Small-Scale Cattle Farming in Ghana

A cow is a bank account that eats

Ask a family in the north why they keep cattle and the answer usually has three parts. The first is that cattle are a store of value that walks about. The second is that the manure feeds the millet or the maize. The third, and the one people are slowest to admit, is that a good animal can be sold when a bill is due, a ceremony is coming or a child needs school fees. None of those reasons is wrong, but none of them is a plan on its own.

Small-scale cattle farming can be a sound enterprise in Ghana, and it can also quietly eat the savings of anyone who treats a herd as a bank account that earns nothing. A cow eats every day of the year, needs water in the heat, can fall sick in the wet season and takes nearly a year to carry a calf. The owner who makes money is the one who counts those costs, keeps records and sells on purpose rather than in panic.

This guide covers small-scale cattle on a family or smallholder scale, with attention to the northern savannah and the Guinea savannah belt where most of Ghana's cattle are kept. It is written by a poultry hatchery, so we do not sell cattle or cattle feed. We have included it because many of the people who buy our chicks also grow crops and keep other animals, and cattle often sit alongside those enterprises. Your district veterinary officer and your agric extension officer should be your first call on anything specific to your area.

Breeds you will meet, and which one suits your grass

Three types of cattle dominate small-scale keeping in Ghana. Each has its own strengths, and the right one depends on the zone you farm in and the disease pressure around you.

The N'Dama is a West African taurine breed found across the southern and middle belt. It is compact, hardy and known for its tolerance of trypanosomiasis, the disease spread by tsetse flies that kills many imported cattle. N'Dama cows are slower to mature and give less milk than the exotic breeds, but they hold their condition on rough feed and cope with wet, tick-heavy ground. They are a sound choice where tsetse is present.

Zebu cattle, including the Sanga and the type often called White Fulani, are the animals most people picture in the north. They are large, heat-tolerant and good at walking long distances to graze. They are not tolerant of trypanosomiasis in the way the N'Dama is, so the zone matters. They suit the drier savannah where tsetse is less of a threat and where herding over a wide area is part of the system.

Crossbreds are common around towns and near dairy operations. A Zebu crossed with a dairy breed such as Holstein or Jersey can give more milk and faster growth, but the crosses lose some heat tolerance and disease resistance with each step up in exotic blood. A crossbred animal that is fed well is a good performer. The same animal on poor grass and no water can be the first to fail in the dry season.

Before you buy, ask the seller about the animal's parentage, its age, whether it has been treated for ticks and worms, and whether it has come from an area with known disease. Buy from a trusted source where you can, and have your vet examine any animal before it joins the herd.

Choose the enterprise before you choose the animal

The most useful decision in a cattle enterprise is made before any animal is bought. Are you breeding calves to sell as weaners, fattening steers for a specific market, keeping cows for milk or running a mixed herd that does a bit of each? Each choice changes the feed, the housing, the records and the time it takes to see a return.

A breeding herd is the slowest and the most resilient option. The cows calve about once a year, the calves are sold or kept as replacements, and the herd grows slowly. It suits people who can wait, who have grazing and who want a store of value that reproduces itself. The downside is that a bad year of feed or disease reaches the calving rate and the calf crop for two seasons.

Steer fattening is faster. Young males are bought or raised, fed up over a few months, and sold. It suits people who can buy feed in the dry season and who have a market for finished animals. It is also where the festive trade matters most, because Eid al-Adha and other occasions create demand for animals of a certain size and condition. The risk is that the animals arrive thin, the feed runs short and the margin disappears.

Dairy is the most labour-intensive. Cows must be milked, the milk cooled and sold, and the herd has to calve regularly to keep producing. Our separate guide to zero-grazing dairy farming in Ghana covers that system in detail, including the forage and housing it needs.

Grazing, tethering and the crop-field conflict

Cattle that roam free on open grazing are a familiar sight in the north, and they are also a common source of disputes with farmers whose maize or millet is in the path. A cow that walks through a field of ripening crops can do more damage in an afternoon than the owner can repay in a season. Grazing arrangements that work tend to be the ones agreed with the community, the chief and the farmers around the herd.

Tethering is a practical alternative on a small holding. A cow tied on a rope or a picket can graze a defined area, and the owner can move the peg each day to a new patch of grass. It keeps the animal off the crops and it keeps the dung in one place, although it demands more labour. Tethering needs a long enough rope for the cow to eat without strangling itself, and a shaded place to rest at midday.

Rotate the grazing where you can. Let an area recover after it has been grazed hard, and move the herd to fresh grass before the best forage is gone. Keep an eye on water points, because the herd will wander farther in the dry season than it does in the rains. Walk the grazing route once a month and note where the grass is thin, where the water is low and where the cattle have been trampling.

If you do not own the land you graze, get the arrangement in writing with the landowner or the community. The terms should cover who can graze, when, how many animals and what happens if a crop is damaged. Your district assembly can help you find out what the local rules are.

Crop residues and the dry-season gap

The dry season is when cattle lose the most weight, and it is when the grazing runs out. Grazing thins out, what is left is coarse, and the herd walks farther for less. The answer is a feed bank built from crop residues and hay before the rains end, and the work starts at harvest rather than in March.

