What a profit from a cow. She will always feed her little cow. Where to start business development

Keeping poultry and small pets is a common option among farmers and village residents. But keeping a cow is a much more difficult task. Is it profitable to keep this animal on the farm? And if so, how profitable? Detailed answers to these and other questions in a real story from a girl who just happens to have a cow on her farm.

Why a cow? (+video with profitability calculations)

Why the cow and dairy production? Yes, because, as our grandmothers used to say: “A cow in the yard means prosperity in the family.” One cannot argue with this even today.

Indeed, if there is a cow in the family, then you will never be hungry or without money.

Hundreds of dishes can be prepared from cow's milk, and the cow milks enough to feed a large family, and there will still be some left over for sale. And the calf meat that a cow brings every year is enough for a family for a year.

For which regions is it suitable?

The good thing about cattle breeding is that it doesn’t matter what region you live in. The main thing is to have areas for grazing and hay, because you need a lot of it even for one animal.

There are, of course, limitations: for example, sheep or goats are more suitable for mountainous areas, because cows are still not adapted to gallop through the mountains. Well, or for the tundra, for example, it is better to breed deer, since there is relatively little grass there.

Why are cattle bred?

Cattle are raised primarily for milk and meat. Depending on the focus of the business, you can choose dairy, meat or meat and dairy breeds.

There are a lot of options for processing milk, for every taste, as they say: this includes milk itself, cottage cheese, cream, sour cream, yoghurts, fermented baked milk, yogurt and much, much more.

The same is true with meat: it is possible to sell not only meat itself, but also the production of semi-finished products, sausages, and smoked meats. And the more stages of processing meat or milk has gone through, the more expensive it is at the end. However, please note: each stage of processing requires additional equipment.

We keep cows for milk. Is it profitable: the diagram shows milk processing products in numbers.

Also, with proper business organization, additional profits are received by:

from the sale of animal skins, which are actively used in the shoe industry;
from selling manure, especially if it is processed into vermicompost (you can do this either independently or sell it to enterprises that do this);
from the sale of liver and offal;
from the sale of horns and hooves.

Advantages and disadvantages

The main advantages include the constant and very high demand for meat and milk. Moreover, this demand will never disappear, under any circumstances: a person always needs to eat, and meat and milk form the basis of the diet. With the right choice of breeds, the profitability of breeding is quite high. And for owners of private farms, a cow is generally the first thing, it seems to me.

There are also a lot of disadvantages in this business:

If you can prepare feed for one cow yourself, then for two or more you cannot do without equipment (or you will have to work harder or buy feed);
even one cow needs pastures or imported grass/hay;
There should always be access to water, and cows drink a lot;
After calving, cows often experience paresis; you need to call a veterinarian in time, otherwise the animal will die.

And perhaps the most painful drawback for me personally: this constant attachment to home.

Milking and feeding must be strictly on schedule, and if you are the owner of a private household plot and you do not have hired employees, you can forget about traveling for more than 4-5 hours, and forget about vacations and weekends.

Business organization

If you plan to have 1-2 cows in private household plots, and do not plan to deliver large volumes of milk and meat to retail outlets, then you don’t need to do anything special. You will only need to register with a veterinary clinic and regularly undergo a medical examination of the animal by a veterinarian.

Setting up a cattle breeding business will require much more effort and investment.

Decor

First of all, you need to register with the tax office. You can choose the form of business at your discretion: it can be a peasant farm, individual entrepreneur, LLC, or even a joint-stock company if you plan to open a large enterprise at once.

But it is best to register as a peasant farm. Moreover, due to the protracted crisis, the state is actively supporting peasant farms by issuing various grants and subsidies.

After registering with the tax office, you can already resolve issues with construction, land lease and purchase of livestock.

Selection, search and purchase of individuals for breeding (+ video about the best dairy breeds)

As for the choice of breeds: try to choose one of those breeds that are in close proximity to you.

For subsidiary farming and small farms, it is better to take meat and dairy breeds. Because meat ones, as a rule, give much less milk, and it may happen that there is nothing to sell. And dairy breeds, when properly fed, produce a lot of milk, but they have such a constitution that the animal is large, tall, and has large bones. And since the cow gives birth to a calf, large bones are not needed, what is needed is muscle meat, and there is more of it in meat and dairy breeds.

In addition, every year you will have to inseminate the cow. In order not to support your own bull, you need to have access to semen in close proximity, and preferably not expensively.

In our area, for example, the most common breeds are Yaroslavl, Holstein and Black-and-White.

I, personally, have a cross between Yaroslavl and Holstein. I have a small collective farm within walking distance, where you can buy a cow and a bull for mating for a box of chocolates.

Keeping a cow at home: personal experience of a small farm (LPH), tips on keeping a cow, technology, calculation of expenses and income.

Among the main nuances of breeding: it is not necessary to cover a cow of the Yaroslavl breed with a Holstein bull. This is just about the sizes of different breeds. With such insemination, the calf often turns out to be large, and it often happens that the cow may simply not give birth.

If you are planning a large farm, then you should choose a breed depending on the main focus of your future production. If you plan to breed them for meat, then choose meat breeds. If for the sake of obtaining milk, then dairy. However, large enterprises often purchase meat and dairy breeds as a universal solution.

In addition to the animals themselves, they need a food supply. Think right away about where you will get the food.

For one cow and calf per year it costs me:

4-5 tons of hay + grass in summer;
potatoes - about 2 tons;
fodder beets, carrots, zucchini, pumpkins and other vegetables - 1-2 tons (I plant the same, and then depending on the harvest);
feed - about a ton.

Of all this, I only buy compound feed; we grow the rest ourselves.

During the launch period and immediately after calving, I inject the cow with vitamins. Otherwise, I only add chalk and salt, go through a veterinary inspection and get tested.

Required real estate

I have a wooden house with a yard, so where to put the cow was not a question. In general, the size of the stall should be 1.5 by 1.9-2 meters.

