What Are the Prospects for Cattle Farming in 2018? This Analysis Is All You Need

Whether cattle farming makes money has always been a topic of debate among those in the industry. It can be said that cattle farming is a profitable business, but not everyone can make money at it, because there are many breeds of cattle, and quality is divided into grades of three, six, and nine, and the feeding and management methods also differ, so the returns will certainly vary. Let's take a look below at what the prospects for cattle farming in 2018 are like!

What are the prospects for cattle farming in 2018?

As things stand now, the prospects for cattle farming in 2018 are still fairly good, because relatively speaking cattle farming is fairly stable and will not fluctuate wildly like pigs and chickens. Of course, cattle prices will also fluctuate somewhat, but as long as you raise them well, you will not lose money even if cattle prices are a bit poor; it is just a question of earning more or less. Although the number of beef cattle is currently on a downward trend, the price of live beef cattle and their products has been rising all along. Breeding one calf can bring in more than 4000 yuan, and fattening beef cattle for more than 6 months can yield a net profit of up to 3000 yuan. Because the base number of cows capable of breeding is declining and feeder cattle for fattening are in short supply, the market outlook for beef cattle farming continues to look promising.

What are the costs of cattle farming in 2018?

The costs of cattle farming mainly include several major costs such as cattle farm construction, cattle breeds, feed, and labor. For large-scale cattle farms, construction investment is generally far higher than for small cattle farms. Under such conditions, if management is proper, labor can save part of the cost. For pig farming and chicken farming, all refined feed is used, and the larger the scale, the lower the feed cost. But cattle farming is different, because cattle mainly eat roughage, and roughage itself is cheap and bulky, inconvenient to transport, and can only be solved locally. When the farming scale is too large, roughage is generally very difficult to solve locally and needs to be purchased from other places. And when purchasing from other places, the transport cost may be far higher than the value of the feed itself. Overall, the larger the cattle farm scale, the higher the required cost.

Can cattle farming make money in 2018?

1. Calf prices are rising: Rising calf prices are something everyone can see. In recent years, the same calves have risen by at least 300 to 500 yuan per head each year. For cattle farms raising breeding cows or breeding and raising their own stock, this price increase is pure profit. However, for cattle farms that only fatten cattle, however much calf prices rise, profits are compressed by that much. The days when one beef cattle fattening operation could earn five or six thousand yuan are gone.

2. Subsidies are increasing: For breeding cows, whether the subsidy is large or small, most areas have subsidies. For most areas, the small ones are a few hundred yuan and the large ones two or three thousand yuan, which is also equivalent to pure profit. Of course, subsidies are not delivered to your door on their own. Although applying does not guarantee you will get them, if you do not apply you definitely will not get them. Moreover, the policy requirements for breeding cow subsidies are generally relatively low. Most areas require more than 10 breeding cows, with breeds being improved beef cattle or local protected cattle breeds.

3. Forage costs are falling: Prices such as corn and soybean meal have fallen by a relatively large margin compared with previous years, and the forage cost of cattle farming has fallen accordingly. As for roughage, prices have not risen in recent years, and have even dropped slightly. In the past, the highest price for fresh corn stalks was 0.08 yuan/jin, while last year it was only 0.05 yuan. It is recommended to buy both corn and roughage directly from farmers whenever possible. First, it can save part of the cost; second, it allows you to keep good control over feed quality.