Dairy cattle farm

Rearing milch cows and selling milk daily. Milk Vita pays Tk 45-47 a litre and the open market about Tk 55, against a farmer-stated cost of roughly Tk 32.5 a litre. Output halves for three monsoon months.

Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
Version 1

Dairy cattle farm

Starting capital: ৳2,50,000 – ৳12,00,000
Manpower: 1 – 6 people
First sale: 7 – 60 days
Break-even: 20 – 32 months
Kind of work: Farm · Medium difficulty

About the business

Keeping milch cows, milking twice a day and selling the milk to a cooperative, a processor or the open market. The price side is now well established: on 30 June 2026 farmers in Shahjadpur, Sirajganj said Milk Vita collects at Tk 45-47 a litre while the open market pays about Tk 55, and society members are obliged to sell at the Tk 45-47 rate. The cost side comes from the farmers themselves. Mizanur Rahman Mintu of Dakhalbari runs 100 cattle, 40 of them milch cows, producing about 400 litres a day at a daily cost of roughly Tk 13,000 for feed, medicine and labour - about Tk 32.5 a litre. That leaves Tk 12-14 a litre at the Milk Vita rate and about Tk 22 on the open market. An average milch cow gives 8-10 litres a day. The real danger is the monsoon. Farmers in Bera, Pabna reported on 29 August 2026 that when the green fodder fields go under water a cow that gave 20-22 litres drops to 7-10, while feed cost does not fall: Tk 500 of feed returns Tk 400-450 of milk, and straw runs at Tk 700 a maund. Many sell a calf to cover the three-month gap. The good news is that demand does not run out: the Department of Livestock Services puts 2025-26 milk demand at 16.279 million tonnes against production of 15.753 million tonnes. Unlike eggs and meat, milk is still short of demand.

Unit economics

Item	Range	Evidence
Monthly working capital	৳40,000 – ৳4,00,000	Market quote
Selling price	৳45 – ৳55 / unit	Market quote
Variable cost	৳23 – ৳33 / unit	Market quote
Gross margin	27% – 41%	Market quote
Time to first revenue	7 – 60 days	Editorial estimate
Break-even time	20 – 32 months	Editorial estimate
Cash cycle	1 – 15 days	Editorial estimate
Waste / loss	2% – 5%	Editorial estimate
Daily capacity	8 – 22	Market quote

What you need to start

Concentrate feed and straw. Bran, oilcake, maize, black gram and lentil prices have risen sharply over five years, and straw reaches Tk 700 a maund in the monsoon.Starting stock
Dairy farm registration and renewal, a service on the Department of Livestock Services' simplified service list, applied for at the upazila livestock office. No fee amount is published on the department's site.Licence
Food Safety (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2026: dairy is on the compulsory list. Registration is Tk 1,000 new and Tk 500 renewal, valid three years; processing or packing raw milk attracts an establishment licence fee of Tk 1,000-5,000.Licence
Trade licence from the union parishad, municipality or city corporation: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, non-judicial stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type.Licence
Judging a cow's milking capacity, catching heat on time and getting her inseminated, and spotting mastitis or foot-and-mouth early. One missed breeding season costs a whole year's income.Skill
A nearby Milk Vita society or company chilling centre, a vet, and a dependable cattle feed shop. Joining a society locks in the price, so decide knowing that.Supplier
A shed and grazing or fodder land. One farmer in Bera, Pabna ran his farm on four bighas of fodder; on low land that fodder floods in the monsoon, and that is when the losses start.Workspace

