oxen and cows for profit

[Guest guest]

Dear Syam,

 

At the moment we are taking the hypocritical road, using the milk from the

neighbours jersey farm but doing nothing to actually protect the cows. Not

true, actually. My guru, Paramadvaiti Maharaj, when I discussed my plans with

him, he said that I should find a way to engage the local dairy farmers; so I

am trying to do that with the local farmer who has jersey cows. Now, I have

always heard that jersey bulls are not the best, but conventional wisdom (CW)

here is that if they are treated well then they are OK, so I may have to go

along with jersey though I was shooting for Swiss Brown. Jersey is better here

too, as there is more stock in the area, pedigree jersey as well.

So, we are buying direct from their herd. They have read my website at

protection farms, and they are very interested because, even though they eat

meat (now showing an interest in vegetarianism) they do not want to sell their

animals to the slaughterhouse, like many small holding dairy farms. For them

the CW is that it is the only way to be profitable. Now, we have another

system, so I have been describing it to them,. and the ´only´ way for it to be

truly profitable is by organic cropping with direct delivery to the customer.

I am waiting for my guru to come to the finca in September for his vyasapuja to

knock out the details, but as I see it that until I buy my own land I can not

take on animals unless I buy them and leave them with the local farmer. I am

looking to buy land next to the devotees land, where I am currently living 50Km

from BA centre. Very similar to Bhaktivendanta Manor but much, much poorer.

I am looking to hire the dairy farmer, who is an agricultural engineer, to work

the organic farm with me. I see that the organic box delivery system can be

very profitable. We have at least 200 members who will be wanting, God willing,

to buy boxes from us of (non-certified as yet) organic box selection at a

cheaper price than in the market: a $20 peso box containing $30 pesos of veg as

bought in a grocers; and a $30 box containing a $50 equivelant.

I am looking to lock in my customer base. I do not believe that organics should

be more expensive per se. In fact, I believe that my missing out the middlemen

- the central market, the wholesaler and the grocers or supermarket - then a

direct delivery system should be profitable.

Until I have had a few years to test this theory out then, if it works, I will

be looking to employ oxen into the system. To start with I will use a rotovator

or horses.

Fortunately, I have money behind me - pounds - which here tranlate to 5.5 times

its value. I may have to invest $10,000 pesos for the first two years (and

probably lose it), but that amounts to 2,000 pounds or U$D 3,500; a sum, but I

will also be paying for an education in what to do and what not to do to set up

an organic farm.

As the selfsufficiency road to cow protection is, whilst not dead, certainly in

the doldrums, I see that we need to buy our self into self sufficiency by this

type of venture. In fact, as repeatedly stated in this conference, until oxen

are worked then cows will not be protected as cow/milk go-alone venture has

been killed at the conceptual stage by ISKCON cow protectors. Personally, you

all know I do not agree on that limitation, which I see as the main reason cows

are not being protected - this ideological blinkering that states unless oxen

be worked then cows can not be protected, use blood milk, chant hare krsna and

quote Prabhupada in what was a different time, place and circumstance.

But, if one must rise to the challenge, then one must.

 

So, how do the economics work? Simple, until I can make profit from the

intensive organic farm then there is at present no projections for cow

population, though I may start to own a few as pets with desires to expand in

the future. I believe that I need to tackle the ox/crop equation by starting

with crops, then oxen, then cows and milk; for it was this way around that cows

became domesticated and useful in the first place back in King Prthu´s time.

 

By the way, did you see my article in last seasons The Vegetarian Magazine with

pictures of the Manor?

 

Gopa

 

 

Syamasundara (das) (Bhaktivedanta Manor - UK) <Syamasundara (AT) pamho (DOT) net>

mark john <gopanandadasa (AT) (DOT) co.uk>

Cc: Cow (Protection and related issues) <Cow (AT) pamho (DOT) net>

Tuesday, 6 June, 2006 4:42:00 AM

cows for profit

 

 

Dear Gopananda,

 

hare Krishna. Excellent plan to engage the oxen in a way that employs the ox

men.

 

Usual questions. How many cows will be impregnated a year and what will the

herd size be in 15 years and how do the economics stack up at 1,2,,5,10 and

15 years?

 

ys syam