A study on feedlot fattening of cattle among small farmers in Ibaan, Batangas / by Florante Pellos Escobido.

Thesis (B.S.A.--Agricultural Economics) Don Severino Agricultural College

Includes bibliographical references.

College of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Natural Resources (CAFENR)

Escobido, Florante P. "A STUDY ON FEEDLOT FATTENING OF' CATTLE AMONG SMALL FARMERS IN IBAAN, BATANGAS" B. S. Thesis, Agricultural Economics, Don Severino Agricultural College, Indang, Cavite, March 1988. Adviser: Professor Cecile V. Telmo.
The study was conducted in six selected barangays of Ibaan, Batangas, namely: Balanga, Bungahan, Lucsuhin, Ca-tandala, Mabala and Panghayaan to: 1) determine the socio-economic Characteristics of the cattle raisers; 2) deter-mine some production and management practices employed by the cattle raisers; 3) determine the farm income and expen-ditures of the cattle raisers; 5) ascertain the problems encountered by cattle raisers; and, 6) enumerate possible solutions to the problems they encountered. The findings showed that the ages of the respondents ranged from 21 to 65 years with a mean of 42.52 years. Ma-jority of the respondents had an average level of education. The mean household size was 6.44. Their experience in feed-lot cattle fattening ranged from 1 to 25 years with a mean of 9.9 years. The respondents got their initial capital investment in buying the feeder stock from their personal savings or loans from the banks. Majority of them used wood/bamboo and nips in housing their cattle. Most of them kept steer cattle for fattening. They kept two to three heads of cattle at a time and they usually raise two or three batches per year. The breeds of the cattle they kept were Brahman, Batangas cattle and Mestizo with the age of the cattle ranging from two to five years and a mean of 3.6 years. The number of months the cattle were fattened before selling them ranged from three to four with a mean of 4.14 months. The mean annual farm expenditures of the cattle raisers were P29,108 and the mean annual farm income was ;19,744. Majority of the respondents had other sources of income such as business, employment and farming. The study revealed that age and experience in the cattle industry were significantly related to farm income while household size and educational attainment were found to have no relationship to farm income. On the other hand, age, household size, educational attainment and experience in cattle raising were found out to have no significant relationship to total farm expenditures. Several problems were encountered by the farmers. Among them were high interest imposed on loans, very short term of payment of loans, unavailability of veterinarian, unfair price of per kilo of beef in the market, high cost of production and transportation of cattle to the market. Among the respondents' suggestions to the solutions of their problems were the construction of better roads to facilitate the transportation of the produce, establishments of an accredited buying station to ensure a fair price of beef, government assistance in the form of loans should be paid at a longer period of time and at a low interest rate, feeder stock should be supplied by the Bureau of Animal In-dustry at lower cost to increase their income and the employment of veterinarian to ensure the health of the feeder stock.

Submitted to the University Library 05/10/2007 T-969