Cattle are what they eat
HELLO dear farmer. I hope the demand for agriculture produce was kind on your pocket during the Easter holidays and Independence Day.
My heart always bleeds whenever I see a veld fire. To make matters worse, people almost always tend to turn a blind eye when they see this. What most of them don’ t know is that in essence, those are tonnes of meat burning because animals basically convert that veld into the meat we so dearly love. So next time you see a veld fire, by extension you will be watching a farmer’s pocket in flames, because it is that animal meat which a farmer turns into cash.
Still on animal feed. Thanks to the above-normal rainfall the country received this past season, chances are the country will have enough animal feed to take us to then extra in season. But a good farmer can not bank on this, you never know how cruel veld fires will be so it is very important for farmers to harvest grass and avoid being caught off guard.
Researchers that I talked to over the past week concurred that the best time to harvest is before the grass reaches the reproduction or seeding stage because once this starts, it com promises the grass’ nutritional value.
Nutrition is a key component of an animal’s well-being to an extent that researchers say 70 percent of the end product is determined by nutrition while the remaining 30 percent is a product of the animal’s breed. So no matter how excellent an animal’s breed or genetics are, without proper nutrition, that animal will not give you anything meaningful on the market.
My desire to share best practices with you on this subject took me to Grasslands’ Research Station in Marondera where I had an invaluable encounter with the station’s research technician, Mr Ernest Derembwe.
“The quality of pastures is one area which most farmers do not ‘waste their time on’ yet surprisingly, they want their animals to fetch high figures on the market,” was Mr Derembwe’s welcome remarks at the research station.
“We have grass es that have as high as 21 percent crude protein and are used by commercial farmers while some of our people are still relying on grass es that give you as little as eight percent in crude protein. No matter how good your breed is, if the nutrition—which is derived from pastures, is not good then you are not going to succeed. You can have the best bull in terms of breed but if the nutrition is not good it means low sperm count and thus no reproduction. Even if it is a good cow or heifer, less nutrition will result in less conception rate.
“However, let me has ten to say we are not trying to re-invent the wheel here because most of these improved pastures are available in our farms. Farmers have just not made an effort to support their spread.
“Generally what happens with these improved pastures is that the initial cost might seem very high but once you plant them, that is it, you no longer go back to buy seed again.
“Scientific estimates say that one cow needs about three to four hectares of natural veld to graze per year, meaning if you have a herd of 10, you need 30 to 40 hectares, which most people don’ t have.
“But if one introduces these improved pastures, one hectare will adequately cater for a herd of 10 cattle per year.
“Most of the grass types we use for pasture reinforcements have good palatability and acceptability to the animals, making them easy to introduce in the veld. Unlike other plants, you don’ t need to cultivate for weeds or put herbicides. All you need to do is just plant and that’s it.
“We also urge farmers to do what we call cut and carry where they harvest the grass and dry it somewhere. What you only lose after that is the moisture but the nutrients remain the same because with all the grass, the opportune time to harvest is just before flowering.
“Our advice to cattle ranchers is that a beast should eat three percent of its body weight per day, meaning if it weighs 300kg it must take 9kg a day.
“There are many grass types a farmer can use to improve their pasture and I am happy to say most of these we have them here at the research station.
“These days the most popular grass is the brachiria brizantha, which most people think came from Brazil. This is a grass that has always been here in this country in places like Hwedza, Mar on dera, and Head lands, among other areas.
“If you harvest this at the opportune time you get at least 14 percent crude protein. Then there is the alfalfa legume or commonly referred toast he king of fodders. It gives 21 percent crude protein, once you get this you are done in terms of your animals’ protein requirements. But this one comes at a higher cost compared to others because it requires irrigation.
“It’s also good for our indigenous chickens whose market is rising, pigs, cattle and horses. Legumes generally have higher crude protein content so for those who want them but can not afford irrigation they can opt for the fine stem stylo, siratro or silver leaf.
“We also have kikuyu grass which I would say is more suitable for people who are into dairy farming but the down side is it thrives where there is irrigation. You can mix it with Kenya white clover which we also farm here and you can sustain your dairy cows using this without any other additional feeds and still get good returns in terms of milk. The combination of the two gives the animal a good balance of protein, starch and fibre.
“This is a very economic combination because for dairy cows, you need 2 kg or 2,5 kg for survival then for production for every 1 litre of milk you get, you have to give 500 grammes in feed.”