How the work is done

1Decide who will take the milk before anything else. Check whether there is a Milk Vita society or a company chilling centre nearby; without one you will be stuck with the milk every single day.
2Compare the society rate with the open market. As a society member you must sell at Tk 45-47; the open market may pay Tk 55 but a buyer is not guaranteed every day.
3Arrange land and fodder first. Pushing milk with concentrate feed alone raises cost by about 30 percent, and fodder grown on low land will go under water in the monsoon.
4Register the farm with the upazila livestock office. Poultry and dairy farm registration and renewal is on the Department of Livestock Services' simplified service list, and registered farms get vaccination and artificial insemination support more easily.
5Take the trade licence from the union parishad or municipality; if you will process or pack milk you will also need BFSA registration.
6Buy the cow on her milk, not her looks. Have her milked in front of you, measure both milkings and ask about her previous calving.
7Get foot-and-mouth and anthrax vaccination from the upazila livestock office; in Shahjadpur both are given free. Deworming has to be regular too.
8Move the milk fast after milking. Without cans, ice or a nearby chilling centre it will sour in the heat and no one will take it.
9Buy straw and bran ahead for the three monsoon months. Straw touches Tk 700 a maund then, and many farmers sell a calf to buy feed.
10Keep a per-cow record of milk and feed every day. That book tells you which cow is eating more than she gives, and that is the basis for deciding which one to sell.
11Do not stay only in raw milk. The Shahjadpur upazila livestock officer himself advises moving into dairy products such as yoghurt or sweets to escape some of the price pressure.

Seasons

JanHigh
FebHigh
MarHigh
AprNormal
MayNormal
JunLow
JulLow
AugLow
SepLow
OctNormal
NovHigh
DecHigh

HighNormalLow

Where it works well

Strong fitPabna · The district has 4,874 registered and 4,791 unregistered dairy farms producing 340,000 tonnes a year, but the chars and low land of Bera, Santhia, Bhangura, Faridpur and Chatmohar flood in the monsoon.
Strong fitSirajganj · Shahjadpur has Milk Vita's processing plant and roughly 30,000 farms of all sizes; the upazila produces about 500,000 litres a day and 25,000 members supply through more than 500 cooperative societies.
PossibleBogura · The north's trading hub and a large yoghurt and sweets market, so there are local buyers for raw milk.
PossibleChattogram · Big-city demand and a good open-market rate, but feed transport costs more.
PossibleGazipur · Dense settlement beside Dhaka means milk sells at the farm gate, but high land prices make fodder land hard to get.
PossibleManikganj · Next to Dhaka, so the Tk 55 open-market rate is more attainable, and the chars offer fodder land.
PossibleMymensingh · A centre of livestock and veterinary training, so veterinary care and artificial insemination are easy to reach.
PossibleRangpur · High cattle density and cheaper feed, though there are fewer processing plants nearby.
PossibleSatkhira · A recognised milk-producing area in the south, where distance to a chilling centre is the main obstacle.
PossibleTangail · Close to the Baghabari dairy belt and a short haul to the Dhaka market.

Risks and cautions

HighDemand: Costs rise, the price does not. Shahjadpur farmers said on 30 June 2026 that a labourer's daily wage was Tk 400 five years ago and is now Tk 600-650, with bran, oilcake, maize and feed all up, while the milk price has barely moved. Society membership forces many to sell at Tk 45-47 anyway. In Mintu's words, 'often I cannot make the accounts balance at all.'
HighSpoilage: For three monsoon months output halves while cost does not. Bera, Pabna, 29 August 2026: with the fodder flooded, three cows fell from 40-50 litres a day to 20-25; the extra cost is Tk 250-300 per cow per day, Tk 30,000-35,000 a month on four cows and close to a lakh over three months. One farmer sold a calf for Tk 52,000 to buy Tk 40,000 of straw. Milk Vita's daily collection at Baghabari falls from about a lakh litres to 37,000-38,000 in this period.
HighDependency: Milk is a one-day product and the buyers are few. Without a chilling centre or a society nearby it spoils within hours of milking, so the farmer has no bargaining room. Mintu in Shahjadpur stopped supplying Milk Vita once the bonus and farm credit dried up - but not everyone has that option.
HighWorking capital: The money sits locked in the cow while income arrives drop by drop. A cow calves once a year, so a large part of the capital returns only through selling that calf. Farmers themselves say rearing cattle leaves nothing in the house, so when the monsoon comes or a cow falls sick there is no cash on hand.
MediumCompliance: Dairy is on the compulsory list under the Food Safety (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2026. Moving beyond raw milk into yoghurt, sweets or packed milk means BFSA registration, the correct trade named on the licence and, where applicable, a physical inspection.

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