Farmers adopt own feed formulation to alleviate shortages

MATABELELAND North farmers have adopted livestock own feed formulation and fodder production, in a bid to alleviate feed shortages during the dry season.

Supplementary feed by farmers has assisted reduce livestock poverty deaths and can be used to fatten without buying much feed from the shops. A lead farmer, Mr Phineas Tshabalala of Redleaf village in Nyamandlovu said own feed formulation translates to improvement of livestock productivity and profitability.

“As farmers we have adopted supplementary livestock feed and fodder production initiatives through own feed formulation. This does not only alleviate perennial feed shortages but also translates to improvement of livestock productivity and profitability,” said Mr Tshabalala.

With a herd of 86 cattle, Mr Tshabalala said he has attended a number of extension trainings offered by the Beef Enterprise Strengthening and Transformation project (BEST) that include the own farm feed formulation.

He said after the capacitation through the BEST project, as farmers they have realised the need to plan ahead of the dry season through preparing supplementary feeding.

“During the dry season cattle travel long distances in search of water and grass which has a negative impact on cattle production. As a way to mitigate against the challenges as farmers we have been trained on own farm feed formulation to supplement for cattle during the lean season.”

He revealed that they were now actively preparing bush meal blocks using ground maize stover, fodder grasses, acacia pods and molasses. Mr Tshabalala said he has more than 200 blocks that were prepared and sun dried for the dry season.

“We will start supplementary feeding on the herd of cattle beginning of September as it marks the beginning of the lean season. I will no longer have the hustle of searching for my herd in the forest as the cattle will have to adopt the afternoon feeding pattern,” he added.

He said feed blocks were a cost-effective means to own farm feed formulation with a longer shelf life. Another farmer doing fodder production and silage in Epping Forest Ward 19 in Umguza District, Mr Michael Moyo said the benefits of fodder production for them as farmers was that they were producing a higher quality feed for less money than traditional methods.

He said fodder production has assisted their livestock with benefits such as increased milk and meat production being realised.

“Silage has several advantages over hay as a mechanically harvested product. Silage has more nutrients preserved per acre because there are less field losses. Silage is also less affected by weather damage because the forage does not lie in the field drying.”

The dry region of Matabeleland North is characterised by limited access to grazing land, long dry spells, frequent outbreak of droughts, and high cattle mortality rates (poverty deaths) limited access to water.

Shortage of grazing land particularly during the dry season negatively impacts cattle production as most farmers lose cattle due to poverty death.