Forage harvester for cheaper farm feed production costs

Patrick

Nairobi, Kenya

100% repaid

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Entrepreneur

Name

Patrick

Member since

March 2014

On-time repayments

189 installments  •  94%

About Me

Am a passionate dairy farmer and a sports coach in the sport of badminton. I practice my dairy farming in Bomet county where i focus on keeping dairy cows for production of milk for sale and breed the rest of the cows for sale.
Am currently in the process of expanding the size of the farm in order to have it as a full time job as i have to keep another job in Nairobi so as to sustain the dairy farm. Its full potential has not been realized and therefore have to continue investing for the next few months when the cows calve down and start producing milk.
While away from the farm, I also offer badminton coaching services. Sports coaching takes place in tho exclusive clubs in the Nairobi's park-lands area.

My Business

My main source of income are from the dairy farm and also the coaching services.

I make an average of between US dollars 200 and US dollars 450 per month depending on the month. At the moment, the net returns are mostly invested back into the dairy farm in order to aid the current expansion.

Most of the other income come from the business of buying and selling of badminton sports equipment which include badminton rackets, shuttles, grips and racket strings.

My intention is to fully commercialize my dairy farming business so that i can fully settle into the farm and focus in the commercial production of milk for sale.

My other major source of income will originate from the sale of cows to other farmers.

Loan Proposal

Lenders,

Thank you for entrusting me with the previous loan facility. It's with great humility that I once again submit a proposal for a financial support. 

I am seeking for a funding towards a purchase of a single row forage harvestor for the farm. So far, I have  a herd of 30 cows in the farm. Out of the 30 heads, the mature milking cows are 15. The 15 milkers though productive, income from them cannot meet all the daily farm expenditures as well as aportion a profit margin that can pay off a quality used forage machine at one go.  I hereby seek for a loan facility in order to acquire a forager for my maize fodder. The cost of hiring a contractor to chop my maize fodder is very expensive. About 10,000kshs (100USD) per acre. Since I do plant 15 acres for my cows, that totals to 150,000Kshs (1500USD) paid in two crop seasons a year. By purchasing my own machine, I'll be able to save about 60% of the contractor cost as it costs an average of 4,000Kshs (400USD) per acre with my own forage machine. The savings translates to about 90,000 (900USD) of savings every two seasons from the 15 acres!! Such big savings will buffer cashflow at the farm leading to better profitability. A well used second hand Claas 25 forage harvestor will cost about 250,000 KES( approx 2500 USD).  With the advanced loan of 140000 KES( 1400 USD), I'll be able to top up the balance with the current savings from the farm account.
Besides the reduced contactor costs in the farm, the forage harvestor will also generate extra income for the farm through provision of fodder chopping services to the many farmers in my local neighborhood. Most farmers lack efficient fodder harvesting machines and my forage harvestor will fill in the existing gap.

Thanks and looking forward to a positive feedback.

Feedback

14

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$1,399.00

Date disbursed

May 1, 2018

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

6 months

Other loans

Apr 2014:  $150

Aug 2014:  $267

Dec 2014:  $381

Jun 2015:  $518

Dec 2015:  $749

Sep 2016:  $1,109

Lenders

Kitty

Hailsham, United Kingdom

PaulE

Cockeysville, MD, United States

Cordula

Cologne, Germany

C

chrisherron

Chicago, United States

BernadetteV

France

Laparo

Dusseldorf, Germany

J

Joggele

Austria, Austria

matt carroll

London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom

Jeremy

Washington State, United States, United States

A

Anonymous

Germany

Stephan W

Witten, Germany

roark22

Geneva, Switzerland

Ren

Minneapolis/StPaul, United States

CN

Claus Nielsen

Denmark

R

Ryan

Albuquerque, NM, United States

JH

Joseph Hwang

Houston, United States

Paul Buchheit

Mountain View, United States

M

Mary

United States

KP

Keith Penrod

United States

MH

Matt Hodges

United Kingdom

GW

Gabriel Weilenmann

Liechtenstein

Genuine Interest

Singapore, Singapore

J

Johannes

Germany

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  • Patrick    Nov 27, 2018

    Dear lenders,

    Hurray!
    Done with the repayment in time. Thanks again for the continued trust and financial support. Without you lenders, I wouldn't have been able to afford the forage machine.
    Thank you all.

