BUY A COW AT KSH.18,000, SELL IT DOUBLE OR TRIPLE THE PRICE - BEEF CATTLE FATTENING BUSINESS FOR QUICK PROFITS IN KENYA

*BUY A COW AT KSH.18,000, SELL IT DOUBLE OR TRIPLE THE PRICE - BEEF CATTLE FATTENING BUSINESS FOR QUICK PROFITS*

With this population, Kenya being a ‘nyama choma’ nation, every Kenyan consumes an average 15 to 16 kgs of red meat annually.

Cattle farming is one of the most practiced agripreneurship, especially in the ASAL parts of the country where crop farming is undoable.

Most of the cattle kept in these areas are primarily for beef. It is estimated that the ASAL areas account for about three-quarters of the estimated 14 million beef cattle reared in the county.

The Boran cattle breeds are the most reared owing to their superior characteristics. They have the ability to withstand periodic shortages of water and feed, the ability to walk long distances in search of water and feed, and the ability to digest low-quality feeds.

Picture this on beef farming in Kenya: A Maasai herder could have a herd of 200 animals, keep them locally for 5 to 10 years with attachment and not sell them to restock until a drought comes and wipes out over 70 per cent of the stock. 

This leaves a once rich man from beef farming in Kenya poor and distraught. All this time, his animals will weigh between 200 – 400 kilos; being borans, these animals have the potential to weigh over 600 kilos for males. 

This is where a money minting venture in beef farming in Kenya called feed-lotting comes in.

Feedlotting is a technical word for confining animals, mainly beef and feeding them on the best food ratios to be ready for the market in the shortest time possible. The duration can vary from 60 – 120 days. 

During feedlotting, animals are fed for maximum weight gain. The diet is majorly high in carbohydrate, sufficient proteins and optimum mineral salts. During this period, these animals depending on age and nutrition can gain between 50 – 200 kilos.

Feed can be compounded from locally available products such as maize grains, cotton or sunflower seed cakes and mineral premixes available from various manufacturers. 

Formulation of such diet depends on the cow’s nutrient requirements for a desired level of performance, the nutrient content of feeds and the price and availability of the raw materials.

Livestock markets happen weekly in livestock keeping communities where beef farming in Kenya is common. And with the recurrent droughts, prices of animals are on an all time low. 

This has relatively kept the cost of cattle weighing between 250 to 350 kilos at an all time low, averagely Sh.25,000. Such animals have achieved slaughter age of 2 or 3 years but due to poor nutrition and husbandry, they are underweight.

The game changer in this is only optimal nutrition to get these animals to get to between 450 – 600 kilos in three months when they can cost between Sh.60,000 to Sh.80,000 depending on your target market. This would look farfetched and some may think the cattle are being fed on hormones or growth promoters.

On introducing cattle to a feedlot, the roughage content has to be higher than the grain. Over time, grain must be increased slowly and roughage correspondingly decreased so that the gastro-intestinal tract has an opportunity to adapt to the increased grain (starch/concentrates) content. 

All these have to undergo prior processing to improve their nutritive value. You can buy commercial feedlot feed as one way of having profitable beef farming in Kenya.

For this sort of beef farming in Kenya you succeed, it is worth noting that, the requisite weight gain cannot be achieved without ensuring cattle entering a feedlot system are free from disease, and other stress factors. 

This calls for appropriate infrastructure and an investment on preventive care. This is the time to ensure cattle are vaccinated against diseases of concern in a given geographical area, dewormed and all biosecurity measures put in place. 

Innovative Kenyans with the requisite capital are already reaping profits from feedlot systems.

One remarkable example of successful beef farming in Kenya is a team of investors who have put up a feed lot on a 2 acre plot in Chaka, Nyeri County. 

They invested in good infrastructure, disease control, feed mill and got into business – Pioneer Feedlot. Dr Gakuo, the managing partner says he travels to various livestock markets where he buys cattle for between Sh.18,000 to Sh.30,000 depending on the breed. Most of the animals are emaciated or underweight, at the time of buying.

After three months of intensive feeding, he sells an animal at between Sh.60,000 and Sh.90,000. With capacity of handling up to 800 cattle per batch, the ranch is in good business with economies of scale. 

