Expand dairy farm by purchasing additional cows

Entrepreneur

About Me

Am 28 years of age, live and work in Kenya. I grew up in the rural parts of the country and went to rural schools through hardships but made it to the university.
Currently I work as a part time software engineer with an IT firm based in Nairobi and run a charitable organizations called The Charles Siele Foundation based in Kipkelion East Constituency, I support and mentor bright and needy students through their secondary education.
Through the proceeds I get from my small dairy farm, I have managed to educate 10 children through their high school and 80% of them are now at the university level both locally and abroad doing various degree courses, am in phase two of educating the second batch of needy students but due to rising cost of education am at times overwhelmed, so I want to expand my dairy farm so that I can more funds from the sale of both milk and other dairy products.
I want to improve my dairy farm by getting quality breeds of cows and increase my herd to at least 10 as I have acquired more farm next to our family farm. I will dedicate 40% of the profits from the sale of dairy products to the foundation so that more children can access their education.

My Business

JKL Dairy farm is on a 3 acre plot and has 2 cows which are in milk and a calf. One of the cows produces an average of 8 litres and the other 5 litres of milk per day. The family consumes 3 litres while the other are sold through New KCC Ltd
Once i expand my dairy farm, my targets are to process milk products and add more value; my targets are to have a small cooling plant that will enable me store and buy more milk from the neighborhood so that we process and package, make Yoghurt and other milk products.
Expected/target performance following interventions
Enterprise Unit No. of units Gross margin in Kshs USD Remarks
1 Dairy Cow 6 400,640 4,744.18 Average 20 lts per cow per day
2 Beans Acre 0.25 7,500 89 For home consumption
3 Poultry Number 100 25,000 296 From sale of eggs, live birds

Opportunities identified for improvement of dairy enterprise
Measures to increase income
1. Adoption of good husbandry practices.
2. Increasing the herd to 6 dairy cows.
3. Replacing the current herd with higher yielding cows
Measures to reduce costs and cut losses
1. Fodder establishment to reduce amount spent on feed purchases
2. Baling of hay and silage making for dry season feeding
3. Investing in proper milk handling equipment to prevent spillage and spoilage

Loan Proposal

I want to expand my dairy farm to enhance productivity with minimal costs. At the moment here in Kenya, we have a new high yielding breed of dairy cow called Fleckvieh which matures faster and has high yields compared to others.
Fleckvieh butter/fat content in milk is higher than that of either Ayrshire or Friesian breeds.
To have the breed, a farmer needs to buy semen, which costs between Sh800 and Sh4,000 and inseminate his breed cattle.
My future target is to acquire 4 Fleckvieh cows but because of my loan credit limits I will initially buy semen to cross breed with my current cows.
Measures to increase income
1. Adoption of good husbandry practices
2. Increasing the herd to 4 dairy cows
3. Replacing the current herd with higher yielding cows

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