Chronicle Editor
Farming issues, Mhlupheki Dube
THIS week we want to discuss a few points to consider when one wants to make sure his beef production enterprise realises a profit.
While some of the factors mostly apply to certain specific land use types and production systems, some can be generalised.
As a starting point you may want to deliberately choose a preferred breed of animals you want to raise. This should obviously be informed by your environmental factors and adaptability of that breed to your area.
The choice of the breed may also be influenced by the size of your veld and availability of feed. It might not make sense to choose large framed high consumers in an area struggling with grazing land. Still when choosing your breed, you will need to understand your market preference.
Some breeds have already established market preferences in certain areas while others may need to be marketed for adoption. In Zimbabwe it is not in dispute that the Brahman breed commands a large market space hence if you choose to raise Brahmans, the market is already well developed.
The second most important factor when one wants to make his/her beef production enterprise profitable, is caring for the land and managing the forage.
The amount of forage your land will produce should be sufficient enough to sustain the number of livestock you are raising. Certain breeds simply eat more than others because they are heavier or beefier.
Therefore, your forage supply will also depend on the breed of cattle. Another forage supply consideration is that when cows have their calves, they have greater nutritional requirements therefore, be sure to know ahead of time what your required forage supply will be and prepare to purchase additional forage supply as necessary.
Caring for the land refers to ensuring that your farm has adequate conservation works to avoid degradation. A degraded land becomes unusable and it reduces the carrying capacity of your farm. Also ensure you manage bush encroachment challenges and the proliferation of invader species.
Bush encroachment also reduces the carrying capacity of your farm while some invader species can make the farm completely unusable especially if the invader species are thorny and prickly.
Thirdly, prioritising your animal health is an important decision towards guiding your beef enterprise to a profit.
While proper nutrition is critical to raising healthy and productive cattle, there are plenty of other health factors to take into account. Injuries, illness and poor health can be costly and devastating to a cattle business.
It is therefore important to have a well-defined health management system that is designed to prevent occurrence and spread of animal diseases. It should also be designed to respond effectively to health issues that may arise.
Having cattle vaccinated is not only an excellent health practice, but it’s a good business practice as well.
Vaccinations cost a lot less than the productivity lost from an ill or dead cow. I am very alive to the fact that this is the area most of our smallholder livestock farmers choose to neglect. Not many smallholder livestock farmers vaccinate their animals for any disease save for the vaccinations carried out by Government.
Even treating animals, smallholder farmers hardly keep a veterinary cabinet, choosing instead to run around neighbours begging for any kind of drug to inject a severely sick animal. Besides being a nuisance to your neighbours, you run the risk of administering wrong drugs simply because you don’t keep even basic drugs like Hitet 120.
Another important aspect is building a strong network. As a farmer you need to have a network of people within the same industry.
The network will help you to promote your product, give you advise on current trends in the market. Networking is one of the most powerful marketing tools in any industry, but it’s critical in farming. Networking allows you to make important connections with suppliers and customers. It also helps you to stay in the loop on the industry’s trends so you can keep up with the changing marketplace.
Networking also opens up opportunities to form strategic partnerships and develop a farmer’s co-op with your neighbours and other farmers in the community. There are many success factors to a beef production enterprise and space limitation may not allow us to discuss them all in one installment. We will continue in another episode.
On a sad note for the livestock industry, with your indulgence please allow me to express my sincere condolences to the Moyo family and the livestock industry for the untimely passing away of Dr Mbuso Moyo and his family in a car accident. He was a very passionate and able veterinarian and livestock farmer. May their souls rest in peace. Uyabonga umntakaMaKhumalo.
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