Cattle breeding business involves working not only with cows, but also with buffaloes, yaks, etc., but it is more profitable and customary in the territory of Russia to breed cows and bulls.
Their meat and dairy products will be easier to implement.
Breeding cattle (cattle) is one of the oldest human activities. Today, like hundreds of years ago, it can become profitable and bring in a good income if it is approached wisely. It is not by chance that a cow in the people has always been called a «wet nurse».
Where should we start?
When dealing with cows, you will have to regularly use the services of a veterinarian, even if the livestock is completely healthy. Under Russian law, there are a number of mandatory annual vaccinations against certain severe or rapidly spreading diseases: mad cow disease, rhinotracheitis, viral diarrhea, leptospirosis and so on.
In addition, the veterinarian will issue certificates of animal health, which will be needed to sell meat and milk. So, get acquainted with the veterinarian, to whom you will regularly contact. Next, you need to calculate the initial investment and proceed with procurement.
When buying cattle, be sure to require a certificate from a veterinarian that every animal is healthy.
Construction of a barn
First you need to build a cowshed. It should be a well thought out, well-planned building. The cowshed must be warm. This does not mean that it must be heated, not at all. The main thing is that there are no cracks and holes, which result in a draft.
In temperate and northern latitudes, winters are very frosty. If you want to get the maximum milk yield and increase, it is better to provide heating in this period, at least in the calf. Most of the cows are hidden in the spring, leaving in the herd after wintering, so it usually goes away during the winter months.
The room should have opening windows, as it requires good lighting and sufficient ventilation in the warm season. It is necessary to make a wide entrance. When the cow is in position, its sides become very wide. In addition, when walking, it swings, so the optimal width of the opening is 1.5 m.
The cowshed can be simple or automated, but in any case it should be warm and contain a water pipe, sewage plums, separate stalls with feeding troughs and drinkers.
Next, you need to provide drainage channels for draining the liquid. The general drain should go beyond the barn, make it under a slope. If you do not want the presence of a heavy smell, equip concrete cesspools with manholes. Each unit of cattle should have its own place with the feed sector and the water bowl. It is desirable to separate the stalls from the construction of welded pipes, because cows do not always treat each other in a friendly way, and we do not need fights in the barn.
Purchase of cattle
This is a very important stage of the farm arrangement: from what kind of cows and bulls you buy, the profitability of your business will depend. In Russia there are both pure thoroughbred animals, and half-blood, and often with incest. It is useless to wait from such specimens of large milking and pods. It is better to acquire animals in nurseries or on large farms, where the purity of the breed is closely monitored.
When buying cattle, there are two options: to buy adults (but not old) cows or buy young animals and grow it yourself. The second option is associated with a greater risk, since not every chick becomes a good milk or cow meat afterwards. In addition, the results from it will have to wait at least a year.
When selling cattle, you can slip an old cow. Life expectancy of cows is 16-20 years. In this case, a large amount of milk with good care can be obtained only at the age of 3 to 13 years. During his life, a cow can have 11-12 calves. Calves are born annually. The period of gestation is 9 months.
The maximum amount of milk the cow gives at the age of 4-8 years, starting with 3 calves. Milk appears after the first calving. It is more beneficial and more reliable to take young cows who have already calved at least once.
After the cow ceases to calve, the milk from her disappears, and she becomes useless from the point of view of obtaining the products. Such pensioners are sent to sausage, as their meat is already quite tough. In order not to buy an old cow, pay attention to its horns. Every year a new bezel appears on them. They are visible in shape and in different shades. If there are many rims, then the cow is no longer young. The optimal number of them is 3-6 pieces, not more.
Investment size
Attachments, like the farm itself, can be different. It depends on the number and breeding of the livestock, the size and degree of automation of the barn, the availability of an agrarian base for growing feed and many other nuances. To have an idea of investing in breeding cattle, we take a certain kind of farm, with an initial quantity of 10 heads with fully purchased feeds (without own cultivation).
The cost of a young dairy cow varies from 30,000 rubles to 50,000 € (Dutch dairy breeds). If you buy in Russian nurseries, the average price is 50,000 rubles. Thus, we will need 500,000 rubles to buy cows. The purchase of feed also varies depending on the season. In winter, in addition to mixed feed, hay will be required. In autumn, feed can be replaced with vegetables and fruits.
On average, a bucket of vegetables or 1/3 bucket of fertilizer is required for one cow when walking to pasture. If the grass is juicy, it grows abundantly, the fertilizing can be reduced by half. The cost of building a cowshed depends on the selected building materials, nuances of architecture and internal arrangement. For the first time you can quite manage a small structure.
So, in total for a cowshed, cows and initial feed will have to lay out at least 1 000 000 rubles. Add to this the inventory and wages to employees who already in the first month will need an advance.
Step-by-step instruction
So, choosing to breed cattle as your business, be patient and diligent. Working with animals requires a reasonable attitude and confidence in their abilities. Even if you’ve seen cows only on TV or on the road to a picnic, this craft can be learned quite quickly.
