculture as part of his charitable efforts with his wife, Melinda. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has, for instance, made clear its aims to support country-led inclusive agricultural changes in the Sub-Saharan and South Asia regions. The foundation recently donated $300 million towards this course.

All said and done, however, Bill Gates is still not the largest landowner in the USA. He’s still far behind other tycoons, including the world’s richest man (as of January 25, 2020), Jeff Bezos. Jeff Bezos uses a significant portion of his land to develop rockets through his space exploration company, Blue Origin.

The largest ownership crown is currently held by John Malone, the chairman at Liberty Media. John Malone owns close to 2.2 million acres of land.

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What is known about agricultural land usage so far?

Generally, agricultural land is defined as land that is devoted to the practice of agriculture. This involves the systematic and controlled rearing of livestock as well as the production of crops, with the intention of producing food for human beings. This has led to it being referred to using a couple of terms, including:

• Farmland
• Cropland
• Pasture
• Rangeland

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization as well as other organizations, at times, follow a definition of agricultural land that leans more on it being an art, where it a collection of:

• Arable land/ cropland – this refers to land that’s used to produce crops that require to be replanted annually. It also refers to fallow land or pastures that’s used for the production of crops within 5-year periods.
• Permanent cropland – this refers to land that’s used to produce crops that do not need to be replanted annually.
• Permanent pastures- this points to natural and artificial grasslands that are used for the grazing of livestock.

Permanent cropland includes forested plantations that farmers use to harvest crops such as coffee, rubber, and fruit, not the tree farms that are used for wood and timber harvesting. The land used for farming is referred to as cultivatable land.

Farmland has over the years been used in reference to all agricultural land owned by an individual (or a group of individuals), as well as in the sense of “arable land”. Depending on the type of artificial irrigation used, FAO’s “agricultural land” can then be subdivided into two extra categories: irrigated and non-irrigated land.

Recommended Resource | How To Invest In Agriculture in This Decade – Based on The State of The World 

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That’s all for this article on who the biggest owner of farmland in America is. I hope that you are now enlightened about the subject matter and that you can contribute to a discussion pertaining to it. Do not forget to have a look at my recommended resource to begin investing in the agriculture sector so that you can hopefully own your big chunk of land as well.

I wish you well,

Eric, Investor and Team Member at Gold Retired!

What is PLAAS Farmers token? What makes it unique? Should you purchase it or not? Hello and welcome to today’s comprehensive review of this outstanding token. Here are the main items that we shall go through in a bid to make you understand what PLAAS is all about:

• What is PLAAS farmers token?
• What is PLAAS?
• The Problems  PLAAS is out to solve in the present-day African agriculture setting
• How does PLAAS solve the problems?
• The entities that PLAAS attends to in a bid to create better supply chains for farmers
• Is PLAAS farmers Token Genuine or Is It A Scam?
• Pros and Cons

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Name: PLAAS farmers token

Official Website URL: https://www.plaas.io/

Overall Rating: (3.7 / 5)

Recommended: Yes

P.S.

You might want to have have a look at this alternative to making money in the agriculture industry (tips from a top financial advisor )

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What is PLAAS farmers token?

PLAAS farmers token is an ERC20 token that is used on a platform known as PLAAS. The token is listed on several exchanges, including EtherFlyer, Uniswap, CoinMarketCap, Indoex Global Exchange, CoinGecko, Etherscan, Coincodex, Blockfolio, nomics, CoinStats, CMC.IO, Coindataflow, and athcoinindex.

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What is PLAAS?

PLAAS exists as a platform that makes it possible for a virtual market that empowers African farmers to thrive. Farmers can, on this virtual market seamlessly trade their products at the standard market price. This significantly increases their income earning potential and enables them to access information that helps them improve their crop production activities, in a bid to match up the standards set by farmers in developed nations.