Crop residues are the cheapest feed most farms can produce. Maize stover, groundnut haulm, cowpea haulm and rice straw are all common. They are bulky and low in protein, so they keep a cow full without giving her much energy or growth. Pair them with a protein feed or a legume such as cowpea haulm, and add a mineral lick. A cow on straw alone will lose weight, however full her stomach looks.

Store the residues dry and off the ground. Stack them under a roof or on a raised rack, away from termites, and keep the bales out of the rain. Damp, mouldy stover is dangerous, and the cattle will not eat it when they can smell the rot. Walk the stack every month and note how many bundles remain, so the store is never a surprise in March.

• Harvest residues promptly and stack them before the first hard rain.
• Cut and dry some grass at flowering for hay, and store it under cover.
• Keep a protein supplement and a mineral lick for the dry months.
• Count the stock at the start of the dry season and monthly after that.
• Plan how many animals the store can carry for how long, and cull or sell early if the numbers do not add up.

Our poultry readers will recognise the same logic from their own feed planning. Many smallholders already grow groundnuts, and the haulm is among the cheapest roughage on the farm. Our poultry forage piece on groundnut haulm shows the drying steps, which carry over to cattle.

Water and shade: the hidden daily demand

Cattle drink a great deal more than most people expect, and in the heat of the north or the humid days of the south, a cow that cannot reach water will drop condition quickly. The water requirement rises with the temperature, with lactation and with dry feed. A cow on dry grass in the harmattan can need more water than the owner thinks to give her.

Plan water before you plan anything else. A borehole, a well or a dependable pond must be within reach of the grazing, and the route to it should be walkable without a long detour in the heat. Check the water every day in the dry season, because a pond that was full in January can be dry by March. A trough at the water point, cleaned regularly, stops the cattle from drinking the mud and the algae.

Shade matters for the same reason. A cow in full sun for many hours in the afternoon will stand and pant, eat less and gain less weight. Trees left standing in the grazing area give shade, and a simple roofed shelter with an open side helps in the hottest months. Give the herd a place to rest during the heat of the day, and they will graze better in the morning and the evening.

Water and shade also affect the way the animals are handled. Cattle that are thirsty and hot become restless and difficult to move, and a restless herd can damage fences, crops and people. A cool, watered herd is easier to manage and less likely to cause trouble.

Health calendar: ticks, worms and vaccination on advice

Cattle health in small-scale systems is mostly about parasites and seasonal disease. Ticks are the constant nuisance, because they suck blood, cause anaemia and can carry diseases that drop a cow's condition quickly. Internal worms build up in the rains, and the wet grass is where the young larvae wait. Trypanosomiasis is a serious risk in tsetse areas, and some diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease can sweep through a herd if they arrive with a new animal.

Build a health calendar with your vet or the district veterinary officer. It should list the vaccinations recommended for your area, the times of year when ticks and worms are worst, the points at which the herd is checked, and who you call if something goes wrong. Plan the calendar once, review it each year and write the dates on the wall of the cattle shed.

Tick control is usually a combination of checking the animals by hand, keeping the pens clean and using products your vet recommends. Worm control follows the same logic as for sheep: treat the animals that need it, keep records, and watch for resistance if treatments stop working. Always read the label and respect the withdrawal period before any milk or meat is sold.

Vaccination is run on the advice of Veterinary Services. Some campaigns are free or subsidised, and others require a fee, so ask what is available in your district and how to access it. Keep the vaccination card with the herd records, and do not sell or move animals while a notifiable disease is under investigation in the area.

Breeding and the calving record

A breeding herd lives or dies on its calving record. Cattle carry a calf for about nine months, and the cow should come back into calf within a few months of giving birth if she is in reasonable condition. Many herds aim for a calf each year. A cow that goes two years between calves is costing you money, even if she looks healthy.

Heifers, the young females that have not yet calved, need to reach a good body weight before they are bred. The age at first calving depends on the breed, the feed and the management. Many heifers in a well-run system calve for the first time at around two to three years old, but a heifer that is stunted by poor feed will take longer, and she can have trouble at calving. Weigh the heifers regularly and breed them when they are big enough, not when the calendar says so.

Keep a calving record for every cow. The table below sets out the entries that matter most. Use it to spot cows that repeatedly fail to conceive, cows that have difficult calvings, and bulls whose calves are unusually weak or slow.

Use a sire you trust, and if you use artificial insemination, ask the district office or a licensed technician how to access the service in your area. Keep the bull's offspring records so that you can judge his worth over several calves rather than from one good result.

Selling steers for Eid al-Adha and other markets

Eid al-Adha creates a strong demand for cattle among Muslim households and communities, and it arrives on a date that moves through the calendar each year. The buyers want animals that are healthy, well-muscled and in good condition, and they want them on the day. A steer that has been fattened well for a few months is the animal that sells best, and a thin steer bought in a hurry rarely does.

