Developments in livestock sector
The poultry industry is on the rebound from challenges posed by the outbreaks of Avian Influenza in Zimbabwe and South Africa that occurred from late May to July which reduced the availability of dayold chicks to local poultry farmers, causing a decline i
THE outbreak in Zimbabwe affected Lanark Farm, owned by Irvine’s, and the site was completely de-populated of birds - a loss of both breeding birds as well as commercial laying birds. To limit the importation of hatching eggs contaminated with Avian Influenza, local veterinary authorities banned all imports of hatching eggs from South Africa, compounding the effects of the loss in breeding birds in Zimbabwe.
In August, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development responded to the reduction in the supply of poultry day-old chicks by suspending the duty that was applied to imports of hatching eggs from countries outside of the Sadc region.
This timely intervention is beginning to bear fruit as the recent survey by the Zimbabwe Poultry Association (ZPA) indicates.
According to the ZPA survey, broiler hatching egg production by poultry breeders has increased from a low of 4,2 million in July to 5,9 million in August. Over the same period, broiler hatching egg imports increased from 1,2 to 2,0 million. Thus, the total hatching eggs handled by local hatcheries increased from 5,4 million in July to 7,9 in August.
As a result, broiler day-old chick production increased from 4,2 to 4,3 million between July and August and looks set to increase to nearly 5,5 million by end of September 2017.
This will go a long way to stabilising the production of broiler meat and ensure that the country takes advantage of the surplus in maize production inspired by the Command Agriculture initiative.
However, chick prices steadily increased from an average of $65 per 100 chicks in the period January to May, to $70 per 100 chicks in June, $72 in July and $79 in August.
The increase in chick prices reflects the fact that, in order to supplement shortages of locally produced chicks, Zimbabwe has had to import hatching eggs from countries as far away as Europe.
This, together with the high cost of obtaining foreign currency, has led to the increase in the cost of producing broiler day old chicks.
The ZPA estimates that total meat production dropped from a monthly average of 8,819 tonnes between January and June to 6,500 tonnes in July and 6,155 tonnes in August.
This was mainly due to an estimated decline of 50 percent in smallholder production from an average of 6 000 tonnes in the first half of 2017 to 3,700 tonnes in July and 3,570 tonnes in August. However, this should bounce back to around 8,000 tonnes given the projected increase in day old chick production.
The depopulation of Lanark Farm because of Avian Influenza has led to the loss of most of their layer breeding stock and more than halved their commercial egg production stock.
As a result, it is estimated that the number of birds in-lay within the largescale sector dropped from an average of 890 000 in the period January to July to 478 000 in August.
This led to a reduction of table egg production in the large-scale sector from a monthly average of 1,8 million dozen in the January to July period to only 0,9 million dozen in August.
Including the smallholder sector, total egg production is projected to have declined from a monthly average of 3,5 million dozen in the January to July period to 2,6 million dozen in August.
Given the time lag in bringing new birds into lay, short supply will exist on the market in the interim as egg farmers respond.
Implications on the feeds sector
The recent trends in the poultry sector have been felt in the stockfeeds sector who depend on poultry producers for 71 percent of their production volume and 74 percent of their revenue.
Thus, the up-turn in the poultry sector will be welcome news for feed manufacturers.
Zimbabwe Herd Book: Beef School 2017
In other major livestock news, enrolment has opened for the Zimbabwe Herd Book Beef School 2017, which will focus on understanding beef as a high value commodity, participation in the beef value chain, rangeland management, poisonous plants, forage and amino acid feed supplementation and beef genomics.
The two-day intensive Beef School with lectures takes place at the ART Farm on 24 and 25 October.
Beef School 2017 will bring participants up to date with the latest global meat market trends and is a key event on Zimbabwe’s agricultural calendar, playing an important role in building Zimbabwe’s cattle industry.
Beef School keeps the country’s cattle breeders abreast of important global developments in beef industry. As in past years, the Zimbabwe Herd Book, with the support of the lead sponsor National Foods, and in partnership with Nurture Finance, will bring together a team of local, regional and international presenters.