Sustained project? What’s it for a dairy farm?

Dec 14, 2017

I have pointed out, about how people were thinking of dairy farms and its success and finally its sustenance. In course of time our farmers and nation has learnt a lot and the concept is being constantly updated. Let’s discuss about the current concept of dairy-farm sustenance.

  1. Age of dairy farm. If over 10 years and still the mother stock is living or sold-> partly sustained.
  2. Age of the mother herd cow/s & the numbers of foundation cows speak of sustenance.
  3. Calculate the Herd growth if it’s at least 1.0 then OK.

Say the entrepreneur had purchased 20 milk cows of unknown origin on 1st January 2007. Let’s call it mother stock. Got 10 male &10 female Gir calves from them by year end. These female 10 calves are Foundation stock. Farmer gets a second crop of 10male &10 female by end of 2008. 3rd crop of 10male+10female by 2009 and so on. As usual, by end of 2011 the farmer gets 10 female from mother stock. He also gets 5 female & 5 male calves from Foundation cows; we can call them Filial 1 or F1, because we know their parents. F1 calving will continue till 2013. Instead of 2015 we expect 5 F2 calves in 2014. It’s one year ahead, because of genetic potentiality of Shorter (Puberty) maturity and good care. In Good F2 Gir females will be pregnant by 27 months and become cows in around 3 years.

Note: Once F1 are cows we advise to sell out the mother stock. Of course if the mother stock is retained F1 may continue for subsequent years. That’s a separate matter. Also if veterinary manipulation is practiced; the inter calving period (from one calf to next calf of same cow) will be shorter and herd growth rapid

From above data let’s calculate the herd growth. From 1.1.2007 to 31.12.2011-In 5 years 20 cows were a herd of 130. Hence Growth rate is 130/20/5= 1.30for mother stock. For Foundation cow’s growth rate will be 10 Foundation cows + 40 offspring+ 5 F1 in 4 years i.e. 55/10/4= 1.375. The herd growth rate will be even more in F2.

  1. Cattle traffic:-How many animals have been purchased in these years and how many sold. Leave the sale of males. Count how many cows in full milk and pregnant heifers were sold. If herd size is same and cows are being purchased every year can we call it SUSTAINED?
  2. Extent of net profit. An increment in graph is Ok but should be CONSISTENT by years.

Considering the milk production aspects, greater caution should be exercised. Milk production is always related with reproductive (calving and being pregnant again) activity. If every year calves are born with quantity of colostrum (1st milk) & milk yield at 2nd week is greater than the previous lactation – we can call it “progressing towards sustenance”. Be any age cows must give same more colostrum than before.Say a cow had given 5 liters of colostrum previous year but this time is giving 3 liters -> Failure. Has given 10 liter a day last time at 12th day of delivery but 7 liter this time, without any disease then failure.

  1. The farms little dependent on Vets,Milker and others (also MPCS) for selling milk are sustained.

Pl. edit if you like. Thanks. Dr. Ranjit Dash, for Gir Odisha Group only. Date 19.6.2017