Farmers find carabao raising more profitable than rice farming

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MUNOZ, Nueva Ecija – Milk is not forever.

On average, a female carabao lactates for 10 months, followed by two months when she is dry.

And for Leoncio Callo, 49, the drought came at a crucial time. "Five of my cows simultaneously stopped producing milk, so my son was forced to quit college this semester for the time being, for lack of money," he says. "He’s helping with farm work now."

"We had money for tuition but not for his daily transportation and allowance," he adds. "I’ve been milking cows continuously for five years each and every day, and this is the first time that they went dry all at the same time."

There were hard times before when tuition money was needed and he was forced to sell even a female calf, which is highly valued for its potential milk. A five-month-old female is easy to sell, he says, even at P15,000, compared with a male of the same age which goes for P10,000.

This time, the only calf in the farm is too young to sell.