Breeding dairy cows as a business. Breeding cows for milk: features and prospects
- Product Description
- Marketing Plan
- Production plan
- Milk
- Meat
- Calendar plan
- Financial plan
- Which equipment to choose
- Similar business ideas:
We propose to consider a business plan for cattle breeding using the example of a small farm in the Ulyanovsk region. This business plan can be used as a feasibility study for agricultural activities. enterprises when receiving a bank loan or participating in government support.
Description of the cattle breeding project
We bring to your attention a feasibility study for the creation of a small enterprise for breeding cattle.
The goal of the project is to breed beef and dairy cattle for subsequent agricultural sales. products to the population in the form of milk and meat.
The production of this type of product is a promising direction, since the meat products market is one of the largest food markets. Meat products are in constant demand both among the population and among organizations when purchasing meat products for further processing.
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Where to start implementing the project
- Construction of premises for livestock breeding;
- Purchase of young animals for meat and dairy production;
- Growing and breeding animals in order to obtain a finished product in the form of milk and meat;
- Sales of finished products (milk and meat) to the population.
To implement the project, it is planned to attract credit funds in the amount of 650 thousand rubles. The entire amount of the loan received will be used for the purchase of fixed assets and the construction of premises for keeping livestock.
How much money do you need to start a cattle breeding business?
| No. | Name | Amount, rub. |
| 1 | Construction of an industrial premises 30m*6m (incl.) | 170 000 |
| 1.1 | Expanded clay concrete blocks (3 thousand pieces) | 90 000 |
| 1.2 | Sand (10t) | 4 000 |
| 1.3 | Cement (50 bags) | 14 000 |
| 1.4 | Lumber (5 cubic meters) and roofing | 40 000 |
| 1.5 | Crushed stone (10t) | 12 000 |
| 1.6 | Construction works | 10 000 |
| 2 | Cows, 5 heads | 250 000 |
| 3 | Young cattle (bulls), 12 heads | 170 000 |
| 4 | Feed (barley, oats, hay, straw) for 12 months | 60 000 |
| TOTAL | 650 000 | |
To carry out the production activities of the enterprise, an individual entrepreneurship was registered.
Which OKVED code should I indicate when registering this business?
The main activity of an individual entrepreneur is OKVED code 01.2 - livestock.
Which tax system to choose for cattle breeding
The simplified taxation system (STS) was chosen as the taxation system - 6% of gross income.
At the beginning of the project, the following livestock will be purchased:
- Cows aged 24 months - 5 heads;
- Young cattle (bulls) aged 6 months - 12 heads;
A total of 17 goals.
The main part of the feed will be purchased from farmers. processing enterprises at retail prices. The rest of the feed (hay and straw) will be partially procured by the individual entrepreneur.
The production activities of the farm will be carried out with the involvement of 2 hired workers for general laborer positions.
Table No. 1: Planned staffing
| Job title | Number of employees, people | Salary, rub./month. | Total, rub. |
| Handyman | 2 | 10 000 | 20 000 |
| TOTAL | 2 | — | 20 000 |
Product Description
The project provides for the purchase of young cattle from third-party organizations with further raising of the livestock on the farm and the sale of meat and dairy products.
The activities of our farm will be divided into 3 stages:
- purchase of young animals (up to 6 months old);
- animal care;
- sale of the resulting products - meat and milk.
To obtain high milk yield, it is planned to purchase a highly productive black-and-white breed for dairy production. This breed of cow is capable of producing about 8,000 liters of milk with a fat content of 3.5 - 4% or 20 liters of milk per day during the lactation period (305 days). The live weight of an adult cow is from 450 to 600 kg. In one calendar year, a cow consumes an average of 18 tons of feed.
To raise beef cattle, calves of the Simmental breed will be purchased. This breed of cattle is characterized by increased meat productivity; by the age of 18 months, the bull gains weight from 850 to 1100 kg.
The cattle feeding diet will include:
- Compound feed;
- Straw;
- Hay;
- Haylage;
- Roots;
- Beet;
- Potato;
- Cake and meal.
Marketing Plan
The main competitors of our farm will be similar producers, personal subsidiary plots, peasant farms and larger agricultural production complexes.
Sales of manufactured products are planned to be carried out in the following areas:
- Sales of products at retail outlets in Dimitrovgrad, in particular at the “meat market”;
- Sales of meat and milk in the locality at the place of registration of the individual entrepreneur;
- Sale of manufactured products in small wholesale to reseller organizations;
- Sale of products in the form of exit trade (from a car) in neighboring settlements.
Sales of products will be carried out at prices:
- Beef retail: 250 rub./kg;
- Beef wholesale: 170 rub./kg;
- Milk retail: 35 rub./l.;
- Milk wholesale: 24 rub./kg.
It is planned to sell up to 2250 liters per month. milk and 350 kg of meat, or:
- Retail milk - 1000 kg;
- Wholesale milk - 1250 kg;
- Retail meat - 150 kg;
- Meat wholesale - 200 kg.
Production plan
To determine the main economic indicators of the enterprise’s activity, we will calculate the planned expenses and income of our farm.
To grow and maintain 1 head per month, an average of 1.5 tons of feed (hay, straw, grain) is required. One adult cow eats about 50 kg of feed per day. The average cost of a feed ration (50 kg) per day is 80 rubles, per month - 2400 rubles per head. To maintain 17 heads per month, an average of 41,000 rubles will be spent.
In total, the total monthly costs will be 79,000 rubles.
How much can you earn from this business?
Let's move on to calculating the monthly gross income of the farm.
