profitable dairy farm business plan

Dairy farming is very profitable business in india. In many parts of india be it a rural or urban dairy farming business has gain its importance and became very popular in terms of its profit margin. Any cattle farming business when done in proper and in scintifically manner with effective business plan leads to success. Mostly in every part of india cattle farmers are having lack of knowledge and also thery are not aware of the latest methodology and technique due to which they are not succeeding in this business. So I decided to write this article inorder to practically guide and help those who are novice or newbie in dairy farming and have keen interest to start dairy farm business in a profitable way.

So folks, do remember that before stepping into this dairy farming business firstly you should mentally prepared that you are going to dedicate your full effort and time to this and special 24×7 attention should be maintained throghout.

Dairy Farming Business Planning (For 10 – 15 Cows)

what are the basic requirement of Dairy farming in India?

  • Proper shed construction.
  • Surplus area of land for cultivation of green fodder (1-2 acre of land is sufficient for 15 cows)
  • Adequate water supply
  • Good breed of cows (High yielding cows HF,Jersey, sahiwal etc)
  • Fodder management (Dry fodder , green fodder and concentrate)
  • Labour
  • Proper vaccination schedule

Shed Construction

Well spacious and hygenic shed for cattle is needed for their good health.  Let us take an example of 10 cows. It is scintifically recommended that 1 cow should have 7ft x 11 ft area and it also varies depending upon the size of animal. For 10 cows roughly we will construct 80 ft x 12ft of cow shed.

Cow shed are basically of two types :

  • Closed housing
  • Open housing

Open housing are not considered these days as we keep high milk yield animals which needs extra care. So generally we should use closed housing system.

Closed housing is further classified in two arrangements:

  • Head to Head Arrangement
  • Tail to Tail Arrangement.

In head to head arrangement animal feeder or menzer is constructed in between the shed with a separation wall in between so that the cow can be fed from both sides facing head to head each other.

On the other hand in tail to tail arrangement Feeder or menzer is constructed on either side of the shed so the cows are fed in tail to tail position.

I prefer Head to Head Arrangement because it costs less as compare to tail to tail arrangement. In this arrangement feeder or menzer is one in between the shed.

Shed should be in some elevated area to avoid rainfall water to come inside. Special attention should be given in the flooring. The floor must be made of bricks and cement with proper inclination so that the urine or excrete can drain easily.

Proper Drainage system should be there to drain the urine on either side of the shed to avoid the stagnation.

So for shed construction choose area which has proper light and sun with little elevation from normal ground level. For construction use cement and bricks and asbestos sheet can be used as the roof of the shed.

Electricity and proper water supply is also needed for the high yield cows such as HF and jersey fan and cooler is also necessary during summer season.

Fodder Management

Cattle health mainly depends upon the type and nutritional facts of the fodder. High milk yield cows must be given 1kg of concentrate in 2.5ltr of milk yield. If a cow yields 10 ltrs of milk then scintifically they should be provide with 4 kg of concentrate with mineral mixture. In fodder management we should know that there are three types of fodder what we give to the cattle.

  • Dry fodder
  • Green fodder
  • Concentrate and mineral mixture.

Dry fodder:- Generally the dry fodder constitutes 2/3rd of the supplements. Dry fodder are

  • wheat hay
  • paddy straw(kutti)
  • chokar, etc.

Green fodder :- green fodder play vital role in animals health as it provides the essential nutrients required for good milk yield. We must have surplus area of land preferebly 2 acre for 15 cows for green fodder cultivation.

  • Green fodder are basically leguminous rabby crops they are gram, barseem, maize, masoor, etc. They are rich in protein and hence increase the fat percentage in the milk.

Mineral mixture :- It is essential that minerals concentrate given to the cattle to overcome the mineral deficiency. It is also required for the good health of the cattle.

So for ideal food for the 1 cow should be in precise proportion of dry fodder , green fodder and mineral mixture with concentrate.

