Richard Mibei at his dairy farm in Ndamichonik village, Bomet County.
One dairy farmer in Bomet County, Rift Valley is reaping big by earning a cool Sh. 500,000 from milk sales from his 42 Friesian cows. Richard Mibei became successful after many years of research on the best dairy breeds with high production.
At his farm in Ndamichonik village, Richard exudes confidence of a motivated farmer who loves his job.
“I started dairy farming a long time ago in 1982 with only two cows and since then I have never looked back” said Mibei.
Cognizant of the fact that using random bulls from neighbors to serve his cows on heat bore heifers with little production, he started using quality and certified artificial insemination services on his dairy cows’ in early 2000’s.
The farmer also imports heifers from Netherlands, Israel and the United States of America at an approximate cost of Ksh. 80,000 per heifer.
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“Cows should be fed properly as poorly fed cows take long to conceive” says Richard; he notes that a healthy fertile cow should deliver at least one calf per year.
Thus cows should be given different good quality feeds that they require. These should include:
- Bulk: Napier grass, maize stover and wheat straw.
- Protein: Sweet potato vines, lucerne & fodder tree leaves.
- Minerals: Dairy lick, Maclick super and Unga high phosphorus.
- Concentrates: Maize germ meal, cotton seed cake and dairy meal.
- Water: At least 2 buckets of water per cow per day
To date Richard has employed 7 workers on his farm including his son David Laboso whom he is mentoring to take over from him once he retires. Laboso is currently preparing to undertake artificial insemination lessons from agricultural extension officers within Bomet.
His cows are milked thrice in a day producing an average of 320 liters. The milk is then ferried and sold to various dairy plants in Bomet own at a cost of 45 shillings per liter.
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