We also have a plot of 30 acres, which is enough for planting vegetables. But to make hay you need, of course, much more.

Approximately 2-2.5 hectares for hay making + at least 1.5 hectares for summer walking or grass cutting.

In our village, when we moved here, most of the plots were abandoned: people do not keep livestock and only cultivate their own garden. Therefore, the neighbors were even happy when we got a cow and began mowing the grass in the plots outside the village. Many even mowed it for us themselves, and we only took the finished grass or even hay. This is an undeniable plus. Because if there is no free space where you live, you will either have to buy hay or look for a plot to rent. And it’s not a fact that it will be close to the house, like mine.

I have an ordinary village yard, and there is a story there - this is a place under the roof, above the yard, in which hay is stored for winter storage. It also serves to preserve heat, so we don’t use additional heating even in severe frosts. In addition, the house has an underground space, where all the root crops are actually stored until spring.

We also store feed in the yard in iron barrels. Therefore, I have no problems with storage, and no additional costs associated with it. But if you don’t have one, then it’s better to take care in advance about where you will store supplies. You will have to build a room for the cow, make a cellar, and build a shelter or shed for hay.

If you plan to keep one cow and a calf, then you don’t need a large room; an insulated barn 3x3 meters will be enough.

But I would advise making it with a high roof for storing hay, and attaching a little fence for various equipment, feed and other necessary things.

There must also be a place for slaughter. I have this small fenced-off corner in the gate.

Cost and arrangement of a barn for 7 heads (video)

List of equipment and machinery

As for equipment: you don’t need much of it for personal farming.

Firstly: if you keep animals like I do, then you don’t need heaters, and there are small windows for ventilation.
Secondly: for care you need buckets for swill, scrapers, pitchforks, shovels for cleaning, milkers, jars, pans for processing milk.
Third: gardening tools, preferably a walk-behind tractor, or a mini tractor with attachments (plow, hiller, cart), gas trimmer, rake.

Staff

We don’t use hired labor yet, we manage with our family: for one cow this is quite enough.

If you hire employees, it is best to hire someone local and assign them to perform individual tasks, rather than hiring them for a permanent job.

For example, remove manure and spread it around the area before plowing; or harvest vegetables; or put away the hay; or hire a dishwasher who comes once a day, for example, to wash dishes after cooking cottage cheese in a Russian oven.

For a small subsidiary farm, constant hired labor is unprofitable.

There is not enough profit to pay a stable salary to an outsider.

Well, if you decide to expand and keep a larger herd, then you will have to hire workers on a permanent basis: you will definitely not be able to cope on your own.

Sales of products

As for sales, I have never had any problems with this. On the contrary, I even have appointments on the waiting list. Nowadays it is even fashionable for city residents to buy food from private farms.

Dairy products from supermarket shelves are hardly natural and healthy

But there is an important point: the products must always be fresh and of very high quality. It is not allowed, for example, to dilute milk with water. This will work on city market stalls, and only if buyers are not very knowledgeable and find fault with quality. And even then, it’s not a fact that people will like the taste of such a product and people will go for it again.

I always sell only to end consumers and do not work with intermediaries. I am selling at a high price and can justify the price. I have delivery to the regional center to the entrance, 2-3 times a week. I make everything that is more complex than cottage cheese only to order (cheeses, fermented baked milk, butter and ghee). This is done to ensure that the goods are always fresh, and in no case from the freezer.

If we are preparing to slaughter a bull, I notify all clients in advance and tell them how much meat I can sell. Never before has there been enough for everyone.

Now I already have my own base of regular clients who sort everything out, sometimes they don’t have enough for themselves. But when I just started, I came across such a situation that people, without even trying, said “yours is very expensive, milk in the store costs 45 rubles!”

I don’t work with such people right away: I’m not going to prove anything to anyone, if you want store-bought milk for 45 rubles/liter, go and buy it. And the core of adequate people who have now become my regular clients, and do not even require discounts, was formed in a couple of months.

At the very beginning, I told all my friends and acquaintances that I was now selling milk and meat. I placed advertisements on social networks in my city, submitted free advertisements on Avito and from hand to hand. And nothing more, then word of mouth worked. Because the products are actually very fresh and tasty, and delivery to the door was a big plus: people found it very convenient.

Consumer prices for farm products in our city vary greatly.

whole milk: 100 rubles/liter;
sour cream: 150 r/500 g;
baked milk in a Russian oven: 130 rubles/liter;
cottage cheese: 350 RUR/kg;
butter: 600 r/500 g;
hard cheese: 550 r/500 g;
meat: from 450 RUR/kg.

These are the main products for sale. Please note: Prices may vary depending on the season and may vary in your area.

Calculation of expenses and income for maintaining a cow (+ video with calculations)

To start making a profit from selling milk, I only needed to buy a cow and feed. This was a planned purchase, and first in the spring we planted a vegetable garden and all the feed, started cutting hay, and bought the cow itself in August, when vegetables appeared.

To purchase a pregnant dairy cow you need 60-90 thousand rubles, depending on the breed and age.
I buy feed for a couple of months in advance, for about 2000 rubles.
We already had everything else: a gas trimmer, gardening tools, buckets, scrapers, jars, milkers.

For the first 2 years we dug the garden with our hands (now we use a walk-behind tractor), we still mow the hay with a trimmer, move it, dry it with our hands, and carry it on a small cart, but this is again due to the fact that we harvest it right outside the garden (that is, we don’t have to deliver it far ).

I also don’t have any expenses for processing milk, because I cook it in a Russian oven, which in turn also serves as heating for the house. We also have our own water, a well. Therefore the costs are minimal.

Veterinary care costs about 2 thousand a year.

There are costs for transporting products to the regional center, which is 40 km away, but I don’t take them into account either, since my husband works in the city and still goes there every day.

My cow gives an average of 19 liters of milk per day, calculated per year, 280 days a year. This is approximately 5320 liters per year, +/-.

