Is Raising Cattle Easy? A Must-Read Analysis of Cattle Farming Prospects for Beginners

For beginners who want to raise cattle, cattle farming is no easy task. They worry endlessly about the prospects of cattle farming, cattle farming techniques, cattle farming investment, cattle barn construction and other issues. Don't worry. Below we will discuss the 10 questions beginners most want to know about cattle farming, to help solve your worries.

1. What are the prospects of cattle farming?

As things stand now, the prospects of cattle farming are fairly decent. Relatively speaking, cattle farming is quite stable and won't have the big ups and downs that pigs and chickens do. Of course, cattle prices will fluctuate somewhat, but as long as you raise them well, you won't lose money even if cattle prices are poor; it's just a matter of earning more or less.

2. Is cattle farming investment large?

The investment in cattle farming is fairly large. In a housed system, one fattening cow requires an investment of around 10,000 yuan, and even grazing a local yellow cow requires an investment of at least five or six thousand yuan per head. If you want to support a family by raising cattle, it's very hard to get started without investing 100,000 or 200,000 yuan.

3. How many is appropriate to start with?

This depends on your own circumstances and means; generally 20 to 30 head is most suitable. Too few won't even cover the cost of labor, while too many will be quite difficult to manage without experience.

4. Are there many cattle diseases? Do cattle get sick easily?

To be clear, there are many cattle diseases. If you count them carefully, there are several hundred kinds, but generally they don't occur often. Cattle have fairly strong disease resistance, but that doesn't mean they won't get sick. If you want your cattle not to get sick, you need to put more effort into feeding management, disease prevention and other aspects.

5. What kind of barn is good to build?

When starting cattle farming and building a barn, the smaller the investment the better. Cattle farming is hard work, and many people give up halfway. If you invest too much in the barn at the start, it's not easy to switch to another business. At the beginning, just build the simplest barn, put up some asbestos tiles, or set up posts on all four sides with color steel roofing on top. For winter insulation, just enclose it with thick canvas or plastic sheeting. After raising one or two batches of cattle, if you feel it's working out, it's not too late to build a more standard barn.

6. How much can one cow earn?

This question is hard to answer; some people earn more, some earn less, and some even lose money. In addition, there is a certain gap in profit between housed and grazing systems and between different breeds. For housed fattening, those with experience can generally earn three or four thousand yuan, while for grazing, even with experience, the minimum is over two thousand. Of course, for the first batch of cattle, there's no need to pursue how much you earn; just gain experience and try not to lose money.

7. What breed of cattle should you raise?

This depends on two aspects: first, the farming model. For housed farming, choose fast-growing beef cattle breeds (Simmental cattle, Charolais cattle, etc.); for grazing, choose cattle suitable for grazing (local yellow cattle, crossbred yellow cattle, etc.). Second, local consumption habits. Take Hunan for example: Hunan prefers solid-colored cattle and dislikes spotted cattle and white cattle, so yellow cattle and black cattle sell better.

8. Where should you buy calves?

When buying calves, it's best to follow the principle of buying nearby. If there are calves locally, buy locally; if not, buy from the nearest area. Of course, when purchasing you should also compare the quality and price of the cattle.

9. How much feed should you prepare for one cow?

For concentrated feed, there's no need to prepare it in advance; just buy it as you use it. For roughage, take one fattening cow for example: you need to prepare at least the corn stalks from three mu of land.

10. How are the sales channels for cattle farming?

The sales channels for cattle farming are fairly good, but of course, if cattle dealers don't know you have cattle, and you don't know how to contact cattle dealers, selling becomes difficult. So you should communicate more with local cattle farmers and pay attention to cattle dealers' phone numbers in daily life, so that selling won't be difficult when the time comes.

Appendix: Can you determine how old the cow you're buying is?

1. Calving records are the most accurate way to determine a cow's age

Generally, standard dairy farms and breeding stock farms measure and record cattle when they leave, and make obvious marks on the cow's body. By identifying the marks on the cow, you can look up the cow's birth date in the corresponding records and determine the cow's age.

2. Identification by horn rings

In horned adult cows, during pregnancy and lactation, due to insufficient nutrition, the tissue around the base fails to develop fully and the surface sinks. At the growth point at the base of the horn it becomes thinner, forming a ring-shaped depression called a horn ring.

Each time a cow gives birth, a concave ring forms on the surface of the horn. Therefore, the number of horn rings plus the breeding age gives the cow's age. But this is only accurate under normal conditions. If the cow is not pregnant, has a miscarriage, is ill, or has imbalanced nutrition, the depth and width of the horn rings will not be the same, the boundaries are often unclear, and more than one may form each year. Therefore, usually only large and obvious horn rings are counted. Otherwise, it is easy to make errors in judgment.

Cow's age = age at first calving + (number of horn rings - 1)

3. Identification by changes in the live cow's incisors

Cattle are initially born with milk teeth. As the cow grows and develops, the milk teeth fall out and are replaced by permanent teeth. Milk teeth are small and white, with obvious necks and relatively large gaps between teeth; permanent teeth (the new teeth that replace the milk teeth after they fall out) are large and thick, slightly yellow, neatly arranged, and closely pressed together.

Permanent teeth are constantly worn down during feeding and chewing. Based on the replacement of milk teeth by permanent teeth and the degree of wear on the permanent teeth, a cow's age can be judged. This method is not as accurate as record-based methods, but it is much more accurate than the horn ring method.