  • Mix kutti, chokar and concentrate like khalli (sarso,badam or teesi) add water in it and feed them
  • Generally sarso khalli provides heat and it should be given during winter season and
  • Teesi khalli in summer seasons
  • Badam khalli can be given any time as it increases fat percentage in the milk

Roughly cost of feeding one cow is rs 200 a day

Adequate water supply :-

Proper water supply is very much needed for the cattle to drink, cleaning of cow  and shed etc.

Breed selection of cow :-

Right breed selection is very much important in the dairy farming. As the profit is totally dependent on the milk yield of the cow. For breed selection we must take care of the breed which is adapted to our climatic condition and their milk yielding capability. For this we suggest the cross breed of Holstein fresian(HF)  with Indian sahiwal. Or Jersey with sahiwal.

Also cross breed of jersey and red sindhi is preferrable for the good milk yield. Generally breed selection of these cow should be done on the basis of milk yield production in general 15-20 ltrs of milk yield in a day is preferrable.

Cross breeding technique with artificial insemination (AI) has drastically improved the quantity of milk production in the country which also increased the per capita milk yield production.

Basic care and management of cows and calves:-

Timely Mating and Insemination is Needed:-

In general mating or insemination is done after every 3 months of calving. Indian breed takes approx 30-35 months in reaching maturity phase whereas high yield cows HF or jersey cross breed reaches maturity at 15-18 months and its ready for mating. Ideally every 13 months cow should be calving, then only our farm production will grow. Lactation period should be of 300 days and service period must be of 90-120 days. Rest must be gestation period i.e 266 days.

After three four attempt of mating if cattle is not conceiving then there is a fertility issue or may be some genital problems are there so special medicine should be given. Iodine and mineral mixture supply must be increased  to minimize the mineral deficiency.

Special care for pregnant cows:-

Pregnant cows should be given special attention and there must be adequate amount of concentrate and mineral mixture should be given during gestaion period of cows. Just before 3 month, calving cow should be given challenge feeding  i.e giving fodder as much as they can feed it so that there would be a proper growth of calves and its udder.

As we know the prolactin hormone is responsible for milk production and oxitocyn hormone is for milk ejection or secretion. The moment calves suck the udder oxitocyn hormone secretes which is responsible for milk ejection. In some cases when calf dies we give oxitocyn injection which should be avoided as it mix with the milk and can harm humans when they consume it.

Note:- effect of oxitocyn hormone remains for 7-8 minutes in this duration and total milk should be taken out from the udder otherwise milk secretion becomes difficult.

Calves(baby cow) Management:-

Within an hour after immediate birth calves must be given mother’s first milk colostrum, which is rich in protein vitamins and other antibodies. It contains 28% of solid material generally milk contains 13-14% of solid material. We insist on giving first milk i.e colostrum just after an hour because at this time calves intestine are porous. The macro molecule and antibody in the colostrum easily penetrates through calf intestine and provide a good immunity and immune system to fight with disease and infection. Also the meconium that is the first stool excretes after colostrum intake.

After 10 days debudding of horn should be done so that it becomes docile in nature. It is done with hot iron with NaOh and KOH. On regular interval mucous from nose should remove from towel to reduce the infection.

Vaccination schedule:-

Timely vaccination schedule is very important in order to prevent cattle from deadly diseases. It provides better immunity and disease resistance to the cattle.

In india generally we follow the following vaccination schedule:-

Disease Animal Vaccine Dose Immunity Time of vaccination
Foot and mouth disease(FMD) All cloven footed animals Polyvalent FMD Vaccine 3 ml S/C 1 year February and December
Hemorrhagic septecimia(HS) Cattle,Buffalo HS Vaccine 5 ml S/C 6 month and 1 year May-June
Black Quarter (BQ) Cattle,Buffalo BQ Vaccine 5ml S/C 6 month and 1 year May-June
Anthrax All species of animals Anthrax spore vaccine 1ml S/C 1 year May-June
Brucella Female cattle and buffalo calf age 4-8 months only Brucella Vaccine 2ml S/C 1 year     ———-
Theileriosis Cattles and calves above 2 month of age Theileria vaccine 3 ml S/C I Year   ———–

Note:- Before any vaccination, deworming is compulsory for better result.