Of this, our family uses about 820 liters for personal consumption. 4500 liters remain. Even if we consider that we sell only milk, then at 100 rubles per liter it turns out to be 450,000 per year. If you process it yourself, you will get more.

Is it profitable and is it worth doing?

Whether it is profitable or not to keep a cow in private household plots – decide for yourself. I think a lot here depends on yourself and the region of residence.

If you take this as seriously as possible, you will save on the purchase of feed and labor, your income will increase (or rather, your expenses will decrease). If you approach implementation wisely, you will get loyal regular customers. And of course, the proximity and development of the nearest cities plays an important role. It is clear that in the wilderness, even if there is demand, the price will be several times lower.

In general terms: keeping a cow is worth it to those who live in the village permanently, have free hands and sufficient space to keep the animal. If you have a summer cottage, which you visit on weekends in the summer, then naturally you shouldn’t undertake such a serious activity.

conclusions

Before getting a cow, you need to think 10 times: this is not a chicken or a goat, this is the next step, it is very serious and difficult. It will be difficult both physically and in terms of being tied to your schedule and home. But at the same time it is still interesting and quite profitable.

The most important point: the cow is fully capable of providing your family with milk and meat, and by selling the surplus, you will make a profit every day, almost all year round.

Well, as it turned out, there is no need to be upset if you have an ordinary wooden house with a yard, and a half-abandoned village, this can even work into your hands.

And the neighbors will willingly agree to help for a small fee, and there will be a large number of areas around where you can mow grass for food.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE SAMARA REGION

MINISTRY OF PROPERTY RELATIONS

SAMARA REGION

State budgetary professional educational institution

Samara region "Khvorostyansky State College named after. Yuri Ryabov"

Research work on economics:

“Is it profitable to keep a cow?”

Bychkova Nina Anatolyevna

economics teacher

Khvorostyanka, 2014

CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION TO PROBLEM 3

2. PROBLEM 4

2.2. Goal and objectives 4

2.3. Object of study 4

2.4. Hypothesis 5

2.5. Research method 5

2.6.Theoretical and practical significance of the work 5

3.CALCULATION OF FINANCIAL COSTS FOR MAINTAINING A COW AND CALF 5

4. CONCLUSION 9

5. REFERENCES 11

There is a version that today it is easier to slaughter or sell livestock than to feed it. Many people don’t even think about it - they keep it to feed their family. After all, you can sell milk, sour cream, butter, cheese and eat it yourself. You won't go hungry. But again, you need to work around the clock, 365 days a year, without vacations or weekends.

According to economists who calculate the profitability of keeping livestock, it is more profitable to rent than to feed. Especially in recent years, when due to weather conditions quite a large amount of the grain harvest, and not only that, is lost.

PROBLEM:

Despite the benefits of milk and dairy products, various programs aimed at developing agriculture, including cattle breeding, in recent years in Russia, there are fewer and fewer cows. There is an opinion that keeping cows is not profitable.

Target:

Find out whether it is profitable for a rural family to keep a cow on their private plot

Tasks:

Study the literature on cattle on farms

Conduct a survey of residents of the village of Khvorostyanka and students of the Khvorostyansky technical school in order to find out the real costs of maintaining a cow.

Monitor animals on a farm

Conduct an analysis of the reasons for the decrease in the number of cattle in the village.

To determine whether it is profitable for a rural family today to keep a cow in the household

Object of study :

Black and white cow,

For reference: After interviewing village residents, we found out that the black-and-white breed of cows is most common in the village of Khvorostyanka, Samara region. Therefore, the object of study is this breed of cows. From the scientific literature it turned out that in terms of development these are quite large animals: the live weight of calves at birth is 30-35 kg, heifers at one year of age - 322 (in breeding farms 355-370 kg), cows - 488 (in breeding farms 524-541 kg ), bulls - 850-1070 kg. Adult animals are quite tall (height at the withers of cows is 128-135, bulls - 138-156 cm). The color is predominantly black and motley. In herds on breeding farms, the average milk yield of cows is 6306 kg of milk with a fat content of 3.82% (milk fat production 241 kg). In fact, when surveying residents of our village, the milk yield of a cow of this color is approximately 3060 kg (2750 liters). In black-and-white cows, the protein content in milk is 3.2-3.4%, and the udder index is 40-43%, milk release intensity 1.68 kg/min. The animals are quite precocious: the average age at first calving is 31 months, in breeding farms and breeding breeders - 29-30 months.

Hypothesis:

Subsistence farming helps save our families’ family budgets

Research method :

Observation, comparative analysis

Literature Study

Theoretical significance of the work -

The results and progress of the study allow us to expand and deepen knowledge about the economic costs and profits from household farming.

Practical significance :

Finding out the benefits of subsidiary farming for the budget of a rural family.

CALCULATION OF FINANCIAL COSTS FOR MAINTAINING A COW AND CALF.

An adult cow gives birth to one calf every year. A calf is also considered a good income from a cow. Therefore, we will calculate the costs and income from the calf.

Costs for maintaining one cow .

1. One adult cow requires 10 units of feed per day.

The cow must be kept in a stall for 6 months, and for 6 months the cow grazes on pasture. How much feed does a cow need per year?

10 units of feed is 20 kg of hay and 5 kg of feed per day.

We calculate the cost of hay.

180 days x 20 kg of hay = 3600 kg per year per cow.

800 rubles - 1 bale, 1 bale is equal to 100 kg.

100 kg=1 quintal. 3600 kg = 36.0 quintals.

36.0 c x 800 rubles = 28,800 rubles.

To buy hay for 1 cow it costs 28,800 rubles .

2. We calculate how much is spent on feed.

180 days x 5 kg of feed = 900 kg per year.

One cow needs approximately 900 kg of feed per year.

The price of 100 kg costs 600 rubles. 900 kg x 600 rubles = 5400 rubles.

To purchase feed for 1 cow it costs 5,400 rubles .

We summarize the costs of hay and feed per cow:

5400+ 28800=34200 rubles.

