Dairy cow farms make a lot of money, and the starting capital makes for a lot more than a breeding farm for meat. Before you decide to start a dairy farm, you need to know what it entails, and how to get started.
If you are not starting your business from scratch, but are instead taking it over from your parents or grandparents, this article may be just an information note for you.
Steps
Step 1. Create a business plan
This is particularly important for those who are approaching a business for the first time. Read the article How to start a farm to learn how. When you want to start a farm from scratch, be sure to plan all aspects such as manure management, animal health practices, food rations, animal care and breeding, milking schedules, parts, human resources (you may need to hire some people to help you), weaning, calf care, cow milking, harvesting, etc… You need to analyze all of these before moving on to the next steps.
Step 2. The capital
If you want to acquire an already structured farm, which already has everything you need to work (buildings, equipment, machinery), then you just have to make sure that it has the appropriate sterile facilities for storing and pasteurizing milk, stables for cows, enclosures, feed and manure storage areas, a barn for milking, and enough land to grow the feed for the cows.
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If you buy a piece of bare land, know that you will have to build silos, barns, you will have to insert dunghill, fences, bars to milk the cows (usually in the stables) and create spaces where it is easy to keep the cows. You will also need an area where they can give birth, and a facility where you can keep the calves separated from the cows so they can be bottle fed while the cows produce milk.
Make sure that the size of the buildings is adequate for the amount of cows you want to keep and not the ones you want to start with - already consider the maximum number of cattle you want to raise
Step 3. Find a company to sell the milk to
You will also need to carry out paperwork, among other things. In Canada, for example, in order to qualify as a dairy farmer, you need to have at least 100 cows. (Minimum allowance of animals to be raised to have a dairy production.)
Step 4. Get the cows
The Friesian may be the best breed to get the highest possible milk supply each day. Make sure they are healthy, good producers with good udders, disease-free and docile. If you want to add quality to the milk, you should also get the jersey cow and / or the brown breed, to increase the daily amount of milk.
Advice
- Herd health is very important for milking operations. Dairy cows can get sick easily, and are more prone to leg and udder disease than beef cows; they are also prone to milk fever and ketosis after childbirth. To have a healthy dairy herd, you need to maintain and ensure strict health practices.
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Expect a different breeding / farrowing / weaning schedule than the one organized for meat farms, yours will be less planned.
You will need to be a farmer 365 days a year to maintain a steady sale of milk
- The manure stinks. Don't let it accumulate in the stables, find a way to easily move the manure from the barn to the dunghill, to minimize the smell of ammonia produced in the urine and faeces.
- Dairy cows need a higher quality of nutrition than beef cattle, and consequently have to eat more in order to meet their bodily needs and produce milk. For this an adequate ration of food is necessary.
- Make sure you follow good practices when milking, to make the process as comfortable as possible for your cows.
- Let your calves be nursed by their mother for at least a month to adequately strengthen them.
Warnings
- Do not keep dairy bulls on your farm if possible. They are very dangerous, even more so than beef bulls. That is why artificial insemination is necessary, because it is not worth keeping a suckling bull. Artificial insemination technology is a good solution to raise your cows independently.
- Don't start this business thinking it's an easy job. It is not so. You will be VERY busy every day, from before sunrise to after sunset, having to follow everything from milking, to bureaucracy, to repair and maintenance of machinery. You could get help by hiring someone you trust and have them do the daily chores, but even if you hire someone, you should always be vigilant to see how they are working and what they are doing.
- Do not start this business with a few thousand euros in the bank. You could invest in beef cows instead, since starting a dairy farm takes a lot of money.
