VietNamNet Bridge - All 600 cow farming households in Moc Chau Town are dong billionaires, with an average income of VND35-40 million a month. Some can earn VND200 million a month.

Quite unlike the other mountainous localities which live in poverty, Moc Chau Town, a mountainous district of Son La province, looks beautiful with multi-story houses. Moc Chau Town’s people travel by car and motorbike.

Duong Van Noi, a local man, said his milk cow farm, covering an area of 2.4 hectares, has 76 cows, worth VND8 billion.

He once led a hard life in the past, when he was a hired worker for others. But since farming cows, he has been well off. 

The work is not difficult, as cutting grass to milking are undertaken by machines. People only have to carry milk to the milk factory for sale.

Noi said the herd of 30 cows can provide 800 kilos of milk daily which is sold to dairy producers.

All 600 cow farming households in Moc Chau Town are dong billionaires, with an average income of VND35-40 million a month. Some can earn VND200 million a month.

“I can make a profit of several million of dong on average,” he said.

Phan Doan Hiep, another local man, said 50 out of 120 cows in his farm now provides milk. Hiep can pocket VND200 million in profit a month after deducting expenses, an income that Hiep finds ‘relatively high’.

However, Hiep said he and the farmers have to strictly follow the modern farming process to ensure that the milk can meet the high quality set by dairy producers and ensure food safety.

Noi and Hiep said many other families in the town also have new lives thanks to milk cow farming and the close cooperation between the dairy producer and farmers.

The dairy producer is responsible for the purchase of milk, has cows and milk prices insured and lends 50-70 percent of capital needed to expand production. It promises a bonus of VND500-800 per kilo of milk if farms have high output and high quality.

The insurance premium for cows is relatively high, VND400,000-600,000 a year. However, if cows die, farmers would receive ten times more in compensation.

Noi and other farmers in Moc Chau pay VND50 for every kilo of milk they sell to an insurance fund. If the milk price decreases by 30 percent, the fund would prop up 60 percent of the price decreases.

Each of the 600 households in Moc Chau breeds 35 cows on average. Some households farm on a very large scale and have 200 cows each. 

Ba Phi