Milk
On average, one cow produces 20 liters of milk per day. For the first 2 months, 10 liters of milk will be used to feed the calves. Subsequently, all milk is used for sale. Considering that 2 months are allocated for calving, the planned volume of milk sales per year will be 5400 liters per cow:
- 30 days*20 liters/day*8 months=4800 liters
- 30 days*10 liters/day*2 months=600 liters
Accordingly, from 5 heads per year you can get up to 27,000 liters of milk.
Meat
Bulls purchased at the age of 6 months, with proper nutrition and care, will gain up to 500 kg of live weight in 1 year; with a meat yield of 70%, the yield is about 350 kg each.
Accordingly, from 12 heads you can get up to 4200 kg of marketable meat.
Table No. 3 Average monthly revenue of the farm
| No. | Name | Price per kg, rub. | Sales volume per month, kg. | Revenue per month, rub. | Revenue per year, rub. |
| 1 | Milk at retail | 35 | 1000 | 35 000 | 420 000 |
| 2 | Milk wholesale | 24 | 1250 | 30 000 | 360 000 |
| 3 | Meat at retail | 250 | 150 | 37 500 | 450 000 |
| 4 | Meat wholesale | 170 | 200 | 34 000 | 408 000 |
| TOTAL | X | X | 136 500 | 1 638 000* | |
In total, the total monthly revenue will be 1,638,000 rubles.
* For ease of calculation, sales volumes are indicated by month. However, in the financial forecast, for the first time, meat will not be sold for several months (unlike milk), but as the young animals grow, the entire volume of meat will be sold. As a result, the proceeds received from the sale of meat will cover all previous costs of maintaining the animals, and the remainder of the funds will be our profit.
Calendar plan
To implement the project it is necessary to carry out the following activities:
Table No. 4 Project implementation schedule
| N p/p | Name of the project stage | start date | expiration date | Stage cost |
| 1 | Construction of a production facility | 01.05.2013 | 01.07.2013 | 170 000 |
| 2 | Purchase of young cattle | 01.07.2013 | 15.07.2013 | 420 000 |
| 3 | Purchase of feed | 01.07.2013 | 15.07.2013 | 60 000 |
| 4 | Start of activity | 15.07.2013 | — | — |
It is planned that milk sales will begin in the fall of 2013. The sale of the first batch of meat is planned for the summer of 2014.
Financial plan
To organize a farm, investments in the amount of 650 thousand rubles will be required. For these purposes, a bank loan will be issued.
The main expenses of a farm will be the cost of raising animals, that is, for feed - 41 thousand rubles per month. The second largest expense item is the payment of wages to two workers - 20 thousand rubles. per month.
Based on the above data, it is possible to calculate the main indicators of the economic efficiency of the farm.
How much can you ultimately earn from cattle production?
Net profit based on annual sales of milk and meat will be 556,720 rubles.
Farm profitability = 58,7% Project payback at these rates it will be 14 months.What can you do right now?
Download the premium business plan for cattle breeding with quality guarantee
This is a full-fledged, finished project, and not a school essay. There are no such projects in the public domain. Contents of a business plan for cattle production:- Confidentiality
- Summary
- Project implementation stages
- Object characteristics
- Marketing Plan
- Technical and economic data of equipment
- Financial plan
- Risk assessment
- Financial and economic justification for investments
- conclusions
Which equipment to choose
- Tractors for transporting feed and removing manure from barns.
- Various attachments for tractors necessary for collecting and preparing hay: mowers, rakes, tedders, plows, etc.
- Gazelle for transporting dairy and meat products to the market.
In addition to the basic equipment, it is also necessary to purchase milk cans, shovels, forks and other agricultural tools.
What documents are needed to open
Raising cattle for commercial purposes to sell meat and milk requires registration of an individual entrepreneur or LLC, depending on the volume of production and the number of co-founders. Documents required for registration of an individual entrepreneur: an application certified by a notary, a photocopy of the passport and ID code, a receipt for payment of the state duty, as well as an indication of the required OKVED codes. After this, a veterinary examination of the animals will also be required in order to be able to sell meat and milk on the market.
Do I need permission to open?
To open a farm, you will need to obtain permission from the fire inspectorate and sanitary-epidemiological station. In addition, you need to open up the face of communication and choose the optimal form of taxation.
It is better to focus cattle breeding on the production of two types of products: milk and meat. To sell milk, the best option would be to enter into a wholesale distribution agreement with nearby dairies. This way you can always supply fresh goods to the market, regardless of the amount of milk produced. To sell milk at retail, we recommend considering the option with selling milk through a milk machine.
Additionally, you can organize the production of skins, wool, and young animals. Also remember that success in the cattle business lies primarily in the health of the animal, so hiring a full-time cattle breeder and veterinarian is a must. It is better to start a business with a small farm, and gradually invest the money received in its expansion. This will allow you to better feel the market, coordinate contact with the consumer and amortize start-up costs.
How to increase your chances of success before the project starts
Before you finally decide which breeding business to start, pay attention to other business plans, it is better to invest a little time and a small amount of money on detailed research now, than later sadly think about who needs my products.
4 ready-made business plans for breeding that you can download right now
See also several similar premium business plans:
- Business plan for breeding sheep, goats, rams
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Any business requires registration and accounting:
- Open an individual entrepreneur for free without leaving home (online)
- How to do basic bookkeeping and submit reports via the Internet without a staff of accountants, using an online service
Breeding dairy and beef cattle is a branch of livestock farming in our time, unfortunately, not particularly profitable. However, with the right approach to business, it is still possible to get a relatively good profit from such an enterprise.
In order to get things going well, the farmer needs to take care of choosing the most suitable breed of cows, build a comfortable barn for the animals and provide them with high-quality feed. Also, a novice entrepreneur will need to draw up a detailed business plan for cattle breeding.
