The Sunday News
LAST week I had the opportunity of attending two important livestock events in two provinces and under two different farming systems.
What a rich pot of lessons it turned out to be. The first occasion was the field day hosted by Biano Simmentals, a stud breeding concern in Umzingwane district. The field day was all about demonstrating to the livestock fraternity how animals managed well during the dry season should look like and what level of effort goes into the preparations for dry season feeding. It was a well attended function with very rich lessons from both the farmer himself and the feed company which has been supporting him over the years.
One major lesson which stood out for me was that it was very possible even in this region to produce beef animals under an intensive production system as opposed to the traditional extensive system that most farmers are used to.
Biano Simmentals has about 80 hectares of land and they are running close to 400 head of pedigree Simmentals!
This is obviously possible because of their heavy production of on farm feed such as silage. Most of agriculture colleges tend to present silage production for animals as only viable for dairy animals but Biano Simmentals and am sure with a whole lot of other livestock farmers using and intensive system of production have long debunked that myth.
Land is a finite resource which is not elastic at all and hence it is increasingly becoming difficult for livestock farmers who want large pieces of land for ranching purchase, to get the land. This means intensive production of animals on a smaller piece of land is increasingly become the future in beef production.
I know in livestock production we emphasise that your rangeland is your cheapest feed resource and wen discourage expensive ways of producing animals but I think if the numbers that were shared by Biano Simmentals in terms of what it costs them to produce feed for their animals on the farm, is anything to go by then we seriously need to look at the option of intensive livestock production for those who want to engage in that line of business but do not have adequate land for extensive ranching.
I wish to thank Biano Simmentals for being always ready to share their vast experience in cattle production in general and stud breeding in particular. Livestock farmers are learning a lot from your experience and knowledge, please continue with your open door policy regarding your farm for the benefit of both emerging and established livestock farmers.
I also attended a launch of a cattle business centre in Mathambo area of Lupane district. It was an official opening session for a cattle production facility which seeks to assist livestock farmers especially in marketing as it consists of cattle holding pens and all the other essential facilities for cattle sale pen such as the loading ramp and cattle race.
The infrastructure will also be used for pen fattening animals that need to be conditioned before marketing.
It was made possible through a partnership between the Government and funding partner. The infrastructure is being run and managed by a private sector player who is active in the livestock value chain.
This talks to the continuity and sustainability of the venture beyond the presence of funders. I want to thank the participation of the players involved especially the private sector for providing the market for smallholder livestock farmers who have to struggle every time they want to sell their animals.
The private sector player has been operating an abattoir in Jotsholo in the same district for more than two years now and this has brought huge relief to livestock farmers who previously had to take their animals to Bulawayo abattoirs as there was no operational abattoir in the entire Matabeleland North province. All the abattoirs were in and around Bulawayo.
I urge livestock farmers to utilise these facilities so that they remain viable and operational. We have previously seen communities being conned by middlemen and advised to avoid formal channels of selling their animals as these middlemen avoid council levies.
The result has been the death of the livestock sales and the infrastructure at community level as buyers pull out citing viability issues. As livestock farmers it is my counsel that let’s utilise these facilities so that they find it worthy while to continue operating. If we get fooled by temporary incentives from middlemen who obviously get affected by the establishment of such facilities, we will drive such an important investment in our area into extinction, bringing suffering to ourselves. UyabongaumntakaMaKhumalo.
Mhlupheki Dube is a livestock specialist and farmer. He writes in his own capacity. Feedback [email protected]/cell 0772851275
