Cattle Farming Cost and Profit Analysis: How Much Can You Earn Raising One Cow?

The input-output ratio and economic benefit evaluation of raising one beef cow in confinement is the issue that many farmers care about most. Large-scale cattle farmer Liu Erdi did a market analysis for this author based on last year's market conditions.

The first cattle farming cost is the cost of introducing beef calves. At current market rates, buying one calf costs about 7000 yuan. If each calf can be raised to over 1300 jin before slaughter, and the current market price for slaughter beef cattle over 1000 jin is 13 yuan per jin, it is estimated that each cow can sell for 16900 yuan.

Feed costs. The coarse feed for feeding beef cattle includes silage corn stalks, distillers' grains, dried corn stalks, wheat straw, peanut straw, sweet potato vines and rice straw, etc. The purchase price is calculated at 0.3 yuan per jin, and each beef cow needs 20 jin of coarse feed per day, which is 6 yuan.

The fine feed that a beef cow needs each day accounts for 1% of the beef cow's body weight, meaning every 100 jin of body weight requires 1 jin of fine feed. An average value is generally used, that is, each cow is calculated at 800 jin of body weight with a consumption of 8 jin of fine feed. The formula is prepared with 52% cornmeal, 16% wheat bran, 25% soybean meal, 1% baking soda, 1% salt and 5% premix, etc. The market price is equivalent to 1.4 yuan per jin, so 8 jin requires 11.2 yuan, and the feed cost is 17.2 yuan per cow per day. One beef cow needs to be raised for 10 months, at 17.2 yuan per day, for 300 days of raising, totaling 5160 yuan in feed costs.

Supporting equipment costs: pellet grinders, chaff cutters, and boilers. The size and model are selected according to quantity, generally 1000-4000 yuan. Cattle shed construction and equipment are counted as fixed assets and can be used for many years, so this cost can be amortised into the costs. Disinfection costs are calculated at 100 yuan, quarantine and treatment costs at 250 yuan, and water and electricity costs require roughly a few dozen yuan per cow per year. Selling cow manure can roughly offset these costs. In summary, the estimated cattle farming cost is 12500 yuan, and the profit per cow is about 4300 yuan (including labour costs).