Where to start: registration of an enterprise
Before starting to build a farm, an entrepreneur needs to take care of its legalization. Most often, such enterprises are registered either asKFK (peasant farm) orPrivate household plot (personal subsidiary)or simply as an individual entrepreneur. A cattle breeding farm must be registered using a special code (livestock breeding). In this case, taxes in the future will not have to be paid too much.Currently, farmers consider KFK to be the most profitable type of registration. The owner of such an enterprise can also choose the most suitable taxation system for himself.
RBreeding cattle for dairy and meat in our time -supported including by the state. The owners of such an enterprise can even count on small financial support (about 60 thousand rubles). Funds for organizing a barn are given mainly to individual entrepreneurs. You can get money from your local employment office.
Area of activity
Most often, cows in our country are bred to produce milk. However, sometimes these animals are also kept for meat. Before starting to build a farm, an entrepreneur, of course, needs to decide on the direction of the business. If there are large enterprises in the vicinity for the production of sausages, stews and other similar products, it may make sense to organize a “meat” farm. Otherwise, it is better to focus on such a popular product as milk. There are enterprises for its processing in almost every city in Russia.
Choosing a site for a farm
Composingbusiness plan for cattle breeding,this issue should also be given maximum attention.Place underbarn neededchoose correctly. Sheds dmust be located, of course,at some distance from residential buildings and areas of settlements. Before you buy a plot or enter into a lease agreement, you should make sure that there is water for a well in this place.
Also, when choosing land, the farmer should take into account the expected livestock. It is believed that per cow there should be:
perennialgrass meadows - 0.5-0.7 ha;
annual and silage - 0.15-0.25 ha.
Also, agricultural enterprises engaged in the cultivation of root crops and grains should be located near the farm.
Staff
Breeding cows as a business is a complex matter. And it will most likely be impossible to cope with it alone. In addition to building a barn and determining where to purchase feed, an entrepreneur who decides to start raising cattle will also need to think about hiring workers for the farm. It is believed that an enterprise of such specialization cannot do without:
milkmaid;
Rlaborers
In some cases, the owner of the farm can take on some of the responsibilities (record keeping, sales).
Profitability calculation
The costs of organizing a cattle farm are usually significant. So, building a cowshedsmallsizes(for 7 cows and 3 bulls) will costapproximately at200 thousand roubles. Breeding adult animals cost about 200-300 rubles. per kilogram of mass. The weight of such cows is on average 700 kg. That is, for 10 animals you will have to pay about 200 thousand rubles. Registration of entrepreneurial activity will cost about 20 thousand rubles. Thus, the actual organization of the farm will cost no less than 420 thousand rubles.
Breeding cattle for dairy production, just like meat production, also involves costs for animal feed and wages for employees.
Farmers usually purchase about 40-45 thousand rubles worth of feed per cow per year. Thus, for 10 heads you will have to spend 400-450 thousand rubles. Employees will need to be paid:
one milkmaid - at least 15 thousand rubles. per month;
one handyman 13 thousand;
Total per month is approximately28 thousand roubles.,and per year -336 thousand roubles. That is, the cost of maintaining the farm per year will be 450,000 +336 000 = 786 thousand rubles. The farmer will also have to pay taxes (depending on the chosen scheme) and spend money on equipment repairs.
When drawing up a business plan for cattle breeding, you should also calculate your expected income. They will depend on the cost of products supplied to the market. The retail price for a kilogram of milk on the market is approximately 50 rubles. One breeding cow can produce 4000-6000 kg per lactation. Consequently, when selling milk at retail from 7 animals per year, you can get about 1,750,000 rubles.
Based on these figures, it will not be difficult to roughly calculate the profitability of a dairy farm. The cost of keeping beef cows will be about the same. Income is determined taking into account the cost of a kilogram of meat. The average price for this product on the market is400 rub. Weightbulls of slaughter age are 500-800 kg (live). The meat yield in this case can be equal to 50-65%, that is, about 300 kg. Thus, the income from one animal will be 120,000 rubles. From 10 bulls you can get 1,200,000 rubles.
Business plan for cattle breeding: which breed to choose
So, the net profit from a cattle breeding farm of 10 animals per year can be approximately 500 thousand rubles. However, not every cow can produce 6000 kg of milk, and not every beef bull can gain 800 kg of weight. Therefore, a farmer who wants to make a profit from his enterprise must approach the choice of breed responsibly.
The most productive dairy cow today is, of course, the Holstein. With good care, such cows can produce up to 9 thousand kg of product per year. Also popular among Russian farmers are the following breeds:
red steppe;
black-and-white;
Kholmogory, etc.
All these cows, depending on the conditions of detention, produce 4-6 thousand kg of milk during the lactation period. Of course, it is most profitable to keep Holstein cows on the farm. However, cattle are, unfortunately, quite demanding in terms of care. Therefore, a novice farmer should most likely choose a “simpler” breed. In the future, you can think about buying Holsteins.
Breeding beef cattle will be the most profitable business when choosing bulls of the following breeds:
Hereford;
Belgian;
white Aquitanian.
Construction of cattle breeding farms
The productivity of cows will also depend on how good living conditions the owner provides them. Therefore, the construction of sheds should be approached with all responsibility. The size of the farm is determined based on the fact that there should be approximately 20 m 3 of free space per animal. The barn plan should include:
stalls with manure, feed and cross passages;
feed preparation room;
rooms for storing equipment, vaccinations, personnel.
A cattle farm for meat production must also be equipped with a mini-slaughterhouse and a refrigeration compartment.