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  • Patrick    Oct 4, 2018

    Lenders,

    Thanks again for the continued financial support. The year has been very challenging following a prolonged dry season last year and early in the year. Feeds for out cows have poses a challenge as we didn't meet our projected fodder output from the farms.

    We are however out of the woods now and the cows health has improved. Our cows have starting to produce more and cycle well. The forage machine is now in my possession and it will make fodder harvest very efficient by next season.
    Thank you.

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  • Patrick    Aug 24, 2018

    Hello lenders,
    The last few weeks have been challenging for me. I went through an unfavourable business environment. As a result, I couldn't keep up with the weekly payments. I am however glad to report that the business is now turning around and therefore will be able to make timley payments. Regards.

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  • J

    Johannes    Aug 20, 2018

    Hello Patrick Ruto how are you.
    I hope good.
    I'm writing to you, because of that you are a few weeks overdue loans.
    When can we expect the repayment.'
    Remember that due to the lack of repayments, other borrowers will have to wait for their allocation.
    Please let me know.
    Best regards
    John

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  • Patrick    May 5, 2018

    Lenders,

    Thank you so much for the confidence and support. The financing came through within a very short time following my application.
    As I had stated, the financing will facilitate the purchase of a pull type single row forager for my farm. I'll revert within the month once the machine is bought and in my possession.

    Thank you.

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  • Kitty    Apr 27, 2018

    Good to hear you are doing well, I hope the new machine works well.

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    • Patrick    May 5, 2018

      Kitty,

      Thank you. It's my hope that we will be able to save more money through the use of our purchased machine.

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  • Patrick    Apr 26, 2018

    Lenders,

    I am deeply humbled by the positive response and the subsequent loan funding. As mentioned earlier, I am purchasing a single row forager to improve the fodder harvesting efficiency as well as save on fodder chopping costs.
    Once again, thank you very much for the confidence and trust. Regards.

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  • J

    Joggele    Apr 26, 2018

    Good luck! Are you using pesticides on you maize or are you going organic? Organic would be great an I would this support in the future!

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    • Patrick    May 5, 2018

      Jogger,

      Thank you for the wishes. At the moment we do not use pesticides. We hope that doesn't change going into the future. I always like our cows to feed on purely organic maize silage.

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      • J

        Joggele    May 7, 2018

        Great Patrick, that you use no pesticides. Which fertilizers do you use? Let me know when you need your next loan and stay organic :-)

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  • Henry    Nov 24, 2017

    HALLO SIR CONGRATULATION AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL IN YOUR FAMILY SIR PLEASE CALL ME TO THIS NO, 0728090249 THEN I WILL COME TO YOU IN NAIROBI PLEASE HELP TO TO COME TO SEE YOU FACE BY FACE I;M IN NAIROBI NOW.

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  • Patrick    Oct 9, 2017

    Dear lenders,

    Greetings.

    It's my great joy having completed the repayment of the last loan of 110,000Kshs successfully and without any default.

    It's always humbling being entrusted with such a financial support by a community comprising of noble individuals from all around the globe and unknown to me on a personal level. Indeed the world has become such a great global village.


    I'll forever be indebted to each and everyone of you who's made my life better through the financial support. Best wishes you and your families as you continue to impact our lives positively. With you, I am confident of a better tomorrow for my family.
    Blessings.

