Meeting was started at 5:00p.m. A total of 17 participants were present.
Dr. Japie presents 12 rules to enhance your farm economics. We are grateful to him for sharing interesting data on efficient budgeting, expenses, profits:

Rule 1: You are farming primarily for PROFIT

• See how little money you can spend but how much money you can make
• Look at the long term sustainability of your business
• Infrastructure problems can develop if you spend less money
• Use the available resources such as silage, vanda and genetics to make more money

Rule 2: You should measure your profit in monetary value only

• Use only PKR to compare your performance with other farms (Rs/CIH; Rs/liter, etc.)
• Do not let the measurement units (eg. liters/cow) lead you astray

Rule 3: Profit has two legs, namely Income & Expense

• Both legs must be in balance to realize a profit
• Ruthless cost cutting will lead to a fast drop in income and to lower profit
• Focusing only on income (production) leads to excessive expenditure and lower profit

Rule 4: Compare your financial results with a large group of similar farms

• Identify areas where your numbers are out of line – both too low or too high
• Investigate the reasons and implement corrective behavior
• Beware of the “study group trap” – don't emulate group figures (imitating)

Rule 5: You are not only farming for this month or the next

• Many actions have long-term implications
• Money must be allocated wisely to ensure the long-term viability of the operation

Rule 6: Beware of debt – it is easy to borrow money

• Remember that hard-core debt can cripple the most efficient operation
• It becomes impossible to make sound business decisions when a large debt burden is hanging over your head

Rule 7: Spend money on capital items based on Profit, not on Turnover

• The largest operation with the largest turnover can still be non profitable

Rule 8: Many overhead cost items do not directly contribute to income

• Investigate and question “must haves” and “used-to-haves”

Rule 9: Draw up accurate, well-considered financial budgets

• Draw up a budget at least twice per year
• Make your bank manager a partner in your business
• Keep your bank manager informed of unexpected costs
• Compare “actual' with your budget
• Examine discrepancies and take remedial action
• Make your budget work for you

Rule 10: Keep your books yourself

• You must at all time know what is going on with your operation's finances
• Generally your accountant only tries to keep the revenue department happy
• Keep track of the day-to-day business of every area (eg. cows, calves, feed price, etc.)

Rule 11: Money wisely spent is generally money well spent

• Adequate water for irrigation and drinking
• Fertilizer , semen

Rule 12: Management time is your most limiting resource

• You cannot manage your farm effectively if you spend most of your time in front of the computer or underneath a tractor
• Make sure that you do only that which requires your input
• Where necessary, delegate jobs and responsibilities

After presentation following case study was presented by Muhammad Zafar Ullah Khan:

Issue:

Mortality of the animals due to some unidentified problem

History:

Herd size = 300 cows
Breeds = Jersey x Frisian cross, pure jersey and pure Frisian  
A total of 5 animals (2 lactating cows, 2 unjoined heifers, 1 pregnant heifer) expired within last two months (August-September).

Signs and Symptoms:

• Temperature 105-106
• Off feed
• Death within 3 days
• Postmortem showed completely swollen and degenerated liver (dry, powdered if pressed by hands). In two cases lungs were damaged too
  
  Note: all affected animals were having good body condition

Treatment given:

Multiple types of antibiotics and supportive therapy

Feeding regime:

Corn Silage and concentrate
On the basis of opinions from different experts, presence of Mycotoxins in feed was suspected in general. Final comments will be given on having complete postmortem report. Post mortem report will be collected from the farm.

Next Meeting Schedule: 

Dr. Muhammad Zafar Ullah Khan
Business Development Manager-Ruminant
Alltech Pakistan Pvt. Ltd