Revenue streams- refer to the ways in which money gets into your account in a given business. in the case of dairy when you have the resources to raise the animals you can earn through: There are different types of heifers differentiated by different stages in growth and development. These different stages affects their prices in the market . They include :
- Young heifer calves – These are between 1-5 months
- Weaner heifers- These are female calves that have been weaned but not yet ready to be served .These range from 6-15 months.
- Bulling Heifers – These are heifers that are ready to be served usually over 16 months.
- Newly incalf heifers – These are heifers that that have been served within 6 months or less .
- Heavily incalf – The are heifer that are about to calf down .
- Selling dry cows – These are cows that have calved but are not producing milk. These can be bought ,kept until they are served to improve their quality.
- Selling newly calved cows and their calf – these are cows that have just calved and are still producing cholostrum milk. They are bought for milk production.
- Selling lactating cows- These are cows that are actively producing milk. You can buy them so that you sell the milk .
- Selling old cows – This are cows that have calved down more than 5 times and have their milk production declining these can be bought, fattened and then sold for beef.
To be profitable it is important to note that you need to start from a level where you improve the value of the animal or the product before selling.
Cattle can cost upto ksh250, 000 depending on the breed, farm reputation, records, age ,stage of the animal and conditions.
Farms that maintain a good reputation by offering quality products and services enjoy higher market prices.
- How can you earn from dairy without having a farm.
- You can be a dairy farm veterinarian if you are qualified .
- Animal breeding services and consultation
- Supply Dairy equipment.
- Making and supplies of Dairy feeds and supplements
- Selling Medical supplies used in dairy medicine.
- Offering business development and management services.
- Value addition to dairy product – You can buy milk and make yoghurt or add value to any othe dairy product .
- Farm structures building and construction.
- Financials services- insurance and loans .
- Content creation and education .
Factors to consider when planning dairy business
Before any project exists in reality it ought to exist in thought and imagination in the first place. This is a crucial step. It is important because it helps with the initial and basic resources you need like land, Labor and financial investment
Drafting a clear dairy farm business will help you outline everything you should consider in your plan for a dairy farm.
here are some major factors.
1. Time – What time do you think you will take to start the project? How soon can it start.
2. Labor – Evaluate what kinds of Labor you need and investigate how much they cost. There are two categories of Labor/services
Onetime Labor – this is service you get once in a while like construction.
Continuous Labor – this is the services you pay for continuously as part of the operational cost of the project. Like product transport, milking person, extension service accounting for big farms among others.
3. Space /land
The size and location of the land should be in the plan, this could include purchasing or allocating an existing land. Some lands may be lease for example land for fodder production.
4. Market
This is at the allover the projects operation cycle and has to be included in the plan. Investigating the type of market that exists within your reach will help you decide on the most economically preferred revenue stream.
5. Supplies
Since the market is where you outputs go, it is important to investigate and find best places to get you inputs from. This should take quality, accessibility and costs into consideration. The aim is to use the minimum costs without compromising quality. This applies to all inputs including services.
Things you must know Getting started with dairy farming project
1. Stocking
It is very important to note that even though identifying a good source of your animals ,the herd always comes in last .
They need to find feeds, housing and maintenance resources ready.
It is also important to identify the most suitable breeds for your climate. This can be done with the important help of extension to personnel.
There may exist top producer breeds but these maybe expensive to maintain in an unconducive climate since they are more vulnerable to diseases.
When choosing the animals to stalk newly or add into a Herd, quality is very important. This can be checked through performance records and the records of their parents.
If you are buying a lactating cow for example it is important to confirm whether the production stated by the Seller is true.
2. Book keeping
Keeping of record is crucial for any business.
Types of records
Inventory records– this is the record of every purchase of stock, supplies, machinery and tools.
Performance record – this record shows the animal performance in terms of health and production. This can also be used by management to measure the efficiency of laborer and their Performance as an individual and as a team.
Financial records – these are the records that show the cash flow in the venture. It is important to track how much money comes in and how much goes out to determine whether the farm is making profits or losses.
Financial records are important in decision making and pivoting – changes made in in the project operation to maximize revenue.
These records can also be useful incase of the need for financial services like farm loans and insurance .
3. Marketing
There are many was of direct marketing your farm and farm products and services. Attending Agricultural events
Attending shows and seminars helps you to meet with like mind people and to help you network with valuable potential clients. It will also help you to keep up with the current affairs in in Agriculture in general and your sector in dairy this could be about new laws and policies.
Word of mouth
Through conversations with people you can get farm visits through talking about your business either you are hanging out with friends or relatives it’s easy to get links and network with potential clients or people who know potential clients.
Social media
You might have found this book through social media either whatsapp or Facebook post. This explains the potential of social media in boosting your business. Finding the right group is very beneficial for finding the right audience.
Tips for social media marketing
Try to be active with useful content
When you create useful posts daily or as frequent as possible the social media algorithm shows your post to more and more people. If the content is liked, it shows the post to more people like those and that will help u reach even more like minded people. A large and responsive audience leads to more potential clients.
Paid advertising :
Platforms like Facebook, Google and even YouTube can also help you to advertise for a small fee. Have you ever seen a post with the word “sponsored” under it? Yes that is a paid advertisement and it helps that’s why people pay for it.
Offer service
If you are a considerably large farm, one of the best tricks to market yourself is to use your skills or training and offer services. An experienced dairy farmer could potentially guide a young farmer at a fee as Mentorship and your mentees could be you best long term clients and affiliates.
Overall note
For every business to be successful you always need good negotiation skills or personnel. If you are a big farm you can consider hiring this skill under farm management.
Lawful business is good business and selling harmful or illegal products or services can put you in jail and then this article will be a waste.
After reading this it is important to put in practical work and progress. Just to put emphasis.
read more about Nutrition and Feeding of Organic Cattle