    WarmRegards,
    Farmer Patrick

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  • Patrick    Jun 6, 2017

    Dear lenders,

    I hope this finds you well. The last few months has been a challenging period to our farm. Our bulk diary feed fodder ran out awhile back. Without rains in sight to replenish the fodder, we've had to purchase expensive bulk fodder in order to keep our cows healthy. It resulted in increased overhead costs at the farm and a reduction in the milk yield from our cows. I therefore had to adjust the weekly installment to the current 500( approx 5USD).

    Thankfully, the weather is looking up now and our own fodder sources are already established. This has resulted in reduced costs of feeding the cows and I can now afford to readjust the installment to the previous amount of 2500( approx 25USD).

    Its my plan to clear up the loan soon and venture into getting my own milk ATM and pasteurizer in order to maximize on profits from my farm milk.

    Regards.

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  • Patrick    Apr 17, 2017

    Dear lenders,

    I hope you are well. It's been a great and exciting journey in my dairy farm. We've grown from one point to the other. Our herd size is steadily growing and therefore means better profitability in the future. This will be a result of increased milk available for sale as well as sale of well bred heifers to other upcoming farmers.

    Here's a picture of our current milking herd and our bulling heifers( females ready for breeding) that are now due for breeding( artificial insemination)

    Warm regards,

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  • Patrick    Mar 26, 2017

    Zidisha team,

    I hope you are all well. Here's an update of the farm. The dry period is about to end with the start of rains. We should be receiving sufficient rainfall in the coming month. That will in turn provide us with highly nutritious fodder for our cows.

    Thanks

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  • Patrick    Feb 25, 2017

    Dear lenders,

    I hope this finds you well.
    This new year started well despite the challenges. The drought has ravaged most parts of our country- Kenya leading to a deficiency in the availability of quality fodder for our cows. In turn, there's been a huge drop in the milk output from my farm.
    Its my hope that the rains will arrive soon.

    Thanks and I am always honored honoured to be part of Zidisha community.

    Warm regards.

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  • Patrick    Feb 11, 2017

    Zidisha team,

    First, I continue to extend my gratitude for the continuous support from the lenders and the entire Zidisha team.

    At the moment, my farm is faced with dairy feed challenges following the continued drought that's ravaged part of our country. As a result, the milk production from our herd has dwindled gradually resulting in poor returns from the sale. The stringing effect means that I have to spend more money buying feeds and especially protein and energy concentrates from the market.
    I heeby wish to review my weekly installment downwards for the next few weeks until I get my financial footing back on track. In that connection, I'll be remitting a payment of 500bob a week down from 2500.

    Thank you for your understanding.

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  • Patrick    Dec 24, 2016

    Lenders,

    It's been a beautiful year for us at the farm. It's been through your continued support and wishes that my farm has grown day by day. For this, I am thankful. May the new year bring more blessings and opportunities to eat healthy of you.

    Thanks again.

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  • Patrick    Sep 30, 2016

    Dear lenders,

    I am deeply humbled by your financial support after I submitted a proposal to pur hsse an in calf heifer. Your response was overwhelming and I do hereby confirm having e eived a total of 104,500kshs( approx 1100 US dollars).

    Thank you so much for your support.

    Regards,

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  • Kitty    Sep 29, 2016

    Congratulations again and good luck with the new heifer

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  • Patrick    Sep 27, 2016

    Dear lenders,

    It's with great humility and gratitude to get to write a thank you note to you all.
    With your continuous support, my dairy farmimg dream horizons keep widening on a daily basis. The new loan will be very key in financing the purchase of an extra cow. The additional heifer will generate more income to my farm from additional milk sale.

    Once again, thank you to the entire Zidisha team for the support.

    Regards,

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  • Patrick    Sep 20, 2016

    Dear Lenders,

    Once again, I humbled by the continuous support from the team. Since the last proposal and funding, my farm has continued to grow at a good pace. I now have an additional six calves from the cows that have calved deown at the farm. Thank you once again for your financial support. Regards,

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