Source :- Indian Development Gateways InDG

Essential precaution and proposed routine of a dairy farmer:-

  • Every monring before milking, examine each cattle. See if they are in good health whether they are ruminating or not. If not ruminating then there is some problem like it may be fever or internal parasitic load or may be some infection. Seasonal deworming  is necessary to remove the parasitic load.
  • Before milking, give them proper fodder and clean the shed.
  • Use mustard oil to lubricate the udder at the time of milking.
  • After milking don’t let the cattle to sit as there udders may get infected so give them the green fodder so that they remain standing for atleast half an hour.
  • Do not give raw wheat, rice etc. As the cattle metabolism is different from humans.
  • 2 times fodder and concentrate should be given i.e morning and evening. Also let the cattle go for grazing.
  • Specially in summer season HF Cow heavily respirates atleast 3 time water sprinkling or bath is necessary and cool climate should be maintain by putting fan and cooler in shed.
  • Similarly in winter season cover the cow and shed with the jute bag, light fire to provide heat and to maintain the climate.

Our suggestion to dairy farmer in India:-

Dear reader if you will follow these method of dairy farming surely there would be a better result in the terms of milk production and hence your dairy business profitability. Please stick to this rules in the next article I am going to share profit margin calculation in dairy farming business.

1 COMMENT

  1. I Mr sreenivasulureddy
    I need your help to start dairy farm in Telangana, Hyderabad, and I need your support and suggestions from selecting breed for Hyderabad weather and costing

  2. Hello, Thanks a lot for such a comprehensive article covering all the areas of dairy farming. Very useful & very informative for beginners like me. Would like to access your other articles as well on dairy & other organic farming which can be pursued on a smaller scale. Please let me know how do I get those.

  3. Hi, thank you for your in depth insight into dairy farming. I want to start a dairy farm in Maharashtra. I can rent 2 ACRES of land in karjat for about 30,000 a month. I was just wondering how feasible that would be ? You can call me on 09819955610 , it would lovely if you could also share your phone number with me so that i could consult with you on a regular basis.

  4. Dear Sir,
    This is Vishwanath from Bangalore. I was searching for n number of articles to get started in cow farming. As my family is from Malnad region (Shimoga district), i was very much interested in this field. I have completed Diploma in Mechanical Engineering with 12 years of experience and right now working as a Asst Manager in QAQC function at TMEIC, Tumkur.

    Request to share some more articles and your feedback because I am planning to go with this field for full time but my family not willing to leave the job and start this business.

    Please help

    Mob: 9620388830

  5. i would like to start dairy farming with 50 HF cows near pune.
    can i get chart for total expenses, loan from govt, subsidy,.
    Is ths an good long term business??

  6. Thanks for the details

    Kindly provide the details about different ways of milk sale like
    Sale to district milk association, sale in open market sale.to bulk customers. like hotels

  7. Thank you sir for share your experience to us…

    I want to setup a dairy farm with 10 cows please help me Sir….

    My contact and what’s app no. +919776590303

    Otherwise please give me your number…

  8. Tenders of thanks for sharing knowledge of dairy farm for beginners, very few people know in details about dairy farm project. we are handling dairy farm project since the year 1986. in fact, it’s a profitable business but it required full-time. The main factor is the fodder, own fodder will help to grow your project fast. the good workforce is the third benefit. fourth and final very good care and proper time management as well.

    Regards,
    Abdullah Yafai

    • Hello Mr. Abdullah, can you please share your mobile number or give me miss call 8003235083. I need your consultation support.

      Many thanks in advance.