To get started, you will need:
- Cow.
- Animals.
- Elementary equipment: vegetable cutter, grain crusher, separator, milking machines.
- Stern.
- Inventory (buckets, flasks).
- Inspection of livestock by a veterinarian.
- The registration in the administration of a rural settlement.
- The discovery of IP or farming.
- Employed workers.
As you can see, there is nothing complicated. If you buy cattle already at a productive age, profits can be obtained almost immediately, selling dairy products.
Sales of products
The first products from cows are received, it’s time to think about the way they are sold. There are many types of products from cattle. Here you need to decide what is more profitable. For the manufacture of each product will require its own small production or a certain equipment. For example, to make milk cream and cottage cheese, you need a separator. A canning line is needed to make the stew.
You can start selling milk and meat in its pure form, if the capital is not too large. This is not so profitable, but it will take less investment. Processing plants can be equipped later.
Ways of selling products:
- City or settlement market.
- Catering establishments.
- The shops.
- Own sales outlets.
- Dairies, meat processing plants.
- Institutions and enterprises using meat and milk products.
Each of these ways has its pros and cons. For different types of sales, certain additional cost items will be required, as well as the processing of special documents. For example, for sale in your own stall or shop, you will have to open it with a full set of documents and change, accordingly, the form of tax reporting. As a farmer or entrepreneur in a simplified taxation system, you will not pass.
For the sale of products, certificates from the veterinarian and a conclusion from the laboratory on the quality and suitability of dairy and meat products are required.
The easiest way is to take milk or meat to factories. It will only require a certificate of animal health. Laboratory research of product quality is conducted at the enterprises themselves. The cost of sales will be several times less than with other methods of sales, but you can supply any quantity of milk and meat to the company.
A place
The choice of location of your farm should be justified. It is necessary that there are convenient transport routes, that is, the places of sale of meat and dairy products were not far away and were easily accessible. Otherwise it is necessary to purchase special equipment with a refrigerator, because the products are perishable. To customers like your products, they should be exceptionally fresh.
As mentioned earlier, a close finding of the veterinary service is necessary. Calling a doctor from afar will bring additional costs. In addition, in case of cattle disease, his assistance may be late. Within a radius of 10 km there must be a built-up cemetery. An important aspect is the presence of meadows and reservoirs in the selected area, so that animals can eat and drink in plenty.
As a rule, all these conditions are created in the middle and large villages of district centers, where the local population is engaged in cattle breeding. There is also a common herd where you can drive out your livestock. To arrange a farm on the outskirts of the city is not worth it. There will be problems with grazing, polluted ecology (strongly affects the health of cows) and residents of neighboring houses.
Documentation
It is not profitable to open the status of a PI or a farmer at the stage of farm arrangement, since there is no profit yet.
The exception is cases with the use of subsidies from the state:
- To open a small business for breeding cattle. It is given once 60 000 rubles and the same for each employee. You need to provide a business plan and have a ready barn.
- To support farming. It is given up to 1 500 000 rubles depending on the volumes of the existing agricultural enterprise or at the opening of farming.
In the first 12 months with incomes not exceeding 40,000 rubles, you do not need to pay tax. A tax liability is deemed «deferred» in accordance with Art. 256 (item 1) of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
At registration of any of these these statuses of small business at the first stage it is more expedient to pass to the simplified taxation.
With the further development of the business, the processing industry and trade enterprises will also add to the breeding of cattle. Tax reporting will be slightly different. This may be the ECHN (single agricultural tax) or the form of USN (income minus costs).
Check-list of opening
- Choose a location for the farm.
- Analysis of sales of products.
- Registration of individual entrepreneurs or farming.
- Registration for tax inspection.
- Getting a loan, subsidies or using another way of raising capital.
- Conclusion of a lease or purchase of land.
- Construction of a cowshed.
- Treatment and disinfection.
- Rent, leasing, purchase of equipment and agricultural machinery.
- Purchase of livestock.
- Purchase of feed.
- Inspection of animals by a veterinarian, carrying out the necessary medical measures.
- Hiring of employees, official registration.
- Holding meetings to convey the rules and requirements to the staff.
- Choice and establishment of marketing methods.
- If possible, opening of processing lines and outlets.
- Receipt and sale of manufactured goods.
Is it profitable to open
The profitability of this type of activity is undeniable. People consume milk and meat every day, so your products will always be in demand. It’s another matter to organize the farm properly, so that the milk yields are high, the young growthed quickly, the cattle did not get sick. Unfortunately, livestock farming is a rather risky business. The main risk is animal diseases.
If compared with pigs, cattle do not suffer so much from epidemics. Measures taken by the state are sufficient to prevent your herd from falling into any foreign disease. For animals to be healthy, it is necessary to create good conditions for them and seek medical help on time. If everything is arranged properly, the profit will not be long in coming.