We spent 34,200 rubles to maintain one cow.

During the warm period from May to November, the cow grazes on pasture. To do this, we pay the shepherd 500.00 rubles per month.

500.00 x 6=3000.00

3. .

It takes half a cow's expenditure to raise one calf to slaughter.

This means hay worth 28800:2=14400 rubles

Compound feed 5400:2= 2700 rubles.

Let's sum up the costs of hay and feed for 1 calf:

14400+2700=17100 rubles.

4 . For water consumption for cattle and young animals we pay 100 rubles every month .

12 months x 100 rubles =1200 rubles per year.

We calculate the total cost of maintaining a cow and calf

43200+8100.00+1200.00+3000.00=55500 rubles.

Product type

Price, rub.)

Qty(ts)

Cost, rub.)

hay

800,00

43200,00

Compound feed

600,00

13,5

8100,00

water

75,00

12 months

1200,00

Pasture

500,00

6 months

3000,00

Total expenses

55500

Income from one cow.

1. One cow gives birth to one calf every year , after a year and a half the calf

gives meat approximately 320 kg. Currently, the average price for meat on the market is 280 rubles.

320 x 280=89600 rubles.

The bull of one cow produces meat worth 89,600 rubles.

2 .Income from milking 1 cow . On average, a cow produces 11 liters of milk per day, the milking period is about 9 months minus 1 month for feeding the calf with milk, that is, 240 days.

240 days x 11 liters = 2640 liters per year (on average).

On average, 1 liter of milk costs 30 rubles on the market.

2640 liter x 30 rubles = 79,200 rubles per year.

We calculate the entire income from one cow:

89600+79200= 168800 rubles.

Products

Qty

price

milk

2640 liters

79200

meat

320 kg

280

89600

Total income

168800,00

Formula for profitability of keeping one cow .

P = S d – S h , Where

P- profitability

Sd- amount of income

Sz - amount of costs

The amount of costs is 52,500.00 rubles.

The amount of income is 178,700.00 rubles.

Р=168800.00-55500.00=113300.00 rubles .

Profitability: + 113300.00 rubles

CONCLUSION

This calculation is based on purely economic considerations, given that the cow has already been purchased, a barn has been built, and you have your own transport. But when interviewing residents, we found out that

Not every family has the opportunity to buy a cow since a cow costs on average 35.0-45.0 thousand rubles, then buy feed due to low wages.;

Prices for feed, hay, straw, and water are constantly rising;

The fees for tractor and mower services are increasing as diesel fuel becomes more expensive and spare parts become more expensive;

The marketing of dairy products is not established, and if they are purchased, it is below market value;

In the Samara region there are programs for the development of agriculture: issuing loans at low interest rates, subsidizing the costs of purchasing livestock and building barns, purchasing agricultural transport. Earnings in the village are not high and this is no secret. And some do not have a regular income at all, and the land is not always registered in the proper order. Therefore, getting a loan from a bank is difficult or simply impossible.

But despite all the difficulties, “keeping a cow” is profitable, she really is a breadwinner for a rural family. Having a cow can provide your family with meat and milk. For the garden you will get manure, which is necessary for growing vegetables. The product we consume without preservatives and chemical additives is good for health. To benefit from subsidiary farming, you need an economic approach, diligence and hard work. It's not the start-up costs that scare most residents, but rather the ongoing, daily attachment to the cow. After all, in order to keep a cow, you need to get up early every day and go to bed later, prepare feed, and organize sales of dairy products. But as my grandfather would say: “In the age of the Internet, automatic washing machines, dishwashers, robotic vacuum cleaners, people have simply become lazy!”

Conclusion: It is profitable for a rural family to keep a cow on their private plot.

Bibliography:

Lebedko E.Ya. "Cow on a private farm." Moscow: Aquarium, 2007..

Magazine “Homestead Farming” Moscow, “Enlightenment”, 2007.

Magazine “Homestead Farming” Moscow, “Enlightenment”, 2008.

Magazine "Amateur Gardener's Handbook". "Enlightenment", 2010

Internet resources.

The text of the work is posted without images and formulas.
The full version of the work is available in the "Work Files" tab in PDF format

1. Introduction

Milk and dairy products are a valuable food product. They have high biological qualities. Dairy products contain many minerals and almost all vitamins. Milk is widely used in the nutrition of people of different age groups, as well as in medical nutrition. A person obtains the main amount of calcium from milk. In terms of its importance in the nutrition of the population, milk ranks second after bread. The choice of my research work was inspired by my grandfather’s words that keeping a cow is profitable, but for some reason there have been fewer cows in our beloved village in recent years. Any Slavic village is unthinkable without a cow. There were times when every household kept a cow, regardless of social status and income. The cow itself was considered a symbol of wealth. But times have changed, and so have priorities. According to many people, it is now more profitable to earn money in the social sphere rather than in the agricultural sector. There is a version that today it is easier to slaughter or sell livestock than to feed it. Many people don’t even think about it - they keep it to feed their family. After all, you can sell milk, sour cream, butter, cheese and eat it yourself. You won't go hungry. But again, you need to work around the clock, 365 days a year, without vacations or weekends. According to economists who calculate the profitability of keeping livestock, it is more profitable to rent than to feed. Especially in recent years, when due to weather conditions quite a large amount of the grain harvest, and not only that, is lost.

PROBLEM 2:

Why don't people want to keep a cow? Maybe it's not profitable? Therefore, the topic of my research sounds exactly like this.

And everyone, even a child, knows that milk is very healthy. You can make many healthy products from milk. But you have to look after the cow, clean it, and feed it. And this requires considerable effort. Maybe people are more “afraid” of work and this work is not worth the money that can be obtained from a cow.

2.2 Purpose: find out whether it is possible to make a profit from cow's dairy products, and whether milk is really so healthy.

Tasks:

Study the literature on cattle on farms

Monitor animals on a farm

What are the benefits of milk?