Of course, in the winter, barns must be heated. Therefore, the barn will need to be equipped with a boiler room. Also, the farm design must include a ventilation scheme for the premises.
It will, of course, be problematic for an entrepreneur to build even a small barn for 10 heads on his own. In any case, you will have to hire a construction team. To build a large farm, you may also need specialists who are ready to draw up a barn project for a fee.
It is believed that inexpensive foam blocks are the best material for building a truss. Also today on the market there are ready-made barns made of metal structures. Their advantages are speed of assembly and relatively low cost.
Stern
To get a lot of milk or meat, the farm owner will have to develop a suitable diet for the animals. Cows are fed:
concentrates;
roughage;
root vegetables.
Grain or special compound feeds are usually used as concentrates. Roughage is primarily hay. Juicy - beets, carrots, potatoes. This diet is provided for cattle in winter. In the summer, cows are usually driven out to pasture. The cows are in the meadow all day. The owner of a small farm can negotiate grazing with a shepherd from a nearby village. The owner of a large enterprise will most likely have to hire such an employee separately. In summer, cows are given concentrated feed and root vegetables in the morning and evening.
In addition to grain, hay, grass, beets and silage, cows should also receive vitamins, as well as microelements necessary for their body. Therefore, the farm owner will need to purchase various kinds of premix additives for them.
Often, barn owners include in the diet of their pets commercially prepared feed according to special recipes. When using them, raising cattle and keeping them is more expensive. But the productivity of cows also increases. When using mixed feed in the diet, it is not necessary to include additional premixes. They are included in industrial compositions initially.
Hotels
In addition to stalls and utility rooms, the barn design should also include a room for young animals. Dairy calves are taken from their mother almost immediately. They are fed artificially. After all, milk in this case is the main product of the farm. At meat enterprises for breeding cattle, young animals are left with the cow to suckle. This contributes to faster weight gain in calves and reduced mortality.
Vaccinations and sanitation rules
The benefits from maintaining a farm can be obtained, although not too great, but quite acceptable. However, often beginning farmers are faced with such a serious problem as the death of livestock, and, accordingly, the loss of funds invested in the business.
Some cattle diseases are fatal, others can lead to significant reductions in productivity. Moreover, infections usually spread very quickly in barns. Therefore, maximum attention should be paid to the sanitary condition of cattle premises. The cattle farm must be cleaned daily. In addition, animals need to be vaccinated.
Hiring a veterinarian on a small farm is, of course, unnecessary. In most cases, the owners of such farms, if vaccination is necessary, simply invite specialists from the nearest veterinary clinic for a fee. On a large farm, a doctor of this specialization, of course, must be hired on staff.
The most common diseases in cattle are:
brucellosis;
leukemia;
leptospirosis;
mad cow disease;
tuberculosis.
It is worth finding out exactly what diseases cows should be vaccinated against in a particular region and with what frequency in the regional veterinary clinic in the epidemic prevention department.
Creation of a farm: sales of products
Thus, organizing a cattle breeding enterprise is quite difficult. This is also a relatively expensive matter. But nowadays it’s even more difficult to find sales markets. The cost of milk and meat given in the article above is retail. If the farm is designed for only 10 animals, perhaps its owner will be able to find direct markets. When expanding an enterprise with retail sales, certain difficulties may arise. The owner of a large farm will most likely have to sell products in bulk to enterprises of the appropriate specialization. In this case, the price per liter of milk or kilogram of meat will be much lower. When calculating possible profits, this must be taken into account.
Sale of calves
Owners of a farm with cattle can make a profit not only from the sale of milk or meat. Many owners of such enterprises are also engaged in such business as cattle breeding. Pedigree calves are quite expensive today. There are always quite a lot of hunters to buy such animals. The price of one purebred calf on the market today is about 12 thousand rubles.
Instead of a conclusion
As you can see, building cattle farms is a rather complex and responsible matter. Of course, you can make a profit from such an enterprise. However, you will have to spend a lot of money on organizing a business of such specialization. In any case, of course, you need to have certain skills in keeping this type of farm animal. Such a business is most likely only suitable for a person who is familiar with the basics of keeping cattle first-hand.
The initial organization of any business requires certain actions. These include an adequate assessment of one’s own strengths and capabilities (breeding calves requires dedication and time). It is also important to take into account the conditions of the region, since raising large animals requires large areas. It is impossible to organize the process in urban areas.
When planning the supply of meat to public catering establishments and shops, mandatory business registration will be required.
An important question on which the specifics of the case depends: “What does the farmer choose: purchasing young stock or independent?” Buying individuals eliminates a number of problems:
- acquisition of bull semen (or maintenance of a breeding bull);
- carrying out fertilization;
- organization of a separate building.
REFERENCE! In order for the bull to gain weight, optimal housing conditions must be created. Growth and development will depend on the amenities created.
Calves should only be kept in dry barns. The stalls must have a dense and reliable floor. Daily housekeeping is required. It is recommended to clean the floor with a stiff brush, and during warm periods, rinse it with running water.
Features of the case
The activity is specific. Calves need to be actively fed until a certain age, then slaughtered(or sell live weight). The peculiarity of the business is small investments.
The main difficulties are associated with the expenditure of effort and time on caring for animals. There are usually no problems with the sale of meat products: a wide market makes it possible to quickly sell the finished product.
Among the features of keeping bulls are the following:
Is it profitable?
The growth period of meat for slaughter is from 12 to 20 months. The average weight of one bull is 350 kg. The cost of meat and profit margins will depend on the conditions of each specific region. The business will fully pay off in 1-2 years. The work will generate income only if implemented correctly. People who are not afraid of physical labor should start such a business.