PLAAS is out to revolutionize agriculture in Africa, a continent in which most farmers are still struggling to thrive in this sector. The creators of this platform are doing so by setting up new pillars upon which a fair market can rest on, including:

• Overseeing farm inventory
• Improving the existing agricultural supply chains
• Modernizing existing farm management software (FMS)
• Optimizing AgTech Internet of Things
• Establishing fair pricing systems for products in the market.
• Enabling the transparent oversight and payment of various agricultural subsidies
• Setting up solid and reliable community-supported agriculture structures.
• Enabling convenient mobile remittance for small farmers
• Creating a suitable environment for the incentivizing sustainable practices

This company that owns and operates this platform is managed by a team of qualified experts. Some of the main decision-makers in the managerial team include:

• CEO-Emmanuel Adams
• Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder – Koketso Pelo
• Head of Marketing and co-founder- Anderson Itireleng
• Co founder –Alakanani Itireleng
• Corporate Development – Trevor Musa
• Head of Finance – Kgosi Gaetsewe
• Advisor – Harveen Narulla
• Advisor – Timothy Tim Tayshun
• Strategy Officer – Felix Ugoji
• Head of Research and Development – Kgwadu Modiri

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The Problems  PLAAS is out to solve in the present-day African agriculture setting

The African Agricultural sector has for years lagged behind, owing to a number of factors, including financial and political constraints. With PLAAS, farmers can join a free market, in which they are not limited by constraints over which they have no control. This platform does this by solving the problems below:

• The lack of transparency in the food supply chains in most countries
• Inefficiencies in the establishment of credit histories and difficulties in the enforcement of contracts in financial institutions
• The adulteration of various agricultural and meat products
• The ridiculous manipulation of products by middlemen and the large corporations in this sector
• The general inaccessibility to high-quality seeds and raw materials
• The general inconsistency in the management of farming records
• The inaccessibility of non-manipulated information by most farmers.

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How does PLAAS solve the problems?

PLAAS presents the solutions to the above problems in the following ways:

1. Tracing and Tracking

This platform makes it possible for the producers and consumers to track and trace the origin of various crop and animal products, and to make use of immutable ledger accounts that show the full details of the products the farmers want to purchase or sell.

2. Smart contracts

The records of the transaction are usually stored on PLAAS’s decentralized smart contract platform, hence making it possible for farmers to access the records of the products they have sold or purchased daily.

3. Data

This system is built to capture information in real-time using technology such as:

• Animal Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
• Global Positioning System

The farmers can then utilize this data to make crucial decisions, in a bid to get better produce and better income to that effect.

4. Node Validators

PLAAS utilizes node validators to inspect and approve the items sold on the platform. In addition to that, the node validators come in handy in the determination and examination of the quality of crops.

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The entities that PLAAS attends to in a bid to create better supply chains for farmers

The claim to offer farmers better opportunities at making a higher income through presenting a solution that is based on a more efficient supply chain can be strengthened by having a look at the entities that make up the supply chain. The creators of this platform have the following elements in their new supply chain approach:

1. Farmers– these are the producers who can communicate about their products to the rest of the world by a mobile app. He or she can also visit the nearest education or trade center to access a smartphone if they don’t own one.
2. Storage – this points to a network of storage and other trusted places in which products can be inspected before being securely stored. Elevators for products such as cereals have to be placed in strategic places all over the country to make access to them significantly easier. The storage facilities also have to be equipped with high-quality labs or certification offices. The quality of the products is determined at this point, and if the product is traceable, they can begin making use of RFID and blockchain technology.
3. Buyers – these are the registered organizations that are capable of purchasing agricultural products and getting them from the storage facilities.
4. Logistics– This refers to the organizations that should facilitate the delivery of agricultural products if need be.
5. The trading platform – this is the virtual place of the trade. Everybody has access to this place.

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Is PLAAS farmers Token Genuine or Is It A Scam?

PLAAS Farmers Token is, in my opinion, a genuine token. We have discussed a lot about what PLAAS is out to solve, and it’s easy to see that the token’s relevance in the present-day world can go undisputed. The fact that PLAAS is listed on some major crypto exchanges such as Coinbase also a good reason to have faith in its genuineness.

