In a land full of sugarcanes, a cooperative stood up in changing directions by venturing into a dairy enterprise that unknowingly became their golden key in building a bright future.

In 1982, the San Julio Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative at Tanjay, Negros Oriental bid their luck on sugarcane production as its board of directors noticed the market potential of this industrial crop. 

San Julio started from a small capital managed by its 15 members. Aside from the shortage of manpower, the coop was challenged by the absence of equipment and machinery.

Leaders and members faced obstacles in establishing and maintaining the cooperative. In particular, it was difficult to increase the income of the co-op due to the vast number of competitors.

But, George Yleaña, the General Manager of the San Julio co-op, discovered the unique and ready market in buffalo dairying, which changed the direction of the co-op. He got interested in this venture by attending seminars at Tanjay in 2019.

Luckily, the co-op was chosen as one of the Carabao-Based Improvement Network (CBIN) recipients, a project of DA-PCC, which provided them dairy buffaloes and farm equipment.

San Julio endeavored in managing the buffalo business. It soon established a dairy processing plant in its small office building in March 2020. Having this tiny space did not hinder the co-op to become a supplier of the DSWD’s and DepEd’s milk feeding program in December 2020. 

The co-op chooses to save their profits, as they aimed for more benefits. It was able to increase the dairy buffalo inventory to 78, consisting of 70 females and 8 males. Some 30 liters of raw milk are gathered daily, which can be sold at PHP105 per liter.

For the milk feeding program, the co-op supplies different schools in the various municipalities of Negros Occidental, such as Isabela, Binalbagan, Sipalay, Ilog, Cauayan, and Kabankalan in partnership with the DepEd. Also, the coop supplies milk to Bacolod in partnership with the DSWD.

The growth of dairy farming and processing in Negros island attracts blessings to the entire San Julio cooperative. They finally owned apparatus and machinery from this venture, which are utilized for dairy and sugarcane farming.

In June 2021, the co-op’s big goal was unlocked by building a concrete and convenient dairy processing plant in the middle of a sugarcane plantation, which made the cooperative looks special. It also secures the plantation from pollution, as they are away from the houses and cities. 

Finally, the cooperative embraces heaven, ensuring continuous income from dairying. The initial 15 members also increased to 142 members. Also, their previous profit of PHP11 million jumped to PHP45 million because of dairying.

The strong foundation of the co-op showers other people to have a livelihood that fulfills their daily necessities and provides for their entire family’s education and hospitalization. 

“I am a former factory worker. I endured all the difficulties in the factory to have any amount of salary. But, I was more than blessed when I entered this cooperative. I earned a good salary with easier duties by being a dairy worker. Even if I am a woman, I can now provide enough for my family,” a living testimony of Renalie Quimada.

Due to the overflowing grace, the co-op allocated a separate budget as part of its social responsibility, such as donating to schools and churches. Also, they take action on the pandemic by giving free milk to frontliners. 

From the accomplishments, San Julio believed that the dairy enterprise served as their golden key to attaining power, success, and good fortune.

One of our proudest achievements in this venture is the establishment of a dairy processing plant, which cannot be simply done by an ordinary agrarian cooperative. Also, we gain funds for the additional equipment and machinery. Expanding this dairy enterprise in the cooperative is more inspiring, as it provides employment to our members.