ADVICE! If you sell meat directly to stores or restaurants, your income will be significantly higher than when selling to wholesalers.
Characteristics of a suitable site
The preferred area for raising beef bulls is a plot with a large and free area of land. It could be a mini farm, an old dacha, a private farmstead. There must be a place for organizing the corral and walking of livestock.
In the summer, animals will begin to actively gain weight - this will require daily walking (keeping them in a stall will increase aggressiveness and cause illness). There should be meadows or fields for grazing near the barn.
We are equipping the building
Area per head – 10 sq.m. (including food storage space). Brick or slab (inexpensive but high-quality material) are suitable for building a shed. From an economic point of view, it is more profitable to rent a ready-made complex with everything you need.
Bulls are clean animals, so The barn must be arranged so that it is easy to clean. Attention should also be paid to the selected area: water should not accumulate on it.
Organizing a barn
The characteristics of a suitable building are warmth (not lower than 8 degrees), good ventilation and the possibility of ventilation. Drafts are strictly prohibited - they provoke illness. When the herd size is more than 10 heads, it is better to automate the process of supplying water and feed.
It is important that animals have constant free access to feeders and drinkers (but it is not advisable to place them on the floor; the optimal height is 8-10 cm from the floor level). To purify the air inside the building, farmers use ash - it absorbs ammonia and gases. You can pour it on paths or pour it into boxes.
How to choose animals?
When choosing a breed, you need to consider several important indicators:
- Live weight: does the calf meet breed standards?
- Level of development, general physique, presence of defects or deficiencies.
- Pedigree of the calf (mother's productivity and father's weight).
Purchase of young animals
When selecting individuals, you should pay attention to weight (optimal 90-100 kg) and age.
It is preferable to purchase young animals from special farms that engage in breeding. You can also purchase calves from breeding breeders.
Dairy bulls have a low purchase price (they need to be fed milk for up to 3 months).
Common types
Some cultivation features and the payback period depend on the breed. Farmers recommend buying fast-growing young animals, but not forgetting about the taste characteristics of the meat.
Before choosing a breed, you need to find out which individuals are suitable for keeping in the region of residence (expensive breeding bulls may not take root in a certain area). List of the best breeds:
- Charolais;
- Kazakh white-headed;
- Simmental;
Young animals must be kept separately from adult bulls (a separate barn must be built for calves). It is allowed to keep bulls with cows - this way the temperament of the males will be calmer.
In summer, it is possible to keep bull calves in the open air, but the pens will need to be additionally equipped with special plastic booths. Manure is removed 3 times a day, immediately after feeding.
IMPORTANT! Hoof horn growth should be monitored. Hoofs need to be trimmed and trimmed twice a year.
The walking area should be fenced with the strongest possible materials. Adult bulls can be released outside if they have a special stick and leash. The stick is secured in the nose ring of the individual. It is not recommended to walk with females or young animals at the same time.
Nutrition
In productive bulls the meat content is not less than 70%. To achieve this result, you need to provide intensive feeding. You won’t achieve high results with hay and succulent grasses: The following products must be present in the diet:
Adding concentrates will replenish the body's supply of vitamins and microelements. The basis of the winter diet is hay, mixed feed and root vegetables. In summer, the main product is juicy and fresh grass. Individuals must spend at least 15 hours on pasture.
About reproduction
How to breed bulls? A breeding bull impregnates up to 50 cows per year. You can keep it on your own farm or use services (manual mating - a cow is brought to the bull). When individuals of different breeds mate, crossing or crossbreeding occurs. Among natural reproduction technologies:
- manual (matting under control);
- cooking method;
- free method.
Note! Today, natural reproduction methods are practically not used.
Business
Selling meat is a profitable business that will provide a stable income. The main model of activity is to rent a plot and purchase young animals, raise them and then sell them.
To be profitable, the herd size should not be less than 10 heads. It is especially important to create suitable housing conditions and maintain a balanced diet for animals. Up to 15 heads can be handled on your own; over 15, you will need hired personnel.
Is registration necessary?
Business registration is a prerequisite for sales and supplies. The farmer becomes an individual entrepreneur and receives appropriate quality certificates. Several other options are suitable for design:
- personal farming (not related to business);
- peasant-farmer plot (requires the involvement of partners).
We are recruiting staff
As assistants you need to choose people who know how and love to look after animals. It is also important to pay attention to personal qualities (responsibility, discipline).
For a herd of 20 bulls, 2-3 assistants are enough. Be sure to have a veterinarian on staff. This may be a permanent position or a visiting specialist.
Quantitative indicators: expenses and profits
Initial costs go towards setting up a barn, purchasing young animals and purchasing feed. On average, to open a farm and form a herd of 20 heads, you will need up to 500 thousand rubles.
Feed costs will amount to up to 20 thousand per year per bull. Additional expenses will appear later: a mini-tractor, a refrigerator, automatic feeders.
Attention! The initial investment will pay off in 16-18 months. The average amount of net profit is from 400 thousand per year.
Making a plan
The document contains the goal, directions of activity, calculation of costs and profits. A business plan for raising bull calves for meat, breeding and maintaining a herd of 20 heads includes the following expenses:
- Purchasing young animals.
- Renting and subsequent arrangement of the barn.
- Veterinary control and purchase of feed.
Is it profitable to raise bulls for meat? Income is calculated based on current prices. The expected amount and period of partial and full payback are necessarily included in the business strategy.
Raising calves for meat is an economically profitable enterprise. Remember that such activities require time, expense and physical effort. With proper organization and reasonable distribution of processes, you can establish a client base and receive a stable profit.
