Milk is my money

She is one of the largest suppliers of milk to Brookside in the region. She is also the recipient of awards in various categories including ‘best large-scale dairy farm in the province’ and ‘best dairy cows’. She spoke to BEATRICE OBWOCHA

I started this business about six years ago and I don’t regret. Dairy farming is fulfilling and it is a business like any other. Moreover, the rewards in terms of income is quite good.

I don’t fear getting dirty and I get into the cows kraal to check on their food and health everyday. I own more than 100 cows and I do zero-grazing on the farm. We milk about 35 cows, the rest are calves or heifers.

I got into farming by default. Although we grew up in Nairobi, my father (deceased) loved being at the farm and always brought us here on school holidays, so I grew up with agriculture in the background. My father was even a director at the Ministry of Agriculture at one time. But I was not that keen on farming.

When I completed my secondary education at Kenya High School, I joined Siriba Teachers College in Maseno. After graduating, I taught literature in several schools including Njoro Girls High School and Moi High School, Kapsowar.

In 1997, my mother passed on. Two years later, my father also died. I’m the first-born in a family of six siblings so I joined my brothers in horticulture farming. However, our hearts were not fully in this as we were either working elsewhere or focussing on business. At the time, I was running a pizza business in Nakuru town after Nandos closed shop and it was doing well. Then I started thinking of dairy farming and started it on the side. To my surprise, I discovered I loved dairy farming and wanted to expand it further. However, since I was still running the pizza shop, I was unable to give it enough attention.

After about two years, I sold my business to get into dairy farming full time. It is a decision I have never regretted because it has proved to be profitable to me. Farming today is not like in the old days when it was left for the poor and the old. It is a successful business venture if one is serious about it and is fully committed.

Rain gauge

I find dairy farming fulfilling but it is also very involving. For instance, we keep lots of data that includes the amount of milk collected and the amount of food fed to the animals. We even have a rain gauge at the farm to record rainfall so as to know when to plant.

Modern technologies make dairy farming easier. We plant yellow maize for the cows, which we then cut and store as silage for feeds. We also plant sorghum, sunflower, turnips and Rhodes grass for the cows. All the farming we do on the land where the livestock are not located are for feeds for the cows.

I have also employed people to help around in the farm, especially with the planting of animal feeds, mixing the harvest with concentrates and minerals, and feeding it to the animals. I have invested in modern equipment to ensure the cows produce quality milk. I have tractors for ploughing, planting and harvesting, and an ultra modern feed mixer used for mixing silage, which we store during drought. Usually, I store about a year’s supply of food for the cows so that, should there be a change in rainfall patterns like there has been these past two years, I can still feed my cows.

Tap biogas

I have also invested in milking machines and coolers to preserve the milk. We milk three times a day and the milk is stored in the coolers to ensure it remains fresh when officers from Brookside come to collect it.

Besides the milk, I also tap biogas from the cow dung, which I use for heating water to clean the udders, as well as for washing and cooking.

However, dairy farming does have its share of challenges. During the rainy season, for instance, there is usually a milk glut (excess) to the extent where we are sometimes forced to spill milk. Fortunately, I have a contract with Brookside who take all the milk.

Kenya also suffers a shortage of quality semen and we have to import it from the UK or Holland. I have worked out a way where my cows are inseminated artificially.

The only way to ensure you have a steady supply of milk throughout the year is to plan efficiently. I ensure my cows produce moderate litres during the rainy season and a lot during the dry season. I also don’t have a problem with diseases since the Government intervenes when there is a major outbreak.

There is a lot of money in the milk business and in selling cows that are getting old. Because of dairy farming, I live a comfortable life, I have been able to provide employment to many people, I’m able to pay all my bills including those from veterinary doctors, and I have been able to educate my daughter who is currently studying actuarial science in Cape Town, South Africa.

So women should not shy away from farming or see it as a ‘dirty’ job.