Dairy Farming and Entrepreneurship

Developing competencies required for managing a commercial dairy farm. It comprises of 3 modules focusing on forage production, nutrition, breeding, reproduction management, housing and farm economics
The objective of all commercial dairy farmers is to make a profit. The costs and quantities of inputs in combination with the technical results achieved and the output (milk) prices determine whether a dairy farm is commercially viable and therefore sustainable.
Ensuring the production of sufficient quantity and quality of roughages, their preservation and usage in feeding dairy animals are essential. Fodder and feed is supplied according to requirements and used in the optimum way. Breeding and reproduction management are important in order to produce replacement animals of better quality. Getting insight with regard to housing and mechanisation of dairy farms which have their impact on labour efficiency, costs, animal welfare, environment. To monitor and evaluate the technical performance recording and analysis of all farm data will be important in order to make informed decisions.
All of the above aspects also have their impact on technical and the financial performance of the dairy farm. As an entrepreneur you are also continuously looking for ideas to improve the technical and financial performance of your farm. This will require preparing business plans