The 100 litres per day dairy farm model

Monday, 4 September 2023 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The 100-litre model is recommended as the ideal commercial model for sustainable dairy businesses. Farmers who produce 100 litres or more per day are more likely to be able to generate sufficient income that will enable them to make good profits, build their savings, meet capital expenditure, and make their farms a sustainable commercial model. This will also reduce their dependence on other incomes and subsidies.

It is important to note farmers who implement best practices (i.e., cost-effective feeding, ideal herd mix, effective cost management) will be able to generate above-average profits from below 100-litre production as well.

The financial analysis also suggested methods to make farms more cost-effective to improve productivity; pertaining to feed (e.g., recommended high-productivity fodder cultivation, silage production, growing Azolla as a protein supplement, using total mixed ration), herd composition, technical management of cows, maintenance and monitoring of accounts, energy efficiency (e.g., investing in bio-gas units and solar power), and procurement of feed in bulk for large-scale farmers to obtain bulk discounts or grouping of smaller scale farmers to buy feed together to share the cost.