The Sunday News
IN my view there are two most important times for a livestock farmer. The first very important and pleasant time for a livestock farmer is when one’s animals drop young ones, that is when cows calve down or when goats drop kids.
The second most important time is when you take your animals to the market.
These two very important times in a livestock farmer’s management calendar call for different management practices but these practices, different as they definitely should be, are very important.
We have discussed dam and calf management before on this very platform, therefore I will not labour you with the points again on this instalment, rather I will major on the other part, which is taking your animals to the market.
This is a very important time for the livestock farmer because it defines whether you reap something from your sweat or not?
It is the time when you want to redeem the value that you have nurtured and kept locked in your animal for three or so years.
This is the time that the livestock farmer goes to the bank to cash the cheque and therefore caution needs to be taken so that you do not lose what you have worked for in three or so years to conmen and poor decisions.
In tobacco growing and other crops we have heard countless stories of farmers losing money right at the auction floors when they are conned and scammed by tricksters and such unscrupulous people.
Tobacco
Now for livestock farmers, if you want to get the best out from the market there are many factors which you need to consider and I will explain some of them here.
As a starting point, you need to understand the market dynamics so that you know when the prices are high and when they are low.
This is important so that you sell at the right time especially for slaughter stock.
The price for breeding stock, that is bulls and heifers tend to maintain the price across the year.
This means you can sell your heifers anytime of the year and get the price you want.
The second most important consideration a livestock farmer should make, is to distinguish between culling and selling. While you cull your animals and sell them, it is not the same as picking animals for selling.
When you cull your animals, there are usually factors that one considers and as a rule of the thumb, a cull animal is one that the farmer is getting rid for one reason or another.
If it is a cow, chances are it has dead teats or udder or it has some form of production challenge.
Otherwise who in their right mind would sell an animal in production. So when you sell cull animals there is a decent price range which you should expect to get from the animals, but when the sale is properly conducted this will be lower than when you choose animals for a sale as opposed to culling animals for a sale.
So, when you want to get the best from your investment, choose the best animals for the market, it’s that simple.
That animal which everyone passing by your kraal, marvels at, should make the first entry into the lot earmarked for the market.
You want the best price, choose the best animals, it’s a simple equation. However, most farmers want to select the worst animals from their kraal for the market and still hope to get the best prices. It does not work that way. The moment you select an animal for the market based on its weakness, you are culling, not selling, you will get a culling price.
I made mention of tobacco farmers earlier on, these farmers will take their best grade to the market and it is that best grade which will give them the most. These are the basics of marketing, you put your best foot forward and expect the best results.
However, for some reason some livestock farmers, will leave the best animals in the kraal and take lower grades to the market and still expect premium prices.
So, in simple English, today’s marketing lesson is, know when to sell and choose the best to sell.
A combination of these two factors are guaranteed to give you a satisfactory outcome.
Uyabonga umntakaMaKhumalo.
Mhlupheki Dube is a livestock specialist and farmer. He writes in his own capacity. Feedback [email protected] cell 0772851275.
