Palm kernel cake and resolution of conflicts with Fulani herdsmen.

Palm oil is the world’s most widely produced oil, and growing global demand has naturally increased the supply of PKC. While India, Europe and China are the major palm oil importing countries, the bulk of PKC exports go to New Zealand and Europe. All over West Africa, investments are being made in palm plantations and processing plants. Of the world’s 23 major producers of PKC, 10 are West African, accounting for some 370,000 metric tons annually. Nigeria leads with 75,000 metric tons, followed by Ghana with 56,000 and the Ivory Coast with 53,000. Small exporters account for the bulk of current export figures,this is expected to change quite soon, as bigger producers enter the market. The Siat Group, with palm plantations in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria, raised Ghana’s output potential significantly when its local subsidiary, GOPDC, started the first production of pelletized PKC in 2014. Even though small farmers account for most palm oil and PKC production, big plantation investors are driving recent production increases. A significant amount of PKC is used domestically as cattle feed in Malaysia and Indonesia, where it is fed to feedlot cattle at very high levels. It is a common practice in Malaysia to produce complete feeds based on PKC, either as pellets, cubes or total mixed ration. PKC is widely known in West Africa as a viable feed ingredient, but until recently it has been mostly used as a source of energy and fiber in poultry, pig and fish rations. PKC has traditionally been used by small holders as a complimentary cattle feed source, its deployment in large herd cattle feed is a recent development. Experts believe that PKC has the potential to make West Africa self sufficient in beef production, and thus solve the major headache associated with dependence on Fulani herdsmen. West Africa also has the potential to substantially increase revenues from PKC exports. PKC has the potential to solve a major problem associated with beef supply in the sub-region. Most of West Africa’s beef consumption is supplied by semi-nomadic Fulani herdsmen, originally from the Sahelian parts of Africa, who can now be found across West and Central Africa. In recent times, they have been involved in often violent clashes with farmers of towns and villages where they have driven their cattle, destroying crops and water sources. There are regular reports of criminal behavior among the herdsmen. In April, the Nigerian president ordered a crackdown on Fulani herdsmen who had killed scores of people across the nation. In Ghana, farmers and residents of various communities have often demanded action by government against armed Fulani herdsmen who have regularly destroyed crops, polluted water sources and committed various criminal offenses. And in March, 17 people died when Fulani herdsmen clashed with crop farmers in the northeastern town of Bouna in Cote d’Ivoire. Governments are seeking to establish ranches as means of solving this problem. On May 10, 2016, Nigeria’s Minister of State, Agriculture, Heineken Lokpobiri, announced that the federal government was planning to establish cattle ranches to solve the problem of continuous clashes between the herdsmen and farmers. The Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, announced recently that government had imported grass seedlings from Brazil, to be grown at “massive grasslots” for feeding cattle. Agricultural experts, have criticized and even derided the idea. While government officials believe that the “massive grasslots” would start producing feed for cattle within two years, most informed observers say this is highly optimistic, given the major financial problems facing government, and the logistic issues involved in implementing such a scheme. They argue that Nigeria and its West African neighbors can solve this apparently intractable problem by deploying palm kernel cake in addition to their limited grassland resources. The viability of PKC, they state, is already proven, and it can be produced in vast quantities for local cattle production, and to increase export revenue. It is an interesting fact that, for many years, West Africans have used PKC and other agricultural by-products in dry season fattening of cattle in small feedlots, where cattle are fattened for 90 to 120 days. This is done to increase weight gain, carcass quality and carcass yield. Governments resolve to stop the cross-territorial herding of cattle,can be solved by PKC .A substantial amount PKC used within Malaysia and Indonesia is used to feed dairy cows ,while in Ghana dairy production is based on imported bulk milk products and Nigeria imports 75 percent.Continue

Researcher paints eyes on African cow rumps to prevent lion attack.

African lions and leopards are at risk from farmers retaliating over killed cattle, and an Australian scientist is trying to help.The beef herds are valuable in Botswana which is why conservation biologists are keen to minimize these wildlife/livestock conflicts. Tricking a lion into believing it has been spotted as it creeps up to attack a cow, could just save its life from angry cattle herders.Dr Neil Jordan is from Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo and the University of New South Wales where he lectures. He is working with farmers and the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust to further explore promising research that is changing the way lions and leopards look at cattle as prey. By painting intimidating eye-patterns on the behinds of cows, researchers hope to trick the big cats into thinking they have been seen.Dr Jordan calls this "psychological trickery"."Lions and leopards are ambush predators that rely on the element of surprise to sneak up and take down their prey. A small study of eye painting was conducted last year involving a beef cattle herd of 62 head.It showed promising signs.None of 23 cows that had eyes painted on their rumps were attacked, yet three of the 39 unpainted cows were killed by lions in a three month period. Continue

New Agriculture Technologies and smart farmers..

Farmers That Don’t Learn About New Agriculture Technologies Will Get Left Behind, without smart farming output will be low .Kip Tom is a seventh generation Indiana farmer. Starting with a homestead in 1837, the family has grown its operation into Tom Farms, which is engaged in commercial corn and soybean production across seven counties in the Midwestern farm state. The farm, which encompasses 20,000 acres, is also one of Monsanto’s largest seed producers. Born into an agricultural family and having spent much of his life within the industry, Tom has a unique viewpoint on the development of agriculture technology throughout the years. “Whether it is information and technology or equipment technology, there are technologies that will help our agriculture industry deliver a sustainable, affordable, and nutritious supply of food to global consumers,” he says. “It’s exciting, but what is most exciting is when we see collaboration between people in the field, who understand what we need, and developers in places like Mountain View, Palo Alto, and San Francisco. Also, we have an investment community saying this is something new that we haven’t paid much attention to.”. continue

Money making tips from dairy farmer.