  9. RESPECTED SIR,

    I WOULD LIKE TO START A DAIRY FARM FOR ME, BASICALLY AM 25 YEAR OLD IT ENGINEER WORKING IN OMAN NOW, BUT I HAVE AN INTEREST IN DAIRY FARM, CURRENTLY MY HOUSE THERE IS A SMALL FARM WHICH IS NOT MUCH PROFITABLE, SO I WOULD LIKE TO START WITH 4 GREAT DAIRY COWS AND WOULD LIKE TO EXPAND IT IN FUTURE.

    SIR I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW WE WILL SELECT THE DAIRY COW WHICH CAN PRODUCE ABOVE 20 LITERS MILK PER DAY?

    KINDLY ADVICE

    +968 90699783
    MUNEER

  10. Can you send the link to the next article as mentioned – profit margin calculation in dairy farming business.

  11. Hi,
    Planning to start dairy farm near Bengalore initially with 20 cows and it is scalable.
    can partner with like minded people who have land of min 5 acres.
    Kindly contact me if anybody interested.

    Regards
    Sanjeev
    8050646286

  12. Dear sir

    I am a engineer working in Ernakulam(India), i would like to interest to start a cow farm with 5 cows, but i have no money for my hand. I will take a personal lone, How is your opinion?. Anybody helps to advice me…

  13. Hi,

    I am an engineer and would like to start dairy farming business with 10-15 cows near to Jaipur. but I don’t have any detailed idea about that, can you provide the detail information like loan providing ,how many land require, how to take care of the cows ,how to protect the cow from disease, what would be the cost of one cow of HF ,Jersay, sahiwal breed .

    Kindly provide the full information, you can call me on 8408830077 or please share your no I will call you.

    Regards,
    Jai Kumar
    8408830077

  14. Hi,

    I am an textile businessman from Allahbad and would like to start dairy farming business with 10-15 buffalo’s jersy near to Allahbad. but I don’t have any detailed idea about that, can you provide the detail information like how to take care of the buffaloss ,merits demerits of project ,even I also don’t have any land I can invest 15 to 20 Lakh in project and can lease an agricultural land for 3 lakhs a year will that be sustainable.
    Anil
    9838595595
    please share your no I will call you.

  15. Comment:
    SIR PRANAM
    I AM FROM ODISHA.I AM PLANNING TO SET OF A DAIRY BUSINESS IN THE RURAL AREA OH ODISHA.I AM THINKING TO START WITH 20 HF COWS IN ABOUT 10 ACRES OF LAND.
    BUT I HAVE LACK OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THIS,SO I AM BADLY NEEDING OF UR HELP.THIS IS SO BECAUSE I READ YOUR PRESENTATION I FELL SATISFACTION . SO PLEASE SIR HELP ME TO SET UP MY DAIRY BUSINESS BY GIVING YOUR VALUABLE SUGGESTIONS .

    SIR PLEASE SHARE YOUR WHATS APP NO. OR ANY THING ELSE .PLZ SIR
    MY WHATS APP NO IS 7608877335

    I AM WAITING FOR YOUR REPLY .

  16. RESPECTED SIR,

    I WOULD LIKE TO START A DAIRY FARM, BASICALLY AM 30YEAR OLD MBA HOLDER WORKING IN SAUDI ARABIA NOW, BUT I HAVE AN INTEREST IN DAIRY FARM, CURRENTLY I HAVE 3acr LAND , SO I WOULD LIKE TO START GREAT DAIRY .

    SIR I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW WE WILL SELECT THE DAIRY COW WHICH CAN PRODUCE ABOVE 20 LITERS MILK PER DAY?

    KINDLY ADVICE

    Name :Hidayath
    Mobile :+966538682367

  17. Indeed a great read. I’m researching on guidelines to start this business. If you yourself could provide consultation great otherwise it would help if you could connect me with consultants and suppliers etc it would also help. Location is Maharashtra. Dial 9923590084

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