How to determine the quality of milk?

Is it possible to make a profit from a cow?

To determine whether it is profitable for a rural family today to keep a cow in the household

2.3 Object of study:

Black and white cow,

2.4 Hypothesis:

Subsistence farming helps save our families’ family budgets

2.5 Research method:

Observation, comparative analysis

Literature Study

3 Theoretical significance of the work -

The results and progress of the study allow us to expand and deepen knowledge about the economic costs and profits from household farming.

Practical significance:

Finding out the benefits of subsidiary farming for the budget of a rural family.

2.6 How did the first cows appear?

The first domestic animals appeared thousands of years ago. Primitive people began to domesticate wild animals in order to have a constant source of hides, milk and meat. The wolf, the ancestor of the modern dog, was the first to be domesticated. This happened 130 centuries ago. Then sheep and goats were domesticated, and a little later - cows and pigs.

Cattle - cows are descended from the wild aurochs bull. Scientists believe and insist that aurochs were domesticated eight to nine thousand years ago. Man worked and needed the strength and muscles of animals. It was then that people caught wild animals and forced bulls to pull heavy plows. Grandfather said that even during the war in the villages, cows and bulls plowed the land.

Nowadays, cows are the main animal in the village. They are bred mainly for milk and meat. Milk is used to produce cheese and butter, yogurt, kefir and cottage cheese, sour cream and other dairy products. Every year a cow gives birth to a calf. The calf is nursed by the mother for up to nine months, but it can be taken from her at about three months of age, when it begins to eat grass. The average annual milk yield of dairy cows is 4-5 thousand kg.

In our village Energia there are 22 courtyards. Only three families keep cows. I also wondered: Do my classmates’ families keep cows? To do this, I conducted a survey among students in my class.

2.7 What are the benefits of milk?

Cow's milk, undoubtedly a valuable food product.

Nutrients in milk there are a lot - more than 200, and the main ones include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and mineral salts. All these components play an important role in nutrition and ensuring the normal functioning of the body. Milk fat is also valuable, and it is considered the most complete of dietary fats.

Even in the Ancient East, milk was used to treat diseases of the nervous system and mental disorders. Eastern doctors believed that milk promotes the development of intelligence, makes a person more intelligent, helps him understand the world around him and distinguish good from evil.

2.8 About the quality of milk

One of the main indicators of milk quality is fat content. The fat content of milk depends on many factors. (heredity, age, nutrition, temperature)

Milk from domestic cows is richer and more valuable.

To determine the fat content of milk, various methods have been developed, carried out in laboratories and with special devices (butyromers).

Experience 1

I determined the fat content of our cow's milk.

To determine the fat content of milk at home, you only need a glass 12-15 cm high, a ruler with divisions in millimeters and, of course, the test product itself, i.e. milk. . On the prepared glass, use a felt-tip pen to draw a line at a level of 10 cm from the bottom. Then you need to pour milk into the glass to the indicated mark. . The glass of milk should be left on the table at room temperature for 8 hours. . During this time, cream should float to the surface of the milk poured into a glass. The height of the layer formed from them must be measured with a ruler with millimeter divisions. . Now you need to determine the percentage of fat content of the milk. It's not at all difficult to do this. The height of the milk layer, i.e. 100mm, must be considered 100%. . The number of millimeters of the layer of cream formed on the surface of the milk is the percentage of fat content of the product. . Naturally, it is impossible to measure tenths of a millimeter of cream by eye. But determining the approximate fat content using this simple method is quite easy.

Conclusion:fat content was 8% (Appendix 1, Fig. 1,2)

Experience 2

Store bought milk.

Conclusion:This milk is undiluted. Fat content - 3.2%

Homemade milk is fattier, which means it’s healthier. (Appendix 1 Fig. 3.4)

4 CALCULATION OF FINANCIAL COSTS FOR MAINTAINING A COW.

2.9 Costs for maintaining one cow. (Appendix 2 tab 1)

1. One adult cow requires 20 kg of hay and 5 kg of feed per day.

The cow must be kept in a stall for 6 months, and for 6 months the cow grazes on pasture. How much feed does a cow need per year?

We calculate the cost of hay.

20kg x 180 days = 3600 kg of hay per year per cow.

2000 rubles costs 1 bale, 1 bale is equal to 500 kg.

This means 1 ton (1000kg) = 2 bales = 4000 rubles

1 kg of hay = 4000 rubles: 1000 kg = 4 rubles

This means: 4 rubles x 3600 kg = 14,400 rubles

To buy hay (3,600 kg) for 1 cow it costs 14,400 rubles.

2. We calculate how much is spent on feed.

5 kg of feed x 365 days = 1825 kg per year.

One cow needs approximately 1825 kg of feed per year.

The price of 100 kg of feed is 900 rubles, which means 1 kg of feed is 9 rubles.

We calculate the cost of 1825 kg of feed: 9 rubles x 1825 kg = 16,425 rubles

To purchase feed for 1 cow it costs 16,425 rubles.

3.We summarize the costs of hay and feed per 1 cow:

14,400 + 16,425 = 30,825 rubles

Conclusion: We spent 30,825 rubles to maintain one cow.

3.0 Costs of purchasing dairy products in a store if there is no cow (Appendix 2, Table 2)

1. If you buy milk, cottage cheese, sour cream in a store, you get the following costs:

Milk 1 liter (365 days) x 50 rubles = 18,250 rubles

Sour cream 500g (once a week - 52 times) x 150 rubles = 7,800 rubles

Cottage cheese 1 kg (1 time a week - 52 times) x 200 rubles = 10,400 rubles

Add up: 18,250 + 10,400 + 7,800 = 36,450 rubles

Conclusion: it costs 36,450 rubles to buy dairy products in a store.

36,450 - 30,825 = 5,625 rubles per year - savings

Conclusion: it is profitable to keep a cow.

