Maryanne Kinyua’s family farm, Mawa Dairy Farm, sits on a three acre piece of land in Karatina, Nyeri County.
Kinyua manages the heifer section and she is responsible for sourcing the heifers from various farms and finding market for them.
As a broker, the 35-year-old targets animals that go for between Ksh 120,000 and Ksh 150,000.
Here is Kinyua’s story as told by WoK.
Background
Before they started selling dairy cows, the Kinyuas’ mainly kept the animals for milk production.
In an interview with Nation, she explained that they would produce up to 250 litres of milk per day which they would sell to schools.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic struck resulting to closure of schools, meaning they had no market for their milk.
As such, Kinyua explained that they started selling milk to cooperatives but low milk prices forced them out of the business.
“We decided to sell most of the dairy animals and remained with a few to produce milk for subsistence,” he explained.
Kinyua said that they opted to buy and sell the animals to help budding dairy farmers find quality heifers.
“Some time in 2018, I had posted on Facebook a photo of a heifer we were selling and the response was overwhelming from young farmers. The pandemic opened my eyes to fill this gap,” she said.
After realizing the potential that the market had, Kinyua started scouting for farmers who were willing to sell their heifers.
She targets animals going for between Ksh 120,000 to Ksh 150,000.
Once she has bought the heifers, she transports them to their farm where she nurtures them to meet the specifics of the buyer.
“Bigger in-calf heifers are good feeders and they are likely to produce more milk. They should also have a wide pelvic structure at the back for ease in calving,” Kinyua said.
Some specifics that she looks in a heifer before buying include a strong straight back and strong legs with small hooves.
The heifer mist also have a silky udder that is non-pendulous but firmly attached and the teats should be four, average-sized and evenly placed.
“For instance, a potential buyer says the heifer must be in-calf at between four and seven months, which means the farmer will not have to wait for long before they start reaping its benefits,” she stated.
At the farm, when the heifers are yet to be picked by the buyer, Kinyua feeds them with dairy meal and hay among other supplements.
She sources her heifers from well-managed dairy farms since there is control on what they feed on and there is manageable control pests and diseases.
“…there is information that gives history of the animals, a practice that is not common with most small scale dairy farmers,” Kinyua explained.
Kinyua also offers lessons including drawing a steaming timetable guiding how to feed the cow to avoid complications during calving to farmers before buying the heifers from their farm.
She markets her business through social media.
“More than 90 per cent of my customers are from Facebook and Twitter. I’m an admin and founder of Kenya Dairy Farming Forum on Facebook which has 174k members, Mawa Dairy Farm Page with 10k likes and over 5k followers on Twitter where I shares content on dairy farming,” Kinyua added.
