KUALA LUMPUR: Rhone Ma Holdings Bhd plans to increase its cattle herd to 350 head by the end of the year, raising its monthly milk production from 55,000 litres per month to approximately 150,000 litres.
Early this year, the company imported 100 impregnated cows from Australia, bringing the current total number of cattle to 250.
"We hope that with the importation of these impregnated cows and the birth of new calves, our milk production can be increased up to 150,000 litres per month.
"Furthermore, we expect to have 500 cattle within two years. The expansion of facilities, which is currently being held up due to the Movement Control Order (MCO 3.0), will contribute to the increase in available capacity," group managing director Dr Lim Ban Keong told The New Straits Times.
Rhone Ma currently has a 6-acre dairy farm located in Batang Kali, Selangor and is primarily an end-to-end animal health solution provider, integrating the provision of animal health services and the manufacturing and distribution of animal health products.
"We hope that facility expansion will recommence soon. In addition to this, we are also looking to set up a designated calve barn and treatment area, upgrade the waste management system as well as the milking system to accommodate 500 cattle, and purchase a milk transport tanker lorry," Dr Lim said.
He said milk consumption in Malaysia continues to rise due to health reasons, and the company anticipates that this trend will continue.
"Other than this, we also see growth in operating income due to the increased consumption of milk, and we expect this will also continue in the future," Dr Lim said.
When asked to comment on the rise in the price of agricultural inputs, Dr Lim said that the increasing cost of agricultural inputs has resulted in a significantly higher operating cost of running a dairy farm.
"Now we require more working capital, and more reserves while margins are potentially lower unless a pass-through is implemented.
"We hope that this will not be a prolonged situation. But of course, this scenario depends on the international market, which, if it continues, could positively impact the local market, especially the local milk producers.
"Local producers can take this opportunity to increase milk production and narrow the supply gap in the market and subsequently decreasing our dependency on imported milk," he said.
In 2020, Rhone Ma recorded approximately RM0.37 million for the whole year from the sale of fresh cow's milk and expected more growth in the dairy farming segment.
Apart from the dairy farming and milk production segment, Rhone Ma also focuses on growing all its business segments, namely animal health products and equipment, food ingredients and human healthcare services.
In the human healthcare segment, the company has provided tests and diagnostics services, conducted research and development (R & R&D) in biotechnology, and distributed human healthcare and related products.
"As we look at the projected growth of the Malaysian economy, we anticipate that the livestock industry will also grow due to the corresponding growth of the country's population resulting in the demand for meat as a source of protein also to soar," Dr Lim said.
He said in 2020, the number of standing livestock population for poultry and buffalo, cattle, goat and sheep recorded a healthy increase of 3.66 per cent and 0.47 per cent, respectively, albeit a marginal decline recorded in the swine category.
The livestock subsector is estimated to expand 5.7 per cent in 2021 in line with the various government's initiatives to modernise the agro-food subsector, which includes integration of agriculture technologies such as agro-robotic, sensor, precision farming, drones, agriculture data development and Internet of Things applications.
The estimated increase in livestock in Malaysia is expected to result in correlating increase in demand for animal pharmaceutical and veterinary products, including animal feed, to meet the rising needs.
"We will be able to ride on the growth trajectory in line with the government's endeavour to develop a sustainable livestock industry in the country for national food security," Dr Lim said further.
He said the company is also anticipating growth in its dairy production business segment due to the projected uptrend in the local market.
"The government's aim to increase the country's fresh milk self-sufficiency level from 63.0 per cent in 2019 to 100 per cent within five years will create abundant opportunities for us to capitalise on," Dr Lim said.