If you take into account the cost of a cow (50,000 rubles), then the purchase will pay off in 6 years. It is unprofitable to keep one cow if you do not sell the remaining milk! The remaining milk can be sold to the population at 40 rubles per liter. Let's calculate the profit.

3 .1 Income from milking 1 cow . (Appendix 2, tab. 3) On average, a cow produces 13 liters of milk per day: 1820+ 465 +976 +1587 = 4848 liters total

4848: 365 =13 liters of milk on average per day

The milking period is about 9 months minus 1 month for feeding the calf with milk. Let's calculate:

270 days x 13 liters = 3510 liters per year (on average) - given by a cow

3.2 Calculate milk consumption for yourself (Appendix 2, table 4

Milk every day 1 liter (270 days) - 270 liters

Sour cream 1 time per week (52 times), To obtain 1 liter of sour cream you will need 10 liters of milk, Total: 10 x 52 = 520 liters

Cottage cheese 1 time per week (52 times). To obtain 1 kg of cottage cheese you will need 5 liters of milk. Total: 5 x 52 = 260 liters

To feed a calf 30 days, 6 liters each (6 X 30 = 180 liters)

Let’s sum it up: 270+ 520+260 + 180 = 1230 liters of milk we consume ourselves and for feeding the calf. Now let's find the excess milk.

Let's calculate: 3,510 liters - 1,230 liters = 2,280 liters can be sold

1 liter of milk on the market costs 40 rubles on average.

2280 liters x 40 rubles = 91,200 rubles benefit per year

Conclusion: it is profitable for a rural family to keep a cow on a private plot .

In our village there is no way to sell all the remaining milk, so my parents sell surplus dairy products to the city of Kinel. The benefits of homemade milk and the income received from selling milk to fellow villagers and residents of the city of Kinel clearly cover the costs of maintaining a cow. Therefore we will keep a cow!

CONCLUSION

Bibliography:

Lebedko E.Ya. "Cow on a private farm." Moscow: Aquarium, 2016.

Magazine “Homestead Farming” Moscow, “Prosveshchenie”, 2015.

Magazine “Homestead Farming” Moscow, “Prosveshchenie”, 2016.

Magazine "Amateur Gardener's Handbook". "Enlightenment", 2015

Internet resources.

Annex 1

Appendix 2

Table 1

table 2

table 3

Igor Nikolaev

Reading time: 4 minutes

A A

Buying a cow is, first of all, a great responsibility and a lot of work. This is work from early morning until late evening, without weekends or holidays. The animal must be milked, fed, treated, cared for and taken care of in the premises.

There are a lot of issues to consider. Where to keep an animal in winter and summer? Prepare a food supply, select pastures for walking. How to make supplies for the winter, where will they be stored? In order for an individual to constantly produce milk, artificial insemination is carried out or she is taken to mating.

The animal needs vaccinations and preventive examinations. Before making a decision to purchase cattle, acquire knowledge on the care, feeding and maintenance of not only an adult animal, but also a calf. Keeping farm animals requires considerable expenses. They calculate the budget and decide whether it is profitable to keep cows for milk.

Room for the animal

On farmsteads, cattle are kept in stalls and tied with long walking in the summer. For the cow, it is necessary to provide a room in which it will be located. A simple shed will not do. The room should be warm, light, dry. Gaps in windows or walls are unacceptable: drafts will lead to respiratory diseases.

The hangar or shed should be spacious with free access to the feeder and drinking bowl. The barn is organized in such a way that the animal can easily enter it and sit in it not only standing, but also lying down. The room must be cleaned before each milking. This will be difficult to do in a small barn with a narrow passage.

The barn can be rebuilt or purchased. When purchased, it will cost 1,500 rubles. per m 2. 1 individual will require 2.3 m2. Calf compartment – 1.5 m2. The calf will grow and will also need a spacious area to live. A small hangar for a cow and a calf with separate stalls with an area of 20 m2 will cost 30 thousand rubles.

If you plan to purchase an animal for a private farmstead, it will be cheaper to adapt a barn, but it will have to be repaired and disinfected. It is cheaper to keep cows in a private house.

The barn should be well ventilated. It is constantly treated against insects and against helminths. Keep it clean. Odors of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide should not be noticeable. Large concentrations of chemicals are unacceptable. This will affect the health of the animal and can lead to respiratory diseases. Having calculated the costs of the premises and their payback, you can already understand whether it is profitable to keep a cow.

The barn is maintained at a certain temperature. It should be no higher than +16 C and no lower than +5 C. Heating is usually not done; the walls and roof of the barn are insulated. In summer it will be cooler than outside, and warm in winter. It is better to use mineral insulation. Reed and straw insulation will be damaged by rodents.

It is also necessary to take care of summer walks. It is good if the farmer owns pastures. Otherwise, they can be rented by obtaining permission to graze livestock from the local authorities.

Feed base

Cows and calves require a balanced diet, so even before purchasing an animal you will have to think about the feed supply. It should contain roughage, succulent feed, concentrates, grain mixtures, vitamin supplements, and minerals.

For 1 adult individual per year the following amount of feed is required:

1.5 tons of barley costs 11,000 rubles;
800-900 kg of bran – 6 thousand rubles;
hay – 7.5-8 tons; this amounts to 50-54 bales if each contains 150 kg; hay will cost 5,000 rubles per year if each bale costs 100 rubles; Animals need hay not only for food, but also for bedding;
vegetables – 1 t; You can’t grow such a quantity in the garden, you’ll have to buy it; 5,000 rubles are set aside for vegetables;
silo – 1 t; at the same cost; You can prepare haylage yourself if you have personal meadows; for silage and haylage it is necessary to provide and properly equip pits;
another 1.5 thousand rubles are set aside for feeding with minerals, salt, chalk, which is necessary for the cow.

The feed supply for 1 cow per year will cost approximately 27.5-28 thousand rubles. If the individual survives calving and begins lactation, then after 3 months it is necessary to carry out artificial insemination. This also requires finance. 1 dose of seminal fluid can cost up to 2,000 rubles.

