INCOME OVER FEED COST FOR SMALL- TO MEDIUM-SCALE BEEF CATTLE FATTENING OPERATIONS IN EAST JAVA

An evaluation was conducted of the returns to fattening cattle of small- and medium-scale enterprises in East Java. The objective was to analyze income over feed costs (IOFC) based on locally available feedstuffs to increase liveweight gain. The study was conducted during July-September 2010 and January-March 2011, representing relative dry and wet season. The breeds were PO and Limousin and Simmental crossed with PO (LimPO and SimPO). Small-scale farmers owning 1-2 bulls and medium-scale farmers fattening 10-20 bulls in one period. Fattening period was 58 and 46 days, respectively for dry and wet season. Monthly measurements included liveweight, feed intake, input and output prices. Mean values of growth rates and IOFC were compared using t-tests. The results indicated that, for small-scale operations, SimPO bulls gave a significantly higher return than either PO or LimPO bulls. Likewise, LimPO gave a higher IOFC than SimPO in medium-scale operations. Small-scale farmers achieved equal or higher IOFC for European-cross than medium-scale farmers in both seasons. This reflects that cash outlays for feed were about two-thirds that of medium-scale operations while daily growth rates were similar. Small-scale fattening operations using European-cross can be financially competitive with medium-scale operations in both wet and dry seasons.