Making Money from a Dairy Farm Business

Anyone who knows the money-making aspects of cows and has a love for taking care of them can find an enjoyable and lucrative business in starting a dairy farm. You don’t know what to prepare for this venture?

Starting a dairy farm business won’t be a problem. Just go through this article and you will find the answers you‘ll need start up.

If you like to rear animals such as cows and recognize their money-making capabilities, then you can start a dairy farm business. You can make off milking cows and selling them off to big dairy companies, or sell them off as your own products if you can afford the processing equipment.

Types of Cattle to Use

The type of cattle to use for this kind of business is cow. Cows are the core of your dairy farm business. They are the animals that provides the milk that you‘ll be selling off for money, and they are also responsible

for reproducing other cows that can grow your business. Obviously, the majority of cattle that you will rear in your farm should be cows (female cattle). However, if you also wish to make off money selling cattle to abattoir, you might want to retain a male and few females for breeding.

Examples of Some Dairy Cows

White Fulani, Holstein/Friesian, Jersey, Ayrshere, Guernsey, Dairy short horn, Kerry, Red poll, Dexter, South devon, Muturu, Shuwa (wadara), Azawal, Biu.

Cow Feeds (Feeding cow)

When you rear animals like ruminants e.g. cow, you should also feed on a number of plants: grass (allow them to graze freely on a rangeland (natural or artificial)), corn or grain, among others. You can buy these feeds from third-party farmers or, better yet, you can choose to grow them right next to your dairy farm. You can save up that way, and you can also make another business: selling off feeds that you have extra from feeding your cows. You can also grow corn for your own-consumption.

Machine/Equipment Needed to Start a Dairy Farm Business

Dairy farms are one of the more expensive business to operate and start. You need to have some elaborate equipment in order to pull the business off properly. Some of the more important dairy farm equipment includes:

Tractor

This is an important equipment for pulling machinery around. Most of the other equipment cannot be operated without this.

Hay baler

Responsible for producing bale that is then fed to the cows. Each round bale produced by this machine is enough to feed 25 cows a day.

Tractor Coupled Machines

The used to harvest crops for feeding the cows, or for selling off. If you plan to grow your own feeds, you would need this definitely.

Storage Facilities

These facilities are useful storing the feeds and plants that you grow in your farm. There are also specialized buildings that are designed to store cow’s manure, as they are good fertilizers for the crops.

Milking Machine

This will help make your life easier. Having automated milking machine in your dairy farm will helpb cut the time required for you to produce milk from your cows, rather than doing it by hand.

Costs of Starting a Dairy Farm Business

      Dairy farming can be a lucrative and rewarding business, but determining the amount of capital  required  to start a dairy farm can be a daunting  task. To calculate the cost of starting  a dairy farm, document some basic information on a spreadsheet. Start by following some common steps

• Establish the total area of your dairy farm 
• Determine the number of dairy cattle that the grazing area can legally support. 
• Multiply the number of cattle that you can house by the basic individual monthly animal maintenance costs. 
• Itemize the equipment that you will need to lease or purchase 
• Estimate your non-livestock monthly operating costs: Including your mortgage, utility bills, payroll, farm vehicles, etc 
• Check with your local government to find out if it has licensing fees related to starting a dairy farm. 
• Request insurance quotes.