Will you have to pay the same amount to the inseminator or veterinarian? A calf will appear 285 days after successful insemination. It is also necessary to prepare a food base for it. It will not cost as much as an adult, approximately 15 thousand rubles.

They calculate the financial investments for the construction of a barn, the costs of a cow and a calf. They will amount to approximately 45 thousand rubles. To understand whether it is profitable to keep a cow, you must first calculate how much profit an entrepreneur will receive from milk.

A newborn calf needs to be vaccinated. Each veterinarian has a vaccination calendar. Already at 12 days, calves are vaccinated against rhinotracheitis, parainfluenza-3, respiratory syncytial infection, and pasteurellosis. Revaccination is carried out on day 45. On the 130th day, revaccination of rhinotracheitis. On day 30, salmonellosis is vaccinated.

At 3 months – from rabies. At 6 months, revaccination is carried out. At 4 months - anthrax, foot and mouth disease. Vaccines and doctor work cost a lot. Approximately 10 thousand are set aside for the procedures.

To understand whether it is profitable to keep a cow, it is necessary to consider additional costs. This will include electricity, water, purchase of equipment, hygiene products for the cow and calf, disinfectants for the udder and for the barn.

For purchases and utility bills you will need another 5 thousand rubles. To start raising cows, you need to invest at least 50,000 rubles. It will take at least 20,000 rubles to purchase the animal itself. The starting amount will be 70,000 rubles.

Projected profit

If you buy it already, then it will give milk from the next milking. It can already be sold and generate income, but the cow will need adaptation. Not all animals will be able to immediately get used to another owner and adapt to a new room. They are stressed. Even if an individual gave a lot of milk, its milk yield will decrease. It will take time to accustom a cow to unusual conditions of housing, feeding and milking. Adaptation can last for more than one month.

If you take a one-year-old heifer, she will not give milk soon. A lot of money will be spent on its maintenance. Six months later she is taken to mating. In another 285 days, 9.5 months, she will survive calving. Milk that can be sold will be produced only after 1.5-2 months. For almost 2 years, the heifer will simply have to be raised without receiving any income from it. You can reduce costs if you purchase an animal in the spring.

Along with the heifer, the farmsteaders advise buying bulls. It is better to contact local organizations or private sellers. In this case, the animals will not have to undergo acclimatization. If the purchase is made in the spring, then the cost of feed will be minimal. Each year the young animals are fed for fattening. After 3 months, the bulls are taken to slaughter.

At one and a half years, the weight of a bull can reach 700 kg.
Slaughter weight will be approximately 455 kg.
If 1 kg of meat costs 300 rubles, then 1 bull can bring a profit of 136.5 thousand.

The amount will cover the costs of maintaining the bull itself and the cow, which by this time will have already entered its lactation period. Doing business this way can be profitable. A dairy cow will show high productivity 2 months after calving.

If an individual calves as a heifer, then she is already growing up and is inseminated. Soon she will give milk too. If a bull is born, then by the time the cow goes dry, it can already be fed. Financial gains will be significant. If you do business this way, you can achieve good results. Carry out simultaneous activities for milk production and raising bulls for meat.

We calculate the results when breeding bulls and when buying 1 cow.

They spent 70 thousand on the construction of a hangar, food supply for 1 year, and a cow.
The cost of a bull and feed for it is 40 thousand.
Total costs – 110 thousand.

Accurate calculations take into account the food supply for the born calf and for vaccinations.

Profit from the sale of meat amounted to 136.5 thousand from 1 bull.
Profit from the sale of milk - 400 thousand.
Net income – 426.5 thousand. This amount will cover all preliminary expenses.

Not only professional farmers are concerned about the question of whether it is profitable to keep a cow, but also private summer residents who have a small farm - for themselves. Keeping these animals is hard work, and before purchasing a calf, you want to understand how justified it is. We will try to tell our readers what it costs in practice to buy a cow or bull, and whether it is worthwhile to engage in professional cattle breeding.

Factors influencing maintenance costs

Before answering the question of whether it is profitable to keep a cow, you should determine the cost items required when raising calves. Before the calf grows up and makes a profit, you need to invest in the following activities:

feeding;
drinking;
walking;
preparation and storage of hay;
milking - for cows;
pairing;
medical expenses.

Each of these activities requires not only control and appropriate qualifications from the livestock breeder, but also serious financial investments, especially if it is a large farm.

In small farms, financial investments are not so large, but they may not be justifiably high if you thinklessly approach the issues of breeding cows and bulls.

Who is cow breeding suitable for?

According to livestock breeders, raising bulls for meat or raising cows for milk is a profitable and profitable activity, but it requires not only serious financial investments, but also a lot of effort. In recent years, a decline in livestock numbers has been recorded in Russia. The reason was not that raising livestock became unprofitable. It’s just that such work takes a lot of time and effort, so few people want to do it.

To take care of livestock and receive returns in the form of milk and meat, you need to know a lot. For example, how to deliver a baby, how to raise calves, how to feed livestock properly. All this suggests that people who decide to seriously engage in animal husbandry will face many difficulties.

As for profit, the most important issue is not the profitability of the company. Rather, the main thing will be whether you see animal husbandry as your calling, or whether this is just a temporary hobby for you. With proper organization of work, modern farmers receive good profits, but invest not only time, but also soul into their work.

Feeding costs

It doesn’t matter whether you are going to open a large farm and breed cows, or whether you want to buy one or two calves for yourself. Before implementing the idea, you need to calculate how much money will be spent on maintaining a cow.

So, for growth and development, the animal must receive: roughage (grass or hay), concentrates (bran or grains), succulent feed (silage or root crops).

The table shows the approximate cost of these crops and consumption rates per cow:

After doing the math, it turns out that it costs 22,700-24,500 thousand rubles to feed one cow per year. Of course, you can reduce feeding costs if you take your livestock out to pasture and make hay yourself. But this can be realized if you keep livestock for yourself and there are only a couple of cows and bulls in your herd. In a serious farm, feeding costs are inevitable.

