How are the prospects and profits of beef cattle farming? A detailed explanation of farming techniques

1. Investment in calves

Based on spring beef calf prices, a 300-jin beef calf costs about 19 yuan per jin, which comes to 5,700 yuan per head. A 400-jin beef calf costs 17.5 yuan per jin, which comes to 7,000 yuan per head. The larger the calf, the shorter the farming cycle, but the lower the unit price and the higher the total price. Calves, as living animals, are not like other goods; there is no standard 300-jin or 400-jin weight, and breeds, fatness and thinness also vary. The exact amount spent on one calf still has to be calculated according to the actual situation, but calves of this size generally cost 5,000 to 7,000 yuan per head, so the investment for 10 beef calves is 50,000 to 70,000 yuan.

2. Investment in the cattle farm

A scale of 10 cattle does not require building a dedicated large-scale farm building. Renovating an idle house or putting up a simple cattle shed that can keep out wind and rain is enough. An ordinary rural courtyard can generally have more than enough space, and here it is roughly counted as 10,000 yuan in construction costs. A reminder to cattle farmers: if building a professional small cattle shed, about 50 sq m of space is enough for 10 cattle, and 20,000 yuan is more than sufficient. Of course, the investment in a cattle shed can be large or small. Here the principle is to reduce costs. The cattle shed only serves to keep out wind and rain, so ornate decoration is unnecessary. Because the cattle shed can be used for many years, calculated at 10 years of use, it comes to 2,000 yuan per year.

3. Feed investment

Conditions differ from region to region, and farming models and feed types differ, so feed investment also varies to some extent. For example, with grazing cattle farming, feed costs are certainly much lower than with confined feeding, but most regions in China do not have grazing conditions, so the investment discussed here is still based on confined feeding. Generally, beef cattle are raised to 1,200 to 1,400 jin before being sent to market. At this stage the feed-to-meat ratio is the highest and more cost-effective; sending them to market too large or too small will reduce returns. So take a 400-jin beef calf raised to 1,200 jin for market as an example: the farming cycle is about 8 months, and on average each day requires 20 to 30 jin of roughage (mainly corn stalks), at 0.05 to 0.10 yuan per jin. The total roughage investment for 10 cattle over one farming cycle (8 months) is: 10 head x 240 days x 20 jin x 0.1 yuan/jin = 4,800 yuan; concentrate feed is mainly corn, priced at a little over 1 yuan, so calculated at 1.10 yuan, with an average of 10 jin fed per head per day. The total concentrate feed investment for 10 cattle is 10 head x 240 days x 10 jin x 1.1 yuan/jin = 26,400 yuan.

On average, the total feed investment per head per day is about 12 to 15 yuan. For 10 cattle raised to market, all feed investment is about 30,000 to 40,000 yuan.

4. Miscellaneous expenses

For example, medicine, water and electricity, tools and so on. These investments can be ignored compared with the items above, and selling cattle manure can offset them. Here 100 yuan is allotted per head of cattle, so 10 cattle require 1,000 yuan per year.

5. Labor costs ⟦13 At a scale of 10 cattle, there is no need to hire additional workers; this amount of work can be done easily by oneself. This kind of small-scale farming is originally meant to earn oneself a wage.

Raising 10 cattle doesn't require hiring extra help; you can easily handle this little bit of work yourself. This kind of small-scale farming is basically just to earn yourself a wage.