Paul is a dairy farmer who quit his formal job to venture into agribusiness.
The farmer who practices dairy farming on his 50 by 100 plot ditched his teaching job for farming, a move that he says he does not regret.
Paul noted that the money he has made out of dairy farming has helped her get things that he could not get with the salary from his teaching job.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Paul had been practicing teaching for about 4 years when he finally decided to quit his job and venture into agribusiness.
With the little savings he had, he built structures on his 50 by 100 plot and bought a single Ayrshire which had the potential of producing up to 10 litres of milk after calving.
However, after a while, Paul sold the Ayrshire and bought a Friesian cow which had the potential of producing up to 18 litres of milk after calving.
In an interview, he noted that while Friesians are heavy feeders, he has been able to generate revenue, thanks to the right training and mentorship from other farmers.
“When you begin something and find that there’s an improvement, you get enough courage to move on with whatever you’ve been doing,” he said.
As a new farmer, Paul had to deal with some challenges including diseases.
In an interview, he shared that at some point, his cow was affected by mastitis, an inflammatory response of the udder tissue in the mammary gland, which cost him an arm and a leg to treat.
It is considered the most common disease leading to economic loss in dairy industries due to reduced yield and poor quality of milk.
After treating the cow, Paul realised that the disease was caused by a wrongly built shed, forcing him to rebuild it.
At this point he was short of funds forcing him to approach a SACCO which lent him Ksh 80,000 which he used to construct a new shed.
Paul also cut the high cost of feeds by formulating his own feeds.
For instance, for his dairy meal, he mixes maize germ, wheat barn and pollard in different ratios, and includes supplements such as cottonseed cake, canola, sunflower and fish meal.
Paul noted that with profits from his agribusiness venture, he has been able to do things that he could not do with his salary as a teacher.
“Dairy it’s quite different compared toa white-collar job, where you have to wait for a salary for 30 days. If you have a challenge of Ksh 1,000 you just carry 20 litres qith you and just go to the market and you’ll get the money you need,” he stated.
Paul also earns from selling manure and calves.
Additionally, he advised farmers to keep health records of their animals so as to monitor their cows jncase of any conditions or diseases.
“With good record keeping, you’ll know when a cow is taking you at a loss and know how to treat it. You’ll also know when your animal is at peak,” he said.
Paul further urged the younger generation to embrace dairy farming instead of rushing for white-collar jobs.