Items of additional expenses

To raise an animal, it is not enough to provide it with food. For example, we talked about how you can save on feeding if you graze cows in the field. But, in this case, you will have to hire a shepherd. In addition, when you decide to store hay in large quantities yourself, you will need to hire equipment and equip a storage space.

Another cost item will be electricity for lighting the pens. In addition, when engaged in dairy production, you will need to invest in gasoline to distribute your products. The cost of the pens themselves is also included in the cost of maintaining livestock, but this expense will be a one-time expense.

To breed cows and bulls in large quantities, you will need to hire staff, buy inventory and equipment. When keeping several heifers, care and feeding will fall entirely on you and your family.

Cost of veterinary services

When calculating the cost of keeping a cow, it is important not to forget the cost of veterinary services. Even if you keep several cows in a private house and practically do not spend money on feeding - you graze them in the meadow, you cannot do without the services of a veterinarian.

If we exclude illnesses and childbirth, then standard vaccination and routine examination will cost you about 5,000-6,000 rubles per year per animal. Accordingly, with the growth of the livestock, this amount will increase. After a certain point, calling a veterinarian becomes unprofitable, and it is more rational to hire your own veterinarian.

This applies to large farms numbering tens and hundreds of animals. If you plan to do without a health worker, then this will not work, because you will not be able to sell non-certified milk and meat. To obtain a quality certificate, you will need a conclusion from a veterinarian.

Mating and its cost

When raising livestock, it is important not to forget about such an expense item as mating. The cost of a bull for mating depends on its breed and pedigree. If you are going to raise purebred bulls for meat, then the services of one bull producer can cost you 10,000-15,000 per year.

Don’t be afraid, because such a price is only possible for champion bulls. The price for mating with an ordinary bull is on average 2000-3000 rubles per year. This is a small amount when you consider that you will eventually have a new member of the herd and the productivity of the calving cow will increase.

But, if you are seriously engaged in breeding cows and bulls, it is more logical to purchase a male sire rather than rent one. The only exceptions are when you want to introduce “new blood” to an existing herd, or your bulls have not yet reached reproductive age.

Implementation: methods and places

To make keeping livestock profitable, you need to think through a strategy for selling products: meat, milk.

If you want to engage not just in livestock breeding, but also sell a variety of products, you will need to purchase specialized equipment. To produce cottage cheese and cream, you need a separator, and to create stew, you need a canning line.

If you are not yet ready to open a private production line, you can sell the products in their pure form. This can be done most profitably: in markets, in stores, by opening your own retail outlet, in factories, in establishments that have their own cooking shop.

Before you receive a profit from the sale, you will need to invest. So, you will need to conclude supply agreements, organize delivery, or collect documents to open your store. All this takes time and money, but will bring good profits in the future.

For your venture to be profitable, you need to learn to save and plan your expenses rationally. Here are some tips that can help you create your own farm:

feed should be purchased in the fall - during this period it is the cheapest, since there are many offers on the market;
You shouldn’t buy crushed cereals - it’s expensive, it’s more logical to buy or make a crusher and grind the grains yourself;
It is more rational to buy bran once a month;
create a permanent sales market;
sell only high-quality products;
fatten the bulls for meat, and do not sell young calves;
selling heifers at a young age (8-10 months) is more profitable than selling calves (2-3 months);
Don't skimp on equipment.

Pay special attention to the last point. Thus, a milking machine can be purchased for 18,500 rubles, which will reduce labor costs and free up time for other tasks.

Calculation of profit from milk sales

Let's take a small, just developing farm, consisting of five cows. The average milk yield from such a herd is 65 liters per day. On average, a cow is milked 300 days a year. The average cost of milk is 30 rubles. Now we count:

65×300 = 19,500 liters – total milk yield from the herd for the year.

19500×30 = 585000 rubles – income from the sale of milk.

Let us subtract from the profit received the costs of feeding, mating, veterinary services and an approximate amount for related expenses: 585,000-24,500-6,000-15,000-30,000 = 509,500 rubles of net profit for the year.

It turns out that with proper organization of his business, a farmer can receive about 40,000 per month from the sale of milk alone - this amount significantly exceeds the average income of a village resident.

Benefit from a large farm

I would like to immediately note that if you are waiting for instant profit, then breeding cows and bulls is not for you. You will see real profits from such a business only after a few years. The larger the farm you plan to launch, the greater the investment it will require, and the longer the payback will be.

But there is no need to doubt the profitability of this enterprise. If the income from a small livestock is 500,000 rubles a year, then by increasing the livestock, over the long term you will begin to receive greater profits.

Naturally, to expand the business you will need to invest initial income in the development of the farm. It will be necessary to purchase livestock, expand the pens, and attract specialists.

Over time, you can switch from dairy to beef, and raise bulls for meat, rather than selling young calves to outside farms.

Profit from the sale of livestock

Until the farm has expanded and you cannot raise bull calves for meat, it makes more sense to sell calves. This can be either a separate line of profit or situational income - selling “extra” calves. Especially if you start breeding purebred animals with passports from the very beginning.

Calves with documents are valued much more than outbred animals. Of course, this point should be taken into account from the very beginning and select popular breeds for breeding. Among dairy cows, the Red Steppe (180-250 rub./kg), Ayrshire (120-135 rub./kg), Holstein (135-170 rub./kg) and Kholmogory (185 rub./kg) breeds are especially valued. Among meat calves, the following breeds are popular: black-and-white (140-150 rub./kg), Cossack white-headed (115 rub./kg), Aberdeen-Angus (180 rub./kg) and Simmental (250 rub./kg ) breeds.

This is only the average cost of heifers and bulls of these breeds. With the right approach and a good reputation, you can sell animals at an even better price.

If you already have your own calf-raising business, share your experience with our readers in the comments.

If you are just starting to study this topic, then save this article by reposting it and use it as a reminder for beginning farmers.