Dairy Industry & Basics for Successful Dairy Farms PDF

The Dairy Industry and the Basics of Starting and Maintaining a Successful Dairy Farm  Dairy Industry: ✓ A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk mostly from cows or buffaloes, but...

The Dairy Industry and the Basics of Starting and Maintaining a Successful Dairy Farm  Dairy Industry: ✓ A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, or camels for human consumption. ✓ Milk is a nutrient-rich liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals (physiological secretion). It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest solid food. ✓ The dairy cow is often called a "milk factory" or a milk making machine. Dairy cow must be milked at regular intervals; two or three times per day, seven days per week.  Benefits of dairying: a. This sector plays an important role in achieving food security. Dairy cattle supply human with an important food (milk). Milk is nature's most perfect food, because it is an excellent source of protein, calcium phosphorus, and vitamins. Dairy cattle participate in the supplementation of red meat to human through extra calves, old cows, bulls, cows have low fertility and productivity. b. Dairy cows are ruminants; they have the ability to eat large amounts of forages (roughages). As much as 70 % of her total feed intake from non-human food sources (forages and non-protein nitrogen), and by the action of the rumen and regurgitating and chewing the cud, are able to digest these long fibred materials and produce a nutritious milk. c. Dairying is a stable business; produces a steady income without the great income fluctuations found in some farming enterprises. d. The demand for milk has always increased. Consumption of dairy products is on the rise by both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. e. Dairying involves steady employment and labor demands are somewhat uniform throughout the year. f. It is environment friendly. Pollution risk from dairy farming business is very low. g. Cow dung is good organic manure for increase soil fertility and also used for production biogas. h. Compared to products from other industries, marketing of milk is very easy. There is no need for special shops and expenses of marketing are also low for any dairy products.  Constraints of dairy cattle production: a. Milk is perishable product need early marketing\ preservation. b. Dairying is a full-time, demanding job. Managing a dairy farm is hard work and includes much physical activity every day. c. Dairying requires a large initial investment and a large amount of capital for normal operation and cost of milk production is increasing in recent years due to the increase in the cost of feed ingredients. d. Trained and experienced manager is need for management. The success of dairy farm depends on early heat detection, timely breeding and proper feeding and disease control  e. The dairy farmers must deal constantly with pollution and sanitation laws. f. Substitutes for dairy foods are becoming more common, which may affect future milk prices. g. Proper bio-security measure is essential to keeps animals free from diseases. Profitable dairying: Profit is one of the goals of most dairy farms. It may be defined broadly as the difference between gross income and production expenses.  Characteristics of a profitable business: It pays all operating expenses. It pays interest on all capital invested. It maintains productivity. It earns a reasonable return for the operator. ❖ Increased profit can be achieved by: 1. Increasing income: ✓ The sale of milk accounts for approximately 90 % of the gross income in average dairy operations. Therefore, income can be increased significantly by: a. Increasing milk production per cow b. Milking more cows. c. Receiving a higher price per unit of milk sold. ✓ The remaining gross income from most dairy operations results from the sale of bull calves, cull cows, and extra income enterprises (beef surplus calf) through maintain reproductive performance and increase conception rate. 2. Decreasing production expenses: ✓ Feed expense, including both home-grown and purchased feed, is the largest production expense on most dairy farms. It usually accounts for 45 to 60% of the total. ✓ Increasing production per cow by maximizing intake of high-quality forage can lower production expenses significantly. Labor (10-25%), buildings and equipment annual expenses (10-25%), taxes, interest, supplies, livestock expenses, utilities, etc., account for the remaining production expenses. ✓ Careful management can also decrease these production expenses per unit of milk produced. 3. Increasing income and decreasing production expenses concurrently.  How to start and maintain a dairy farm business? 1. Finding the right location ✓ Ideally, you want to pick a location where future expansion is possible so you can support long-term growth. ✓ For your dairy farm business to be profitable, you need to produce at least part if not all forages. So, you need enough land to grow grains and other food for your herd. ✓ At the same time, you need a place to sell your milk quickly and with minimum additional costs to your farm. The shorter the distance between you and your potential customers, the easier it becomes to sell the milk for affordable prices and still have good margins. ✓ you need a clean water supply that can provide the necessary amounts of water to support all your farm’s needs. 2. Building the farm ✓ Dairy cattle require clean and dry resting spaces. Free stalls provide comfortable housing solutions for cows that need to lie or rest without limiting mobility. ✓ On average, you should provide approximately 10 m2 of space for each cow. ✓ Ideally, you can build a separate space for calving for health and safety reasons. 3. Selecting the best breeds ✓ Finding the right dairy cows to grow can be challenging and depend on your location and free stall capacity. ✓ The best dairy cow breeds are Holstein, Red and White, Jersey, Brown Swiss, Milking Shorthorn, and Guernsey. You can narrow your options and make the best decision when selecting the breeds for your dairy farm by talking to a veterinarian and other experts in your area. Various factors should be considered before making a final choice of dairy breed: a. Characteristics of the major dairy breeds i.e. breed production potential and profitability. b. Choose a breed that meets present and future market conditions. Market conditions in most areas favor breeds that produce the largest volume of milk, however, in some areas; special milk markets have been developed. c. Adaptation to climate and environment. Climate may play an important role, depending on the area of the country. The Jersey and Brown Swiss are better acclimated to the hot weather than are the other breeds, especially the Holstein. Within recent years, however, the Holstein has reared in hot weather, but it has required good feeding and management for economical production. d. Personal preference or satisfaction may play a large role in selecting a breed. Dairymen frequently continue with the breed that has been in the family for years. e. Availability of good breeding stock or community preference. Breeder prefers to choose the predominant breed in the community, as it makes it easier to secure foundation animals or to sell surplus animals. The transportation has been so greatly improved in recent years that distance from established herds is not the limitation in selecting a breed. f. Grazing ability is important in areas in which the cow must of herd own forages, but it is not an important consideration in areas where there the feed is hauled to the cow. g. Vigor of the calves, which is party related to size at birth, and the ages of maturity of the heifers. Smaller calves are somewhat more difficult to raise larger calves. h. Beef value of surplus calves, dairy steers, and culls cows (cows sold from dairy herds for slaughter because of low milk production, health problems, reproductive problems, or old age). i. Fat and protein contents of the milk produced as it relates to market demands.  