265 Private Business Actors Ready to Invest in Dairy and Beef Cattle

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – A total of 265 private business actors, ranging from small to large enterprises, are ready to invest in dairy and beef cattle breeding. This investment is necessary to reduce the growing deficit in fresh milk and beef due to the Free Nutritious Meals program.

The Director of Agricultural Product Downstreaming at the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan), Makmun, stated on Wednesday (5/3/2025) that currently, 178 business entities have committed to importing 1,054 dairy cattle breeders. In addition, there are 87 business entities ready to import 862,035 beef cattle breeders.

They consist of individual entrepreneurs and partnerships, as well as cooperative groups. They will import dairy cows and beef cattle breeders from countries such as Brazil, Mexico, New Zealand, and Australia.

"Some of them also plan to establish dairy and beef cattle farms," he stated during the webinar "Golden Generation Begins at the Dining Table" organized by Sinar Tani TV in Jakarta.

178 business actors have committed to importing 1,054 dairy cattle breeders. In addition, there are 87 business actors ready to import 862,035 beef cattle breeders.

Furthermore, Makmun continued, there is also a company from Vietnam that has explored investments in dairy cattle farming and the milk processing industry. They have surveyed investment locations in South Sulawesi and South Kalimantan. The Ministry of Agriculture hopes that the company's investment can be realized this year.

Cattle investment is necessary to gradually reduce the production-consumption deficit of fresh milk and beef over the next five years. Moreover, with the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program, the demand for these two commodities is increasing significantly.

"We aim to reduce the fresh milk deficit from 6.72 million tons (81.28 percent) in 2025 to 0.32 million tons (3.72 percent) by 2029. During the same period, the beef deficit is also targeted to decrease from 0.46 million tons (54.76 percent) to 0.26 million tons (30 percent)," he said.

Based on the 2025-2029 Fresh Milk Fulfillment Roadmap, dairy cattle imports will take place in 2025-2028. The planned number of dairy cattle to be imported is 200,000 in 2025, 300,000 in 2026, 400,000 in 2027, and 100,000 in 2029.

Through the import of dairy cattle, national fresh milk production is targeted to increase from 1.55 million tons in 2025 to 8.17 million tons in 2029. This is to meet the national fresh milk needs which are estimated to increase from 8.26 million tons in 2025 to 8.48 million tons in 2029.

Referring to the 2025-2029 Beef Fulfillment Roadmap, the import of beef cattle breeders will be carried out in 2025-2027. The breeders to be imported are 200,000 in 2025, 400,000 in 2026, and 400,000 in 2028.

Through the import of beef cattle, national beef production is targeted to increase from 0.36 million tons in 2025 to 0.62 million tons in 2029. This is to balance the national beef requirement which is estimated to increase from 0.84 million tons in 2025 to 0.88 million tons in 2029.

The Ministry of Agriculture has also mitigated a number of investment obstacles. This began with attracting investment through a number of incentives; providing land for livestock, factories, and feed; and overcoming the difficulties of small business actors in bringing in imported cattle.

The incentives provided include deregulation, market guarantees with the MBG program, tax holidays, people's business credit with 3 percent interest, and zero percent import duties. In addition, the government will also provide land rental incentives and build infrastructure in investment locations.

"We have also mapped the land needs for livestock, processing plants, and dairy and beef cattle feed totaling 1 million hectares. Two of them are in South Sumatra and South Kalimantan," said Makmun.

In addition, Makmun continued, the government will also facilitate investment partnerships between large and small business actors. The forms include core or plasma partnerships, joint ventures, and import deposits.

For example, consign imports. Many small business owners are planning to import cattle under 10,000. For example, the Indonesian Milk Cooperative Association (GKSI) is interested in bringing in 3,000 dairy cows.

"They can entrust the import of cattle in one ship to large business actors. That way, they will not be burdened with import procedures and can reduce shipping costs," he said.

Meanwhile, the government will strive for the MBG program to be able to "run fast" or become more massive starting March 2025. MBG will also become an aggregator or guarantor of food absorption from local food producers and business actors.

Per month, the program is estimated to absorb a budget of around IDR 1 trillion to IDR 2 trillion.

Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan said that the implementation of the MGB program will be accelerated starting in March 2025. This is considering that the budgeting process for the MBG program for this year has been completed.

Per month, the program is estimated to absorb a budget of around Rp1 trillion to Rp2 trillion. Therefore, MBG's supply chain network needs to be expanded and strengthened because its needs will increase.

"By the end of this year, the MBG program will reach 82.9 million beneficiaries. For the provision of rice alone, it will need around 4 million tons. For that, the supply chain really needs to be prepared," he said.

The government has increased the budget for the MBG program in 2025 by IDR 100 trillion in February 2025. This means that the budget that was originally set at IDR 71 trillion has become a total of IDR 171 trillion.

Head of the National Food Agency Arief Prasetyo Adi added, MBG will be an aggregator, absorber of food ingredients from farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and local business actors. That way, MBG will stimulate the economy in every region in Indonesia.