If you are a crypto trading expert, then you can purchase this token and hold it with the hope that it’s value will increase in the long run. Else, you can have a look at how the best investors in the field are planning to make their money in this decade:

Borrow a leaf from the top investors’ playbook | Investing like a pro in the agriculture sector 

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Pros and Cons

Pros

• PLAAS’s existence should solve real problems in the agriculture sector
• The token’s value has room to significantly increase

Cons

• Relatively small volumes traded per day
• Still very new to the industry in comparison to the larger market cap cryptos

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Final Words and Verdict

Verdict: Legit

Overall Rating: (3.7 / 5)

PLAAS farmers token’s popularity isn’t as great as that of other tokens in the industry such as BTC, ETH, and LTC. That said, however, the token has the capacity to grow over the years and help farmers s0lve a host of problems that have limited them from earning their rightful income. Such value-addition to society may eventually lead to an increase in the overall value of the token. I can’t say I’m much of an investments expert so my two cents on the position of this token should be taken with a grain of salt. You can, however, have a look at what investors in the agriculture sector are planning to do about making money in this new decade.

Recommended Investment Alternative | Research-backed investment approaches to making money in the agriculture sector 

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There you have it with this article on what PLAAS farmers token is all about. Hopefully, you gained some value from it, and you now have a clear understanding of why it exists in the first place. Do not forget to have a look at my recommended investment alternative resource as well – you could end up getting a new source of wealth.

I wish you well,

Eric, Investor and Team Member at Gold Retired!

 

Today we shall look at some of the most profitable herbs to grow for sale. Herbal farming may not be very conventional in most corners of the world, but it has found its place amongst farming communities that know the value of these crops. Herbs have many significant uses, ranging from culinary, medicinal, ornamental, and cosmetic purposes. Some of the most profitable herbs in the present-day world include basil, dill, and parsley. As is with all the commodities, however, success at selling these herbs is generally dependent on finding people who purchase them for direct consumption, or for use as a by-product.

Some common applications of Herbs

As we have already highlighted, herbs have many uses. They are those that can be used to achieve a number of purposes, but most happen to fall in one of the following categories:

1. Culinary – Some culinary herbs are more popular than others. Culinary herb farmers sell them in their dry form, or as potted plants so that they can be used to season various foods.
2. Medicinal –There are herbs that have impressive benefits as far as bodily functions such as sleep, digestion and mood are concerned. Farmers who grow herbs for medicinal purposes have to grow them organically and label them appropriately.
3. Cosmetic – some herbs are best left for use in the manufacture of products such as lotion, soaps, and perfumes ( common and rare).
4. Ornamental- such herbs are used in decorations like wreaths.

How to survive (and PROSPER) during the looming global food crisis as an investor 

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Where are herbs grown?

Before growing your herbs, you must consider the required budget, as well as the location in which you will grow them. Growing herbs in a greenhouse can be a lot easier than growing them as potted plants. The costs of setting up a greenhouse may, however, get quite high.

If you consider starting with pots, consider using six-inch pots, so that your plants become. Do not forget to check quantities such as soil quality and ph balance before planting them, as this may significantly affect the quality of your harvest.

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Which are the most profitable herbs to grow for sale?

Factors such as budget, climate, and the amount of land available may contribute to the level of profitability. You can however make your investment in the following herbs:

Oregano -this culinary herb has quite a great taste in most of the best Italian stews, soups, and gravies. Not forgetting its very popular aroma, which makes it a popular herb for use by most chefs.

Basil– Basil has its spot as one of the most widely used culinary herbs. Referred to as the “queen of herbs, basil can grow in almost any type of climate. You can also sell this herb to those who would need it for its medicinal and cosmetic purposes.

Saffron – Saffron takes the top spot as the most expensive spice in the world. It, therefore, has to be the most profitable crop in this category, all factors held constant. The one thing about saffron is that harvesting it can get quite demanding.

