Online Reporter
Edgar Vhera
Specialist Writer – Agribusiness
GOVERNMENT is set to train livestock farmers on pre- and post-partum cow management as it targets to increase the cattle herd by one million from 5, 6 million in 2026 to 6, 6 million by 2031.
Pre- and postpartum care for cows focuses on critical nutritional and health management around calving to ensure uterine recovery, hormonal balance, successful lactation and speedy return to fertility for the next pregnancy.
The Agriculture Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy 2 (AFSRTS 2) 2026-30, seeks to grow the cattle herd by 18 percent to 6, 6 million by 2031.
The director for livestock research in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Mr Andrew Chamisa, said problems associated with poor pre- and post-partum nutrition need to be tackled through effective training.
“We need to train extension workers and farmers on pre- and post-partum cow management (nutrition flushing, clean calving pens, infection detection, among others).
“There is also need to promote controlled breeding seasons to align calving with periods of peak pasture availability to improve both cow and calf survival,” he said.
Mr Chamisa said cows giving birth when in negative energy balance take a long time to get back to proper oestrus.
“Farmers need to know when to wean and should be encouraged to periodically introduce appropriate genetics.
“Government should give support for artificial insemination (AI) services or bull schemes with local breeds that we know are more resilient to local conditions, rather than solely focusing on high-yielding exotic breeds,” he added.
A renowned Simmentals cattle breeder from Matabeleland South province’s Esigodini, Mr Obert Chinhamo, concurred, saying most cattle calve between August and December and during that period, grazing is generally poor.
“Most water bodies will be dry and cattle travel long distances in search of precious liquid and body condition generally gets into negative energy in most livestock.
“Poverty deaths are also high over the same period,” he said.
As part of awareness, Mr Chinhamo regularly conducts field days at his farm to take farmers through a bit of what they ought to do in preparation of the lean season and a lot of farmers who do winter preparation get better inter calving periods.
“Stocking hay, making silage, and ammoniation programmes are undertaken to keep cattle in good body score condition.
“Farmers must initially aim for at least 400-day inter-calving periods and improve from there,” Mr Chinhamo added.
The cattle breeder gave a practical example of his cow, which was born in 2021, calved a heifer on January 28 in 2024, calved again on December 28 the same year and had a third heifer on December 31 last year.
Mr Chinhamo said most of his cows are calving within 390 days and he is doing a lot of work to teach fellow farmers on the importance of nutrition, body score condition and winter and summer supplements.
This advice comes on the back of complaints raised by some smallholder farmers in the Matobo district over growing difficulties in managing cattle after calving, warning that poor post-birth care was leading to delayed breeding, herd losses and rising threats to household food security.
Several farmers disclosed that many cows failed to return to heat in time after giving birth, a condition known as postpartum anoestrus, making it difficult to maintain regular breeding cycles.