Useful video
Watch a video about raising bulls for meat:
Breeding cattle (cattle) is one of the most ancient human activities. Today, like hundreds of years ago, it can become profitable and bring in good income if you approach it wisely. It is no coincidence that the people have always called the cow “nurse”.
The cattle breeding business involves working not only with cows, but also with buffalos, yaks, etc., however, in Russia it is more profitable and more common to breed cows and bulls. Their meat and dairy products will be easier to sell.
Where should you start?
When dealing with cows, you will have to regularly resort to the services of a veterinarian, even if the livestock is completely healthy. According to Russian legislation, there are a number of mandatory annual vaccinations against some severe or rapidly spreading diseases: mad cow disease, rhinotracheitis, viral diarrhea, leptospirosis, and so on.
In addition, the veterinarian will issue health certificates for the animals, which will be needed to sell meat and milk. So, get to know the veterinarian you will see regularly. Next, you need to calculate the initial investment and start purchasing.
When purchasing cattle, be sure to ask for a certificate from a veterinarian that each animal is healthy.
Construction of a barn
First you need to build a barn. It must be a thoughtful, well-planned building. The barn should be warm. This does not mean that it must be heated, far from it. The main thing is that there are no cracks and holes that result in drafts.
In temperate and northern latitudes, winters can be very frosty. If you want to get maximum milk yield and growth, it is better to provide heating during this period, at least in the calf barn. Most cows hatch in the spring, coming out into the herd after wintering, so calving usually occurs in the winter months.
The room should have opening windows, as good lighting and sufficient ventilation are required in the warm season. It is necessary to make a wide entrance. When a cow is in position, her sides become very wide. In addition, it sways when walking, so the optimal opening width is 1.5 m.
The barn can be simple or automated, but in any case it must be warm and contain running water, sewer drains, and separate stalls with feeders and drinkers.
Next, you need to provide drain channels for liquid drainage. The general drain should extend beyond the barn; do it on a slope. If you don’t want a heavy odor, install concrete cesspools with hatches. Each unit of cattle must have its own place with a feed sector and a drinking bowl. It is advisable to separate the stalls with a structure made of welded pipes, since cows are not always friendly to each other, and we do not need fights in the barn.
Purchase of livestock
This is a very important stage in setting up a farm: the profitability of your business will depend on what cows and bulls you buy. In Russia there are both purebred animals and half-breeds, often with inbreeding. It is useless to expect large milk yields and weight gain from such specimens. It is better to purchase animals from nurseries or large farms, where the purity of the breed is closely monitored.
When purchasing cattle, there are two options: buy adult (but not old) cows or buy young cattle and raise them yourself. The second option is fraught with great risk, since not every heifer subsequently becomes a good dairy or beef cow. In addition, you will have to wait at least a year for results.
When selling cattle, they may slip you an old cow. The life expectancy of cows is 16-20 years. At the same time, a large amount of milk with good care can only be obtained between the ages of 3 and 13 years. During her life, a cow can have 11-12 calvings. Calves are born annually. Gestation period is 9 months.
A cow produces the maximum amount of milk at the age of 4-8 years, starting from the 3rd calving. Milk appears after the first calving. It is more profitable and reliable to take young cows that have already calved at least once.
Once a cow stops calving, her milk disappears and she becomes useless in terms of production. Such pensioners are sent to sausage, since their meat is already quite tough. To avoid buying an old cow, pay attention to its horns. Every year a new rim appears on them. They can be seen by their shape and different shades. If there are a lot of rims, then the cow is no longer young. The optimal number is 3-6 pieces, no more.
Investment size
Investments, like the farm itself, can be different. This depends on the number and pedigree of the livestock, the size and degree of automation of the barn, the availability of an agricultural base for growing feed and many other nuances. To have an idea of investing in cattle breeding, let’s take a certain type of farm, with an initial quantity of 10 heads with fully purchased feed (without own cultivation).
The cost of a young dairy cow varies from 30,000 rubles to 50,000 € (Dutch dairy breeds). If you purchase from Russian nurseries, the average price is 50,000 rubles. Thus, we will need 500,000 rubles to buy cows. Feed purchases also vary depending on the time of year. In winter, in addition to feed, you will need hay. In autumn, feed can be replaced with vegetables and fruits.
On average, one cow needs a bucket of vegetables or 1/3 of a bucket of fertilizer when walking on pasture. If the grass is lush and grows abundantly, fertilizing can be halved. The cost of building a barn depends on the selected building materials, the nuances of architecture and interior design. For the first time, you can get by with a small building.
So, in total, you will have to pay at least 1,000,000 rubles for the barn, cows and initial feed. Let's add to this inventory and wages for employees who will need an advance in the first month.
Step-by-step instruction
So, having decided to choose cattle breeding as your business, be patient and hardworking. Working with animals requires a reasonable attitude and self-confidence. Even if you have only seen cows on TV or on the way to a picnic, this craft can be learned quite quickly. To get started you will need:
- Cowshed.
- Animals.
- Basic equipment: vegetable cutter, grain crusher, separator, milking machines.
- Stern.
- Inventory (buckets, flasks).
- Inspection of livestock by a veterinarian.
- Registration with the administration of the rural settlement.
- Opening an individual entrepreneur or farming.
- Hired workers.
As you can see, there is nothing complicated. If you buy cattle already at productive age, you can make a profit almost immediately by selling dairy products.
Sales of products
The first products from cows have been received, it’s time to think about how to sell them. There are many types of cattle products. Here you need to decide what is more profitable. To produce each product you will need your own small production facility or certain equipment. For example, to make cream and cottage cheese from milk, you will need a separator. To make stew you need a canning line.
