Diary Farm Business Ideas: How to Start a Dairy and Milk Farm

You need serious finance to start a diary farm. It is capital intensive and requires serious planning.  Planning involves selecting a good diary animal, funding and implementation.

There are different kinds of animals used for diary production.  A major source of diary milk in India is the water buffalo.  Some more common diary animals are goats, cows and sheep.

To determine a suitable diary animal study what others in your area are doing? Select breeds that are adaptable to your climate and local demand.

Understanding your potential customer’s preferences and tastes is a good guide. Local demand might include different diary products like butter, cheese, and milk.  Other considerations before your start the enterprise is location, funding, cost of production, equipment, trained staff and marketing.

Livestock found on diary cow include Holstein diary cows, bred heifers and open heifers. Others are calves, bulls, yearling and weaned calves.

Farming cows is time consuming and requires proper management and breeding. It also involves milking the cows, weaning and feeding.

Write a Business Plan

The business plan should be clear on the type of animal used in diary production. You include location and mission statement for the production of quality milk.

State the purpose of the business plan, include an operational guide line, machinery and expansion plan. It should contain specific goals, benchmark, net farm income and return on equity. Income generation and high quality diary products should be your mission statement.

Raising cows is expensive so having a breeding program is important. Another effective method to increase stock is artificial insemination.

Farm Location

You need acres of landed property that has open pasture, cropland and large barns. Adequate feeding and proper conversion of feed aids milk production.

Buying a new farm land is very capital intensive however leasing the property is another option. Farm lands are cheaper than commercial or urban land in most countries. Renting is cheaper and leaves more finance for livestock buying, feeding and milking.

Another way to acquire property is buying an existing diary farm. The major challenge is renovation and maintenance.

A diary farm consists of a good source of water, lots of equipment, feeding storage and manure storage. Other things to look out for when buying an old farm are milking parlor, sheds and a sterilization facility.

Equipment

There is lots of equipment needed on your diary farm. Some are tractors, tractor loaders, plows, manure spreaders, corn planter, and disc Harrows.

You find dump wagons, silage trucks, hay teddar, hay rake, seeder, cattle trailer and bulk tanks. You need a main house, a garage, shed, barns and milking house.

Food Source

Foraging for food is not an idea feeding plan because they won’t get adequate nutrition and expend energy. The best method is using concentrated feeds and allows grazing.

Buying the Animals

Apart from starting a breeding program you need to buy some cows. Find out the best breed in your area for the production of milk.

Then thoroughly inspect the animal for health issues, diseases, and milking ability. Calves undergoing 3rd lactation are the best buy.

Register your Business

Register your farm as a limited liability company. You need to study government regulations guiding livestock farming. Luckily farming business has lots of grants and subventions aiding farmers.

Get permits from local government agencies to trade milk and keep livestock. If you are totally new in the business start small.

Research your local market and develop your marketing plan and farming skill. Study your competitors and understand their business format.

Learn the Basics

Tag your animals to keep track of milk production. Control the spread of diseases by using a qualified veterinarian and vaccinate the cows.

 To get high quality milk feed your stock proper nutrition. The cow feed needs lots of rich nutrients, protein, energy and vitamins.

Avoid contaminates like pesticides and other toxins. Add mineral supplements to the cow’s dietary needs.

Study the Breed Cycle

Lactating cows are breed regularly so understanding the cow’s cycle is important. Calving year round is the only way to keep up milk production high.

Once the cow starts to produce low yield then culling could be considered. You need to have a good replacement plan for your livestock.

Marketing

Milk is a highly priced product used in our daily life. It has lots of industrial applications and huge domestic consumption.

Despite this dairy farmers like other business ventures need lots of marketing. Direct your marketing campaign to your target demography for better results.

Supply your products to companies, households and factories. Seek contractual agreements from companies that use diary products.

You can also brand your milk and target wholesale and retail outlets. Other marketing tools are placed advertisement and sale representatives.
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