Vanilla – If you have tried purchasing vanilla for use in your kitchen, you can attest to the fact that it can get quite expensive, in comparison to other herbs (It is the second most expensive spice, after saffron). Companies that deal with processed food and medicines are the most common users of vanilla in large quantities. You can, therefore, grow vanilla and sell it to them.

Parsley –this popular culinary herb has made it to this list for a number of reasons. It’s perhaps more popular amongst the ancient Greeks. They believed that weaving parsley into a victory crown and feeding it to the horses would help them stand a better chance at winning races.

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How are investors in the agriculture sector making money in this decade?

Other popular profitable herbs

John’s wort – This herb has gained its popularity from its mood-boosting properties. It has also been found to be quite useful in supporting the immune system, as well as skin treatments. Some of its users rely on it mainly for its capability to prevent cases of flu. The healing ingredient of John’s wort plant (known as hypericin) lies at the top part.

Amla –This herb exists as a popular tropical plant that does quite well in various light concentrations and medium types of soil. If you can pool your resources to grow this herb, you can sell it for its medicinal value and its cosmetic properties.

Cilantro –a very popular culinary herb that you may have already used in some of your dishes at home. Cilantro has also been identified as a herb that can help with digestion, along with a host of other medicinal properties.

Aloe Vera – Aloe Vera exists as a high-value medicinal herb that has been praised for its amazing healing properties. Most people swear by the aloe plant for its capability to heal a host of diseases. This herb also finds its use in the cosmetic industry as a highly preferred skincare ingredient and in the beverage industry.

Lavender– This herb has a host of medicinal values, the most common ones being the relief of pain and the improvement of several nervous systems Those who grow lavender can sell it in the form of fresh flowers. Farmers can also sell it as dried flowers, which are used in wreaths and many floral arrangements. Lavender has also found its use in the making of herbal pillows, the manufacture of skin care products, as well as lavender oil (a top-selling essential oil).

How To Invest In The Agriculture Industry Like a Pro | Research-backed Insights

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That will be all for this article on profitable herbs to grow for sale. Which are your favorite herbs? Did they feature in this list? If yes, would you consider making money by planting some for sale, or would you rather make money through other alternatives? Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments section, after reading my recommended agriculture research report in the link above.

I wish you well,

Eric, Investor and Team Member at Gold Retired!

What is yield farming about? What does it entail? Should you start taking part in it, or should you keep off? Welcome to today’s article, in which we shall explore this concept that most crypto enthusiasts are concerned about.

===> Investment advise you can trust

What is yield farming?

Yield farming also referred to as liquidity mining,  exists as an approach to generate rewards with one’s crypto holdings. Simply put, yield farming means locking up one’s crypto assets to get returns and rewards.

In one way or another, yield farming can be likened to staking. There’re, however, many complexities in the background. The liquidity providers (LP) usually add funds to the liquidity funds.

Liquidity providers and liquidity pools

Liquidity pools are essentially smart contracts that have funds. When an LP provides liquidity to the liquidity pool, they get a reward. The reward received by the LP may come from fees collected by the DeFi platform on which the entire process happens, or from another source.

Some liquidity pools reward LPs using several tokens. The reward tokens may then get deposited in other liquidity pools that they can earn rewards. As you can see, the strategies involved in the process are quite complex. The basic idea, however, is that when an LP deposits funds into a certain liquidity pool, they get returns and rewards.

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How can you use research-backed insights to invest like a professional?

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Yield farming typically happens with ERC-20 Tokens on Ethereum. The rewards sent to the LPs are a type ERC-20 tokens. This may change in the future with many activities going on in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Cross-chain bridges may end up saving the day by allowing other DeFi apps to eventually become blockchain agnostic. This basically means that these apps will have the capability to run on other blockchains, provided they support smart contracts.

