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Last night we had an online cattle fattening discussion where our Livestock Tech Director @Bubanpotok gave a very informative presentation to our farmers.
Below are some of the nuggets shared
THREAD
#RimaSomething #DangaManagement
Below are some of the nuggets shared
THREAD
#RimaSomething #DangaManagement
What is Fattening:
Cattle pen fattening involves the feeding of beef cattle with a protein balanced, high-energy diet for a period of 60-90 days under confinement to increase live weights and improve degree of finishing. this is to obtain better grades at the abattoirs.
Cattle pen fattening involves the feeding of beef cattle with a protein balanced, high-energy diet for a period of 60-90 days under confinement to increase live weights and improve degree of finishing. this is to obtain better grades at the abattoirs.
Pen fattening enables the animals to express fully their genetic potential for growth.
when we say degree of finishing we will be reffering to the adding of body fats to the animal in qsn before being sent to the abattoir.
And beef grades which are common to abattoirs are Manufacturing, Economy, Commercial, Choice and Super
And beef grades which are common to abattoirs are Manufacturing, Economy, Commercial, Choice and Super
Before you start a cattle pen fattening farming business in Zim, you have to decide how many cattle you want to keep, where you are going keep them, and your target market. The no# of cattle you keep will depend on the amount of land and capital you have,
and also the size of your target market. You should always carry out a feasibility study, market research and write a business plan before you venture into any business. Do not make the mistake of starting a cattle pen fattening business just because someone is doing it
Cattle fattening in Zimbabwe is very profitable when done the right way. The profitability of the cattle pen fattening business depends on the buying price of the cattle, cost of the feed, price margin, feed margin, feed conversion efficiency ratio, unit cost per KG when selling.
It is important that you understand the mentioned margins and conversion ratios before you start the business. You can easily calculate how much profit you will get buy buying and fattening the cattle at a specific price if you understand the margins and conversion ratios,
and thus you will make an informed decision of whether to buy the cattle at the specified price or not. The maximum price payable for the cattle must be calculated before you start the business. It is easy to make a financial loss before fattening even starts by paying too much.
Advantages:
–may reduce production costs since its confined and can be easily monitored on one small area
–can use or buy low-quality forages and mix in cheap grain and supplement to meet the needs of the herd.most of the things we have such as hay bales & majanga from our fields
–may reduce production costs since its confined and can be easily monitored on one small area
–can use or buy low-quality forages and mix in cheap grain and supplement to meet the needs of the herd.most of the things we have such as hay bales & majanga from our fields
there is minimum land usage required for large no# of cattle which is a more economical way for beef production. Also cattle are fattened earlier with better meat consistency and more meat can be distributed for the increasing national demand before we jump to global demand.
So by feeding 3% of live weight to a 300kg steer equates to 9kgs a day per head and weight gains of 1.8KGS A DAYband on average a 50kg bag will last 6 days.
In a month the project will have used around 4bags of feed and a max of 16 bags in 60-90 DAYS.
1 bag cost 14usd.
In a month the project will have used around 4bags of feed and a max of 16 bags in 60-90 DAYS.
1 bag cost 14usd.
so the cost of finishing 1 steer will be 16*14 = $224 plus cost of buying steer @ $300 Totalling 524 and other overheads which will not exceed 100usd to make it a round figure of 600usd.
Now looking at the beef price currently at $4.80 we work with a cold dressed weight which is 50/100 of live weight giving us 462kgs/50%. our returns on Carcus will be $1108
Our profit will be 1108-600usd cost of production. And as the scale of business increase we will get Economies of scale. Meaning more profits.