You can start by selling milk and meat in their pure form, if the capital is not too large. It's not as profitable, but it requires less investment. Processing facilities can be equipped later. Product sales methods:
- City or village market.
- Catering establishments.
- The shops.
- Own retail outlets.
- Dairies, meat processing plants.
- Institutions and enterprises using meat and dairy products.
Each of these methods has its pros and cons. For different types of sales, certain additional expense items will be required, as well as special paperwork. For example, to sell in your own stall or store, you will have to open it with a full set of documents and change the tax reporting form accordingly. As a farmer or individual entrepreneur, you will no longer qualify for the simplified taxation system.
To sell products, certificates from a veterinarian and a laboratory report on the quality and suitability of dairy and meat products are required.
The easiest way is to hand over milk or meat to factories. All you need is a certificate of health of the animal. Laboratory studies of product quality are carried out at the enterprises themselves. The cost of sales will be several times less than with other sales methods, but you can deliver any amount of milk and meat to the enterprise.
The choice of location for your farm should be informed. It is necessary that there be convenient transport connections, that is, places for selling meat and dairy products are nearby and easily accessible. Otherwise, it is necessary to purchase special equipment with a refrigerator, since the products are perishable. For customers to like your products, they must be exceptionally fresh.
As mentioned earlier, it is necessary to have a veterinary service nearby. Calling a doctor from afar will incur additional costs. In addition, if livestock is sick, its help may be late. There should be an equipped cattle burial ground within a radius of 10 km. An important aspect is the presence of meadows and ponds in the selected area so that the animals can eat and drink to their heart's content.
As a rule, all these conditions are created in medium and large villages of regional centers, where the local population is engaged in cattle breeding. There is also a common herd where you can drive your own livestock. There is no point in setting up a farm on the outskirts of the city. There will be problems with grazing, polluted environment (greatly affects the health of cows) and residents of neighboring houses.
Documentation
Opening the status of an individual entrepreneur or farmer at the stage of setting up a farm is unprofitable, since there is no profit yet. The exception is cases with the use of subsidies from the state:
- To open a small business for cattle breeding. A one-time payment of 60,000 rubles is given and the same amount for each registered employee. You need to provide a business plan and have a ready-made barn.
- To support farming. Up to 1,500,000 rubles are issued depending on the volume of an existing agricultural enterprise or when starting a farm.
In the first 12 months, with income not exceeding 40,000 rubles, you do not need to pay tax. The tax liability is considered “deferred” in accordance with Art. 256 (clause 1) of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
When registering any of these small business statuses, at the first stage it is more advisable to switch to a simplified form of taxation.
With further business development, processing plants and trading enterprises will be added to cattle breeding. Tax reporting will be slightly different. This can be the Unified Agricultural Tax (UAT) or the simplified tax system (income minus expenses).
The cow is one of the most popular pets. With proper care, they can produce high-quality meat and milk. We will talk about raising cows at home in this article.
Before you start breeding cows, you should arrange a room for them. Its dimensions are selected depending on the planned livestock and the available space. Cows are quite whimsical: from dampness, cold or stuffiness they have problems with weight and milk.
It is advisable to build a barn at a distance from the house, water sources and neighboring houses. According to sanitary standards, the building should be located 15 meters from the house, and 20 meters from wells and boreholes (to maintain the purity of drinking water). It is best to locate the barn near the vegetable garden or orchard so that you can save time on manure disposal.
The choice of materials for construction depends on natural conditions. Most often, of course, wood is used - planed boards or logs. Brick, aerated concrete or foam concrete are also suitable for construction - materials with good thermal insulation. For flooring, concrete is considered the ideal option due to its hygiene and durability. The adobe coating retains heat well and is comfortable, but wood is not recommended: it absorbs all odors and quickly deteriorates.
- convenient warehouse for hay, where it retains its beneficial properties for a long time;
- additional insulation of the ceiling;
- It is possible to throw hay from above directly into the feeder.
If the attic is not being built, the ceiling is made of tightly laid boards, coating all joints with clay and then using insulation (slag, dry earth or sawdust are suitable). The insulation layer should not be less than 10 cm. A roofing material or slate roof is placed on top and a small cornice is made to prevent rainwater from flowing inside.
For one cow, the ideal barn area would be 18 square meters. m. – it’s enough for a cow with a baby and equipment with feed. If there are several cows, the size of the room is calculated based on 6 square meters. m. per head (and 9 sq. m. if there are offspring). This area includes a feeding area and a passage. The feeder should be in front of the stall. It is also advisable to come up with a drain for waste that discharges it into a cesspool.
In the barn, ventilation must be installed at a height of 2.5 meters. You can install a special pipe for constant air flow. The pipe must have a damper against low temperatures and precipitation.
You need to start with the foundation, and for a small building, a strip type is also suitable, which will withstand a large load. In non-flowing soils, the foundation is buried half a meter. The upper part can be protected from moisture with a layer of bitumen.
Walls are built above the foundation. Brick ones are well ventilated, but you will have to use insulation. Cheap adobe brick is considered optimal, since the building will be dry and warm.
The floor should be 10 cm above ground level. A slight slope is made towards the sump. The concrete surface can be covered with wooden boards, but they will have to be removed periodically for cleaning. At the end of the slope, a tray or groove is made, 15 cm deep and 25 cm wide. The design of the room involves reducing harmful substances in the air by removing slurry. To do this, a manure chute is made with an inclination towards the slurry collector. From there, urine is periodically removed with a bucket. The container should be designed for a month, that is, for a cow with a calf, a tank of 1 cubic meter is sufficient.