The founder of Blessing Farm located in Muthege village, Mukuuri sub-location has been in the dairy farming business for the last 10 years, raking in money.These are some of the measures that Michael Gitonga, a dairy farmer, has taken to ensure that he gets optimum milk from the animals. “The cows should not be stressed. Any noise can affect their mood and they may fail to produce the required amount of milk. Sometimes they even react negatively to certain colours,” he explains. Gitonga has eight Friesian cows, which produce about 255 litres of milk a day. He ensures that this high production rate is maintained by keeping the animals stress-free. Gitonga started to give the animals soya beans and sunflower, besides nappier grass. This saw them increase production to 70 litres. “I learned from fellow farmers how to mix nappier grass with molasses and soya beans, which make the cows produce more milk.” Encouraged by the production, he increased his herd to eight cows. This saw his milk production rise from 70 litres to 100, then to 170 and currently between 240 and 255 litres a day.Read

Tips for successful dairy farming.

A dairy investment plan outlines the finances required -- cow house design, land required and feeding plans, etc. It also takes care of all the logistics for future expansion.The initial step and the most vital player in getting dairy farming right. Producing and sustaining high quality milk in today’s competitive dairy is complex, allowing no room for mistakes, thus more time should be spent for informed decision making when setting up plans. For example, if you want to begin with three heifers, 1) dairy investment plans will show you how much you will incur to buy the cows with regard to price variations, the conventional running costs you will incur till you start milking and the cost of inputs you are using to produce a litre of milk. A good investment plan also frameworks future expansion aspects; you are able to tell how long it will take you to grow your herd to some specific number you target with all the cost implications assuming now new cows are bought. 2) Cow house construction Keeping your cows in top health conditions starts with cow comfort. Cows cannot explain all that make them comfortable and keep then in optimal production; it stems from having a good cow barn.Installing sustainable cow barns require considerable investments and proper designing to take care of cow comfort, offer sound health and hygiene, production and future expansion. Best designed cow barns are made from what is readily available to achieve environmental friendliness, simplicity and cost efficiency from construction materials available, whether timber or metals These designs also take care of easily accessible feed and water trough placements, fresh air flow, soft and clean sleeping cubicles and coarse ground for sound animal footing.It also offers opportunities for use of renewable sources of energy such as solar lighting and biogas production to help you save on costs on conventional energy sources. Physical structures that accompany cow house include hay barn, silage shed and stores. Construction of error-free housing structures or units require that dairy experts to work with building contractors. 3) With your cow barn and feeding programme set, now you can embark on identification and buying of dairy cows. Source animals from reputed farms using records to have a glimpse of origins and performance of the animals you intend to buy. read more

Medical doctor turns millionaire poultry farmer.

Dr Subiri Obwogo a medical doctor is a poultry farmer who hatches chicks for sale at his flat.Driven by passion for poultry, Dr Obwogo has converted his laundry area at the back of his house into a hatchery. The 1 by 6m space hosts a 528-egg capacity incubator and three carton brooders measuring a metre-squared each, where he keeps the chicks depending on their sizes before he sells them. The medical doctor started poultry keeping in 2010. He was doing it at his rural home in western Kenya.He went into commercial poultry farming over a year ago after buying 100 indigenous chicks from Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro) in Naivasha at Sh100 each.“When I bought the 100 chicks, I did not even have proper background on poultry farming. I had read mostly in books but I had no practical experience,” recounts Obwogo. About 20 of the chicks died due to poor care at the laundry area and diseases as they stayed in the brooding boxes for over a month. He later transferred them to a house in Parklands, where other members of his family live. Soon, the about 35 hens (the rest were cockerels) started to lay eggs, and Obwogo, who had then toyed with the idea of selling eggs switched to hatching. “I saw a good business opportunity in selling chicks because many people were keeping chickens for eggs.” He

Preventing common metabolic disorders in dairy cattle.

Appropriate nutrition, together with reduced environmental and emotional stress are key to reducing welfare issues in dairy cattle.Nutrition goes a long way in combating post-calving complications Numerous metabolic disorders plague the dairy cow, from those that have a systemic effect to those that are localised. Either way, they cause discomfort, pain and negatively impact the animal’s health, welfare and, ultimately, productivity. One common theme throughout this article in relation to prevention or, at the very least, minimizing the incidence of metabolic diseases is management. Appropriate nutrition, together with reduced environmental and emotional stress are key to reducing these welfare issues. 1) The transition period is probably one of the most critical times in the dairy cow's production cycle. Physiologically, the animal is firstly preparing for, then experiencing, calving and lactation and all the demands, both physically and emotionally, that the cow has to deal with. Hormonal changes and a greatly increased demand for energy and nutrients means that the cow must make use of body reserves to meet targets, such as producing milk. Management through the late dry period and very early lactation has a substantial impact on the cow’s ability to respond to these demands without detrimental effects on her health and well-being. 2) Ketosis during transition Ketosis is a result of inadequate energy available in the form of glucose, meaning the animal must burn residual fat in order to keep up with physiological energy demands. When the amount of fat being metabolized at any one time is excessive, then production can be diverted to more rapid production of ketone bodies as a source of energy. Affected animals exhibit reduced dry matter intake (DMI), lethargy and weight loss. One key sign is the smell of pear drops on the animal’s breath from the elevated level of ketones in the blood. Treatment involves raising glucose levels in order to reduce energy generated from fat and body tissue. Ketosis can occur at any time in very early lactation, but occurrence often peaks at around 20 to 30 days. Risk factors for ketosis, include not only inadequate energy intake, but also poor or excessive body condition during the transition period. continue