Carabao’s milk does not only strengthen bones but fortifies family ties as well. Annalyn Tade, 45, a mother of two, proves this as she now enjoys quality family time—the one important thing that she sacrificed while being bottled up in a day job for years. The Labor Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2019 shows that Filipinos spend an average of 43.2 hours weekly at work—leaving less to no time for quality bonding with the family.

As a real estate broker to a development company, Annalyn shared she missed many family dinners and weekend family outings as she has to attend to clients. Clients bring in the dough so clients always come first. The work paid well but it was highly competitive and stressful. But these are all behind her now as she has found a more relaxed work environment and yet equally financially rewarding.

With her dairy carabao-based venture, she can attend to her family without the guilt of neglecting work. She finds immense joy and meaning in the moments when she works with her kids’ side by side in the farm, tending to the animals, cleaning the pens, and gathering forage.

Farmer by chance

Annalyn’s family bought a parcel of land in Rosario, La Union, in 2013. While they resided in La Trinidad, Benguet, the property served as their weekend get-away. It was planted with rice and corn for the family’s consumption. They also raised freerange poultry, tried papaya farming, and vegetable production and now dairy carabaos.

Before they had their own milking carabaos, Annalyn’s family used to buy fresh carabao’s milk from their neighbours. She now delights in being able to provide her family’s daily dose of milk from their own farm.

It was through her neighbour Jayson Albay who supplied her with carabaos milk that she came to know about the carabao-based enterprise development program of the DAPhilippine Carabao Center at Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University (DA-PCC at DMMMSU). After a series of consultations and preparation training, she finally received her first dairy carabao in November 2018.

Within the first year, Annalyn received 12 dairy carabaos. At present, Annalyn has 17 dairy cows, 10 calves and few more carabaos expected to calve before the end of the year.

Career shift

All the 12 animals that Annalyn received were retrievals, or those that were returned by farmers who can no longer fulfill their obligations in the contract, their condition was poor which brought Annalyn to a challenging situation. She fostered the carabaos and cared for them until they were fully rehabilitated. She eventually got attached to the animals that she decided to keep them in her farm and pursue dairy farming as a livelihood. Although, she was unsure of the profitability of dairy farming, the sense of fulfillment and accomplishment derived when she was able to restore the poor animals to good health.

Through proper care and management and ensuring that their reproductive efficiencies are planned and monitored, Annalyn’s carabaos soon produced offspring. By the third year, she was earning a decent income from her raw milk harvest.

From 2 to 3 liters in the first calving, the milk produce increased to 4 to 5 liters a day for some of the cows on their succeeding calving. With her steady milk harvest from her cows’ succeeding calving, Annalyn realized the need to improve the market prospects not only for herself but for the other carabao farmers. Annalyn initiated discussions with other dairy farmers in her town. Although they had an organization, the marketing side of their value-chain was ailing due to lack of operating capital. Eventually, they organized themselves into a cooperative and registered as Rosario Dairy Farmers Cooperative. Members paid share capital subscriptions which provided the initial operating capital. The cooperative had also been working on strengthening their organization and complying with regulatory permits and license requirements. PCC at DMMSU has also been a constant go-to of the Coop who walked them through their developing stage.

Currently, the Coop’s major income stream comes from the Milk Feeding Program of DepEd and DSWD as supplier of carabao’s milk. In one school year alone, 2021 to 2022, they supplied PHP8million worth of milk to DepEd. It is also operating a Dairy Box outlet in Rosario, La Union, where the cooperative’s dairy products are sold, directly benefiting dairy farmers and the community. Experiencing how the dairy business could sufficiently provide for her family, Annalyn intends to stay in the farm and continue to develop her dairy carabao-based livelihood. She is also now the manager of Rosario Dairy Farmers Cooperative.

“Before, my work involved enormous pressure to close transactions and produce sales. The competition was fierce. Now, I am more relaxed and have more time for my family,” Annalyn said.

“You come to a point when you look at things differently. For me, dairy farming and farm living gave me the opportunity to be more appreciative of things,” she added.

Annalyn said that being in the real estate business has provided her opportunities and good income plus a convenient workspace. But keeping up with the demands of the job became too much of a stress to bear. This is the complete opposite of her life on the farm where the air is fresh and the only demand and pressure that she has to answer to are that which she places on herself. Most importantly, she has time for her family and her other roles as a wife to Melvin, 46, and as a mother to Neal, 24, and Iverson, 15.

Bound by carabao’s milk

Initially, Melvin was hesitant about tending carabaos because at one time, the carabaos ran free and destroyed his young fruit-bearing trees. He was also worried that the pollens and dust from the grass and corn would trigger allergies of the boys.

“When I exhausted all my savings in my first year of dairy venture, Melvin got worried all the more that my business plan would end up a flop. But when the carabaos started producing milk, Melvin became lukewarm with the idea until eventually, he supported it by financing the housing and buying some tools and equipment. On the second year, our sales from milk were able to cover our household expenses and I was able to pay myself less than minimum wages,” Annalyn happily narrated.

By the third year, income from her dairy activities was comparable to her wages on her previous work.

Annalyn said their family conversations would always include a topic about the dairy carabaos even when their children were away studying in La Trinidad. They would call and ask about the animals.

Carapreneurship is not for the faint-hearted

As she progressed in the dairy business, Annalyn reflected on some realizations about being a carapreneur.

“It’s not for the poorest of the poor. Without land to plant forage for the carabaos, you are bound to fail. It is not efficient to rely on free forage that you can gather around the neighbourhood. The DA-PCC has a reliable program but it needs the farmer’s willingness to invest in time and resources in order to succeed,” Annalyn noted.

“It would take at least 18 months before you start earning. But when a carabao starts producing milk, you are assured of a daily cash for the next 10 months straight,” she added.

“It is a rare opportunity to find a lucrative business without sacrificing time for the family. In carapreneurship, we can still bond as a family while doing our farm chores and earning a good income. For me, the most rewarding part of farming is when we can accomplish things together as a family and that makes me genuinely happy and fulfilled,” Annalyn concluded.