The optimal temperature for breeding cows is 10-15 degrees. It is important that there are no drafts inside. For ventilation, a pipe is made from boards (15x15 cm) and installed above the ridge. It is important to consider opening windows in the design. It is recommended to place the cowshed lengthwise from east to west. The window area is 1:10 in relation to the floor area, and window openings are made higher than 1.2 m from the floor.
How to choose a good cow
When the barn is built, before breeding cows, you need to choose the right cow. Most likely, you will need the cow for dairy, not for meat. Milk production is affected by age, feeding conditions, body type and breed.
Good milk production is due to the cow breed itself. In our country, the following are considered popular: Ayrshire, Black-and-White, Lebedinsky, Dutch, Yaroslavl and Kholmogory cows - each has its own characteristics, but all give a large amount of milk.
When purchasing, be sure to ask what breeds the animal’s parents were and what productive qualities they have. It is advisable that your cow be a purebred, since the offspring of crossbreds do not inherit the characteristics of their parents well. Hereditary milk production is determined by the characteristics of the cow's older sisters, along the maternal and paternal lines.
Carefully examine the animal's physique:
- the head should be light, dry and elongated;
- the eyes are large and protruding;
- the horns are small, thin at the base;
- the ears are thin, almost without hair on the inside;
- the cow's neck should be with a lot of folds, long and with a small dewlap;
- the body of the purchased animal should preferably have strong bones, a voluminous belly and underdeveloped muscles;
- the chest is large, with wide intercostal grooves (this means developed alimentary and pulmonary systems). If the chest is flat, the animal is susceptible to pulmonary diseases such as tuberculosis;
- the rear should be with a widely developed rump for easy calving and not drooping;
- tail – long and thin;
- the skin of your future cow is preferably free of fatty deposits and elastic to the touch;
- The udder should feel loose and grainy to the touch. It needs to be large and hairy, but not too huge so as not to interfere with the cow’s exercise. The highest productivity is in animals with a tub-shaped or cup-shaped udder. All quarters of it should be well developed;
- nipples are required up to 8 cm long, cylindrical and widely spaced.
In general, in high-yielding cows, the body widens towards the rear, and visually the animals look angular. Do not buy fat cows or those that look like a bull, otherwise they will not produce enough milk.
There is also a popular saying: a good cow has a lot of wax in her ears, which means her milk will be fatty.
The productivity of cows depends on housing and feeding conditions. To avoid diseases, it is recommended to periodically disinfect the barn.
In summer, it is advisable for your cows to be on a walking area, with a canopy to protect them from rain and sun. Under the canopy you need to place a container with a briquette of lick salt. In winter, the animals will be kept in a warm barn. There should be constant light in the room (a 40 W bulb is enough). The cow can be tied, preferably with a chain, but even in winter the animals need a little exercise outside the barn. Walking is canceled only at temperatures below 15 degrees below zero.
Under home breeding conditions, your cow can gain weight up to half a ton, while the average weight of an individual from an industrial farm is only 300 kg. Cows are herd animals; it is advisable to have several of them on the farm. If there are only one or two of them, they need to be grazed with neighboring animals so that the animals develop normally .
The use of pastures reduces the cost of raising cows at home. Otherwise, cows feed on all types of waste from the garden and vegetable garden. They need to be fed twice a day, both grain and roughage (straw, hay). The water in the drinking bowls should be warm. For the winter, you need to prepare granulated food for your pets and dry the grass.
For your cow, it is desirable to have good quality feed on the farm: steppe or meadow hay, spring straw, beets, potatoes, corn silage. For the same individual, the need for food is different and depends on live weight, age, daily milk yield and the presence of pregnancy.
Good hay is considered the basis of the diet. On average, it is given 3.5 kg per hundredweight of live weight. If, in addition, the diet includes 12 kg of succulent feed daily, the share of hay can be reduced to 2.5 kg. At least 3 kg of succulent feed is required per day. Potato tubers are given both boiled and raw. Concentrated feed is added to the diet depending on milk yield - highly productive cows are given up to 200 g of bran, cake and corn dirt for each liter of milk.
Also, the cow's daily diet should include table salt (8 g per hundredweight of live weight).
To summarize, a cow with a weight of 500 kg and a daily milk yield of 15 liters. necessary:
- 8 kg. quality hay;
- 2 kg. spring straw;
- 30 kg. succulent feed;
- 3 kg. concentrates.
During the grazing period, the basis of nutrition should be pasture.
The same daily routine is needed for the entire stall period. The intervals between milking and feeding should be the same. Medium-yielding cows are fed three times a day, and high-yielding cows – 5 times.
About reproduction
To breed cows, you need to know their characteristics. Puberty of heifers occurs at 8 months, and physiological maturity at 18 months, when they reach a weight of 300 kg. Cows have a sexual cycle with a period of 21 days. The heat state is repeated if the cow has not been inseminated.
During the hunt, the animal often moos, raises its tail and arches its back. The heat is preceded by estrus, and the external genitalia become swollen. This state lasts approximately 11 hours, less in winter.
It is advisable to inseminate cows 2 times: when heat is detected, and after 10 hours. The inseminated heifer is kept on a leash at rest.
A cow is considered pregnant if she does not go into heat within 29 days after mating. There are various methods for detecting pregnancy, but not all of them are suitable for the first months of pregnancy.
Pregnancy lasts from 250 to 310 days. 45-60 days before giving birth, the cow must be started, that is, stopped milking, otherwise the risk of giving birth to weak offspring increases. The starting rules are simple: a cow with a milk yield of 4 liters is stopped immediately, succulent feed is excluded and concentrates in food are reduced. An animal with greater productivity is introduced gradually, over several days.