Yield farmers usually their funds in the form of crypto assets quite often. They hope that as they hop from one protocol to the other one, that they will find one that will help them generate high yields. This means that DeFi platforms have an opportunity to offer economic incentives in a bid to attract extra capital on their platforms. As is the case with centralized exchanges, with liquidity, one can attract more liquidity.

The cause of the yield farming boom

In 2020, there was a sudden growth in the level of interest in yield farming. Experts in this industry attributed this sudden phenomenon to the successful launch of the COMP token.

COMP Token exists as the governance token issued by Compound Finance ecosystem. Governance tokens usually grant the governance tokens to their holders. How can then such tokens get distributed if the objective is to ensure that the network remains as decentralized as possible?

One common approach to establish a decentralized blockchain is through the distribution of the governance tokens algorithmically, by attaching liquidity incentives. The incentives attract the liquidity providers to join the DeFi platform to “farm” the new token. They usually achieve this by providing liquidity to this protocol.

As much as the launch of COMP did not invent yield farming, it did an impressive job at giving this token distribution model its popularity. Since the invention of COMP, several other DeFi projects have commenced and have established innovative schemes to bring in LPs to their ecosystems.

How Yield Farming works

As we have already seen, yield farming basically involves liquidity providers (LPs) and Liquidity Pools. The process starts with the LPs depositing funds into a given liquidity pool. This pool powers the marketplace in which the lending, borrowing, and exchange of tokens can occur. The users of this marketplace pay fees to use various services. The same fees are usually used to pay the liquidity providers based on the share of funds they offered to the liquidity pool. Evidently, yield farming resembles another popular model known as an automated market model (AMM). The implementation of the two models can however be significantly different. On top of that, yield farming is an entirely new technology.

In addition to the fees, the other incentive to LPs to add funds to the liquidity pools is, potentially, the distribution of new tokens. For instance, there may not be a defined way to purchase a certain token on the open market, apart from in small amounts. The token may, however, get accumulated by offering liquidity to a given liquidity pool.

All rules of token distribution in a given platform depend on how the uniqueness of the implementation of the underlying protocol. With most platforms, however, it’s safe to say that the return an LP gets is based on the amount of liquidity provided to a liquidity pool.

Stablecoins deposited to liquidity pools

The funds deposited to liquidity pools are mostly stablecoins whose value is attached to the USD (not a general requirement). Some of the very common stablecoins used in DeFis include:

• DAI
• USDT
• USDC
• BUSD

Some protocols have the capability to mint new tokens that represent the of funds deposited in their system. If you for instance deposit ETH into the Compound DeFi, you will get cETH.

I know you can begin to begin the many complexities that can arise from this model. Some investors can, for instance, deposit their cETH to a platform that also works by minting a third token that should represent the cETH that represents the initially deposited ETH. This can go on and on, forming complex chains that are hard to follow.

How returns are calculated in yield farming

In most cases, investors calculate estimated yield farming returns on an annual basis. The figure obtained represents the returns one can expect over the course of that year.

The most common metrics used to determine the returns are:

• Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
• Annual Percentage Yield ( APY)

What’s the difference between the two metrics? APR does not usually consider the effects of compounding, whereas APY factors in these effects. Compounding refers to the reinvestment of profits in a bid to earn more returns. Note that APR and APY can be used interchangeably.

Also keep in mind that these are only estimates, and can change within no time (even in the short-term horizon). Yield farming is highly competitive and when many farmers jump on a profitable opportunity, its returns may diminish with time.

With time, DeFi will need to establish a new metric to calculate returns. The fast-paced environment makes it hard for investors to remain very confident about their returns unless on a weekly or daily scope.

Investing Like The Experts | Investment Advice To Help You Grow Your Wealth Consistently 

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That’s all for this article on what yield farming is all about. I hope that you now know a thing or two about this concept and that you can help your friends and family understand what it entails. Let me know if you have any more questions related to this topic. Also, do not forget to have a look at the about resource. It is value-packed and may help you get a turning point in your financial life.

I wish you well,

Eric, Investor and Team Member at Gold Retired!