Plan the sale backwards from the feast. Watch the moon-sighting announcement from the National Chief Imam, count back the weeks you need for fattening, and add a margin in case of delays. Talk to your buyers early about the weight and the condition they want, and ask where they will take the animal. Some buyers slaughter at home, others use a slaughterhouse, and each route has its own requirements.

Halaal slaughter has to be carried out by a Muslim slaughterer under the proper rules, and the buyer will usually ask about it. If you are selling directly to a family for Eid, agree the slaughter arrangement in advance. If you are selling to a trader, ask how the animal will be handled and where it will be killed.

Other markets run through the year. Christmas and the Easter period bring demand in some communities, and funerals and chieftaincy ceremonies can call for animals at short notice. Build a list of buyers who have bought from you before, and keep their contact details. A steady relationship with two or three buyers is worth more than a one-off sale at a higher price on a bad day.

Working out the margin without a market price in the sum

The margin of a cattle enterprise is the money from sales minus the money spent to produce them. The sum is simple. The difficulty is that the prices of animals, feed and transport move with the season, the festive calendar and the local supply, so any figure written into a guide will be wrong by the time you read it. Use your own current prices in your own sum, and check them with buyers, feed suppliers and the cattle market in your town.

Here is a worked example with the numbers left open for you to fill in. Assume you fatten two steers for six months. Your sum has three parts: the cost of the animals, the cost of the feed and the cost of everything else. The cost of the feed is the dry matter the animals eat, multiplied by the number of days, multiplied by the price per unit that your supplier actually charges. The cost of everything else includes water, the vet, transport, labour and the pen.

The point of the exercise is to see which line moves the margin most. In most cases it is the feed line in the dry season and the weight at sale. A steer that gains more weight for the same feed is worth more to you, and a steer that sits on a poor grazing patch for three extra months costs you the feed and the interest on the money tied up in it.

Paperwork, movement and the district office

Cattle are animals that move, and in Ghana the movement of livestock is regulated for the sake of disease control and for traceability. The exact rules for registration, identification, movement permits and sale certificates can change, so check the current requirements with your district veterinary officer, the district assembly and the Animal Production Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture before you buy or sell animals across a district line.

Ask the district office what they need from you. Some districts keep a register of livestock keepers, and some require notice of animals moving to market. Your local extension officer can explain the current forms and the places where you can get them. Keep copies of any certificate or receipt with the herd record, because a buyer, a market official or a vet may ask to see them.

Identification is worth doing even when it is not required. A simple ear tag or a brand, recorded against the herd register, makes it far easier to prove ownership after a theft or a dispute. It also helps a vet trace an animal that has been exposed to disease. Choose a method that the local system accepts, and ask before you tag anything.

Keep a copy of the vaccination and treatment record with every sale. A buyer who sees a clean record is more confident in the animal, and a dispute is easier to settle when both sides have the same paper.

How cattle fit beside a poultry flock

Many smallholders run cattle and chickens on the same compound, and the two enterprises can help each other. Cattle dung is a strong fertiliser for the crops that feed the birds. Poultry litter, once rotted, adds nutrients to the same soil. Crop residues from the field can feed the cattle, and the grain and bran from the same harvest can feed the chickens.

The feeds must stay apart. A bag of poultry feed left open where a cow can reach it is a serious risk, since the additives made for birds can harm a cow. Store the feeds in sealed bins, label them clearly and never move an ingredient from one feed to another without checking the label.

Labour is the other shared resource. A household that keeps both cattle and chickens needs a routine that covers the early morning round, the midday check and the evening feed. Write the routine down, share it with everyone who helps, and keep the cattle and poultry work separate in your records so you can see which enterprise is paying its way.

If you are planning to grow crops for the herd as well as the flock, the principles in our article on integrating poultry with crops and fish apply to cattle too. The manure, the residues and the water all become part of the same system, and that system is easier to run when each part is measured. Our poultry manure guide covers the rotting and timing steps that apply equally to cattle dung, and the partner page is the place to start if you are considering a longer supply relationship with us.

Checklist before you buy the first animal

Before you spend money on a cow or a steer, work through this list with your family and your vet. A cattle enterprise is a long commitment, and the questions below are the ones that decide whether the first year goes well.

• Enterprise chosen: breeding, fattening, dairy or a mix, with the reason written down.
• Breed matched to the zone and to the tsetse and tick risk, confirmed with the vet.
• Grazing, water and shade secured for the herd, with any grazing agreement in writing.
• Dry-season feed bank planned, with crop residues and hay stored under cover.
• Health calendar agreed with the vet or district veterinary officer.
• Records set up for calving, weights, treatments and sales.
• Buyers identified for the first sale, with the date and the condition they want.
• Registration, identification and movement rules checked with the district office.
• Budget written with your own current prices, not last year's figures.
• Feed store kept separate from any poultry feed, with bins sealed and labelled.

Once the list is ticked, the first animal can be bought from a seller you trust, examined by a vet and brought home to a prepared pen. If the birds come first, our step-by-step broiler guide sets out the poultry start, and our chicks are the place to begin on that side. Current figures are on the prices page. A call to +233 24 915 1503 is the quickest way to talk through a mixed holding.

Questions farmers ask