In this spirit and with evidence that feedlotting is a profitable venture, pastoralist counties of Marsabit, Isiolo and Laikipia have formed a consortium to venture into this enterprise. 

While some farmers feed their cattle freely in the open fields, others have realized an intensive feeding technique for the animals to acquire market body weight quickly.

I can assure you that feedlot farming for beef cattle can greatly increase the livestock earnings to pastoralists, reduce grazing pressure on the rangelands, reduce the effects of climate change, and reduce cattle rustling.

As we always tell you, there’s no marathon race that has ever been won by those who did not start the race. If you like the idea discussed above and you have what it takes to actualize it…then don’t wait to start…just do it.

Also don’t forget to join our training on Bulb Onions & Garlic Farming.

We have created a WhatsApp group called *BULB ONIONS & GARLIC FARMING TRAINING*

Nearly every meal of the average Kenyan has to have onions as part of the ingredients.

This tells you something about the market out there. There is a high demand for onions! 

In Kenya, we have a serious scarcity of onions.

The shortage is so dire that farmers in oloitoktock, Nyeri, Rumuruti, Emali, Kajiado, and other onion growing areas, clear their stocks in less than a week of harvest because of the high demand.

To fill this market demand gap, traders have to go deep into the villages of Tanzania and Uganda in a frantic search for onions.

Now imagine if you were growing onions on your farm.

Right here in Kenya.

Onion Customers would be rushing to buy the onions from you.

And by giving them what they want, you would be saving Kenyan traders the hustle of going to a distant land in search of onions.

Can you now see… the great opportunity onion farming provides?

We have created a WhatsApp group called *BULB ONIONS & GARLIC FARMING TRAINING*

In this group we are going to train and teach you for 21 days on how you can farm and profit from Bulb Onions and Garlic agribusiness. We will also have discussions, questions and answers sessions in the group.

The training will start on Wednesday, 26th July 2023.

We have prepared a program or schedule on how our Training will be conducted.

Our training on Bulb Onions and Garlic Farming Business will take 21 days (Monday to Friday, excluding weekends)

We will be educating/teaching you from 9.am to 2.pm by posting articles, images, PDF documents and videos. And from 2.pm to 7.pm the group will be open for discussions, questions and answers.

*NOTE*: The training won't affect your daily schedules. You can access all the information posted in the training group at your own free time.

Also our training will be on weekdays only, Monday to Friday, excluding weekends so that those who will be busy during the weekdays can catch up with our training over the weekend.

Below is a schedule of what will be learnt on each day of our training.

DAY 1: Introduction to Bulb Onions and Garlic farming in Kenya (How profitable is Bulb Onions and Garlic farming in Kenya and What is the best time to plant them in Kenya).

DAY 2: Where do Bulb Onions and Garlic grow best in Kenya and Successful Bulb Onions and Garlic farmers in Kenya.

DAY 3: Planning your Bulb Onions and Garlic farming Business and Capital requirements.

DAY 4: Which are the best Bulb Onions and Garlic varieties in Kenya and How long does it take them to mature.

DAY 5: Phases of Growth (Vegetative Phase, Bulbing Phase & Blooming Phase).

DAY 6: Climatic & Soil Requirements for growing Bulb Onions and Garlic.

DAY 7: Land Preparation for growing Bulb Onions and Garlic.

DAY 8: Planting (Should I Grow Onions from Seed or from Sets?).

DAY 9: Bulb Onions and Garlic Plant Development.

DAY 10: Irrigation (How to set up drip irrigation for your Bulb Onions and Garlic farm and when to water).

DAY 11: Which fertilizer is best for Bulb Onions and Garlic and How to mulch your Bulb Onions and Garlic.

DAY 12: How to thin Bulb Onions and Garlic plants and control weeds.

DAY 13: Common Bulb Onions and Garlic pests and diseases in Kenya.

DAY 14: Harvesting Bulb Onions and Garlic.

DAY 15: Curing Bulb Onions and Garlic .

DAY 16: Storing Bulb Onions and Garlic.

DAY 17: Bulb Onions and Garlic Dehydration.

DAY 18: Where to sell your Bulb Onions and Garlic in Kenya.

DAY 19: Common Mistakes in Bulb Onions and Garlic farming and how to avoid them.

DAY 20: How to make your Bulb Onions and Garlic agribusiness profitable.

DAY 21: Conclusion of our Training.