No plans to give up
THE dairy industry has existed in the country for so many decades with some farms being run by third and fourth generation farmers.
Sarojini Devi, 73, of Naitasiri, owns a dairy farm which is looked after by her son.
“The dairy farm has been operating since the 60s and after I got married to my husband, I have been helping out on the farm,” she said.
Ms Devi said they initially owned more than 300 cattle but lost most of the them during Cyclone Kina floods.
“We had to restart the farm with just eight cows and then we received help from the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) to buy more cattle.
“Now we have about 80 cattle and we have been lucky so far because none of our cattle have been infected with TB or brucellosis,” she said.
According to Ms Devi the dairy industry was performing better in the 60s when compared with the situation facing dairy farmers now.
“But it's been good for dairy farmers because the MOA has been very helpful and has provided us with farming materials such as pine posts and other materials,” she said.
With 80 cows, the dairy farm still uses manual labour to milk the cows but Ms Devi said she had plans to invest in a milking machine to make work easier for them.
“My son milks the cows and we were a bit hesitant to install a milking machine but now we want to ask the ministry to help us buy one,” she said.
She said MOA also assisted the dairy farmers in the area by providing information and awareness on the type of grass that was good and healthy for the cows and would yield higher volumes of milk.
According to Ms Devi the increase in milk price paid to farmers has brought some relief but hinted that it will be good if the price is increased further.
The dairy farm produces about 80litres of milk on a daily basis but that too depends on the weather and provision of clean water.
Ms Devi said from the milking cows they had on the farm, they were able to produce 50litres of milk in the morning and 30litres in the afternoon.
“Milk production also depends on certain factors such as the weather and water quality for the cows. When it rains a lot then the milk production is low and if the cows do not get clean water then they will drink less and that will affect milk production too.
“In the dry season we face a lot of challenges in terms of water supply for the cattle. We have to use drums to draw water from the streams nearby and supply to the cows,” she said.
She said they were also planning on requesting the MOA for a borehole to assist with the water issues.
The family has also diversified and has a dalo farm to supplement the family income.
“Before this outbreak of TB and brucellosis in the cattle, we used to sell the calves to farmers and that used to earn us some extra money.
“But now there are restrictions on movement of cattle from one farm to the next because of the danger of spreading the disease,” she said.
She said when they were allowed to sell cattle — a big and healthy steer used to be sold for as much as $1500.
“So now we have a dalo farm which also adds to our family income. But having a dalo farm also has its issues such as dalo thefts.”
Ms Devi said they had been victims of thefts whereby thieves would steal the mature dalo from their farms or sometimes steal the cattle.
“Despite the issues and challenges I have no plans to close down the dairy farm because it has been in the family. I want to expand the farm and for that I need more cattle so I will be requesting the ministry to help with that too,” she said.