4. Optimizing a feeding program ▪ Whether you are going to feed A TMR (total mixed ration) Graze your cattle, Or some combination of both; ✓ Dairy cattle require specific nutrients to produce high-quality milk and reproduce, so you need to work with an expert to establish the proper diet for each category of cows you keep on the farm. ✓ When you know how much feed you need for your herd, you get to make better decisions around how much feed to cultivate or buy, and depending on production costs, it can also influence the size of your herd in any given year. ✓ There two feed programs: a. Cultivation or raising of all or most of the forage and a part of the concentrates needed. advantages Better assurance of high-quality forage and More economical feed costs. The disadvantages Larger initial investments needed to purchase land and cropping machines, Larger initial operating capital needs, Additional management skills and labor required, and Needed land resources may not be available at reasonable cost. Renting land resources may provide temporary relief but is risky unless long-term lease conditions can be arranged.  b. Purchased feed advantages Lower initial investment and More time available to devote to acquiring and using herd-management skills. 5. Planning waste management ✓ Waste management is one of the most challenging parts of managing a dairy farm business, as dairy cattle produce impressive amounts of manure each day. ✓ Without an effective waste management system, you risk producing too much waste and creating major disruption to the local environment, with significant consequences on the life and health of your entire community. ✓ The good news is that cow waste can be put to good use. With the right waste management system in place, you can quickly turn cow dung into biogas, positively impacting your business and the environment. This way, you can produce energy from renewable sources on-site and fertilizer, so nothing goes to waste, and you get to produce more with fewer resources for increased efficiency. 6. Creating a realistic budget ✓ Paying for land, construction, equipment, crops, and dairy cattle can quickly become a considerable expense, and profits don’t always come easily in this business. ✓ You need to budget wisely and be ready for unpredictable outcomes, such as reduced productivity due to climate change, milk price decline, or medical expenses. 7. Develop a Business Plan and SWOT Analysis ✓ It is important to remember that a dairy farm is a business. ✓ Development of detailed business plan and a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) of your plan and the resources you have available will be critical to the success of your business. ✓ How many cows will you milk? ✓ Where will you market your milk? ✓ Will you hire employees? ✓ How much money do you need to live on after the dairy bills are all paid? ✓ Your business plan should include a cash flow plan that will help you set reasonable expectations for your expenses and cost of production. 8. Consult the experts Even if you grew up on a dairy and learned how to feed and milk cows from your parents and grandparents it is important to consult experts in the dairy industry as you develop your business plan and design your management system. Experts as Other dairy producers are great resources. In addition to farmers, veterinarians, nutritionists, agronomists, bankers, extension educators, and others that can provide different perspectives on management of your dairy. 9. Take into account the following Dairy farming is a biological system ✓ The dairy farm is dependent on the cow's ability to live a healthy life, produce milk, and have calves that can become the next generation of the farm. ✓ Dairy farming requires detailed programs for herd health, reproduction, and calf care in addition to the nutrition and financial aspects on the farm. One size does not fit all ✓ All dairy farms are different based on the producer's wishes, resource requirements, market needs and more. ✓ Multiple systems exist and can be profitable.  You are a manager first ✓ All these previous items are just pieces of the puzzle. In order to succeed you will need to combine each aspect of management into a whole farm plan. However, you don't need to do it all. Work with trusted consultants to help you build a plan and stick with your strengths. ✓ Consider creating a farm management team that engages your consultants to be active participants in the farm's progress.  Production systems: 1. Intensive system In the intensive system, dairy cattle are enclosed in zero-grazing units, where they are provided with all their requirements for feed and water. This method is mainly practiced where grazing land is scarce. Advantages a. The cow does not waste energy walking in search of pasture. b. It avoids diseases associated with communal grazing. c. The manure can be accumulated for improving soil fertility or used to generate biogas for domestic energy use.  Disadvantages a. The method is labor intensive as feeding and cleaning the unit must be done daily. b. The initial cost of putting up a zero-grazing unit is high. c. It may be difficult to detect when a cow is on heat, especially a singly housed cow. This is because when cows are housed in a group, they mount each other and when in the open they show signs of restlessness by moving around. 2. Extensive system In the extensive system, the cattle are reared on pasture. It is practiced where grazing land is available. Advantages a. It is cheaper than the intensive system. b. It is not labor intensive. Disadvantages a. It requires dedicating much more land to grazing. b. Cows waste a lot of energy by walking while grazing in the field. c. It is difficult to accumulate manure for improving soil fertility in crop fields. 3. Semi-intensive system In the semi-intensive system, the cattle graze for some time during the day and in the afternoon or evening they are supplemented with other forages. This method is a compromise between intensive and extensive systems. Thank you