The Sunday News
I HAVE interacted with many farmers in various districts over the past month discussing heifer acquisition.
What has been common among all of them is that heifers are either very scarce in the market or they are available at a premium price.
A quick search in the market revealed exactly what the farmers have indicated and that calls for answers. My immediate take is that the scarcity of heifers in the market could be attributed to two or three reasons. It could be that following the rationalisation in land ownership during the land reform some spaces which were left by breeders and ranchers alike have not been filled in.
I am not talking about occupying the land because that we did very well but am talking about utilising the land. It could be that we have very few breeders and ranchers and as such they are overwhelmed by the market. This is an area which I think the Command Livestock should look at.
How can this promising programme help or facilitate the availability of heifers for farmers to buy?
Maybe the Command Livestock could among its many other facets look at importing affordable heifers from countries such as Namibia and make them available in the market for willing farmers to buy. The shortage of heifers in the market could probably be related to the recurrent droughts that the country has experienced in previous years which have diminished livestock numbers and hence every farmer is in a restocking mode and thus pushing the demand for heifers through the roof.
The price of the few available heifers have largely reflected the balance of scale between the supply and demand for the same.
Heifers are going for a premium even for the local nameless breeds found among the smallholder farmers.
It is not in contention that Zimbabwe has serious price distortions for almost every commodity.
Our maize for example is probably the most expensive in the world at $390/tonne while everyone else in the region is around $200/tonne.
In keeping with that distortion you find weaners (around seven months of age) going for $800. By all definitions this is killing this country.
Which brings me to the third aspect about this issue of scarcity of heifers in the market. Probably it is an issue of economics where farmers are keeping their value in livestock in whatever form as opposed to banking the same value in the traditional banks.
With the almost non-existent confidence in our struggling banking sector most farmers or businesspeople are keeping their value in livestock where the interest (herd growth) is much better and you can withdraw (sell) any time without restrictions.
This has pushed the demand for livestock in general and breeding stock in particular over the roof with the resultant increases in price.
The call therefore is for breeders and ranchers to occupy the space and play an important part in the growth of the national herd which can only be achieved if the breeding stock is available.
This is a yawning niche which serious farmers can fill and enjoy the rewards and fulfilment of contributing to the growth of the national herd and the country’s gross domestic product.
I therefore reiterate that powers that be who are implementing the upcoming command livestock should look at this important section of provision of quality breeding stock at affordable price or terms.
If farmers are properly restocked all the other important production parameters can realise a positive change. The annual offtake for example can increase significantly from the current two percent among smallholder farmers to reasonable levels if they are properly stocked or they are able to easily get replacement stock from the market. Lastly this is where we need the technology which I wrote about last week so that sellers and buyers can easily find each other. It cannot be discounted that someone is probably frantically looking for serious buyers for his heifers and he is not finding takers. With relevant technology platforms the two, buyer and seller can be easily interfaced.
Uyabonga umntakaMaKhumalo.
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