adminMUTARE-based farmer Mr Robert William Franklin did the province proud after scooping the Zimbabwe Association of Diary Farmers’ national Oscar award recently. On Monday, an over-the-moon Mr Franklin gave an insight into his capital-intensive operations. Below is the one-on-one interview Mr Franklin had with our News Editor, Cletus Mushanawani, at his Sisal Farm at Nyanga turn-off along the Mutare-Harare highway:
CM: Congratulations, Mr Franklin, for scooping the national award, please share with us your daily operations at your farm?
RWF: The pleasure is mine and welcome. The other time we had young kids touring the farm who could not believe that milk comes from cows. To them they thought milk is obtained from supermarkets. We produce 6 000 litres of milk a day and our production has increased by almost 15 percent from last year’s levels. We currently have 832 cows, but we are milking 269 cows at the moment. Our target is to reach 350 cows being milked a day. We are aiming at producing 8 000 litres a day.
CM: We are made to understand that dairy farming is capital intensive, but from what you have just shared with us, it looks like everything is easy-going here, please explain what it takes for a cow to reach lactation stage?
RWF: Surely, this is not an easy venture and it is not easy to increase your herd overnight. Dairy farming is a long-term process and it takes almost three years before you start reaping the rewards of your venture. We use artificial insemination. Our herd was affected during the hyper-inflation era. Stock-feeds skyrocketed and in short we fell into a big hole. We were not being paid for the supplies and we had no option but to de-stock. Our herd went down to about 150 animals. We started building up around 2009. Our new-born calves are given milk for five weeks and that is enough for the rest of their lives. When they are two months old they are moved out to the paddocks.
CM: You mentioned something on prices of stock-feeds skyrocketing, where do you source them?
RWF: Most of our stock-feeds are sourced locally and some of them we grow here at the farm in form of maize, silage and ryegrass. This is not a stroll in the park and one needs total commitment to make it in this farming venture. Like I said before, you spend money today to reap rewards three years later.
CM: Besides the issue of stock-feeds, what are some of the major challenges a dairy farmer expects to grapple with?
RWF: The facilities like milking sheds are very expensive to maintain and they should always be smart as you know that milk is a delicate product that requires the best of hygienic conditions as well as storage facilities. The cost of production is very high. Before a cow is milked it is checked to see whether its product, which is the milk, is clean. The animal is checked to see whether it has any diseases. It is also disinfected and washed. After a cow is milked, the milk goes through a pipeline to the bulk storage tanks which are refrigerated. The milk is cooled there. We sample and test the milk twice a week for any diseases. If there is any infection, the milk is not taken to the storage tank.
CM: How long is a single cow milked and how much does it produce a day?
RWF: For us, we take about 10 months to milk a cow. It is allowed to rest for two months before insemination is done again. We have measuring flasks where each cow’s milk is measured. When you milk a cow, the milk is measured in kilogrammes, so on average a cow produces 23kg per day. Our top performers give us 10 lactations and we expect a cow to produce 6 800 litres during its milking life. The top ones can produce as much as 10 000 litres. Our average weight of one cow is 700kg. One thing you should note is that we do not look at animals with the biggest adders. Big adders can be a sign of a disease. Animals with small adders produce more milk.
CM: You have been in this game for a long time now, how are you assisting upcoming dairy farmers and those from the local community?
RWF: We have been doing a lot of outreach programmes equipping upcoming farmers with the necessary expertise. We have had a number of students on industrial attachment here from our neighbouring Magamba Vocational Training College, Africa University and from as far as University of Zimbabwe and Gwebi Agricultural College. The attachment periods vary from three months to a year depending on the duration of one’s course. We have a student from South Sudan studying at Africa University attached here. We give them the practical side of their coursework. We are also helping in breeding suitable cows for future small-scale dairy farmers. We are cross-breeding Tuli and Holstein breeds. From that we get a cow that is hard and suitable for local conditions.
Recipients of the new breed can cross that with Holstein and Jersey to get a better animal. We want the best out of the small-scale farmers because companies like Dairibord have been complaining of inadequate supplies, so with new players coming on board, this will go a long way in improving supplies to the market. Besides us our parent organisation, Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers, is offering various programmes to upcoming farmers to help them progress. Dairibord is also assisting them with cows and they will repay the loans over a number of years. Extension officers from Agritex and other players are also doing marvellous work in helping and giving them the necessary advice.
CM: There is talk of value-addition on all products, are you going in that direction?
RWF: Our job is to produce milk and sell it to the processors. We cannot rule out value addition in future, but to us it will be a whole new game.
CM: Very soon we will be having the Harare Agricultural Show as well as Manicaland Agricultural Show, are we going to see you exhibiting there?
RWF: It was our wish to exhibit at such occasions, but we were advised against that by the Veterinary Services Department who told us it was a risk to take our cows out as they can contract diseases.
CM: We are told that dairy farmers get rid of bull calves, how do you deal with them here?
RWF: Zimbabwe is in short supply of quality beef so we keep them until they reach maturity stage and sell them to abattoirs. Killing them is a big waste because if they are properly looked after it can be a profitable venture. We normally sell the bulls after two years.
CM: Besides cattle, what other animals do you have here at your farm?
RWF: We also have goats and sheep. We breed goats which we also sell to surrounding communal farmers for them to improve their herds and produce more milk which is good for young children. The goat milk we produce here is sold to our farm workers and the surrounding communities for the benefit of their children’s health. We want to have a healthy Zimbabwean society and that is also part of our contribution towards achieving that objective. As for sheep, we mainly keep them for mutton.
CM: Your parting shot.
RWF: I am still over the moon winning this national award which means a lot to us as a family as well as Manicaland at large. I did not expect to win the award. This award will motivate me to work extra hard and improve our operations at the farm. I am now the third generation at this farm after it was established in the 1920s. This has been a long journey to where we are today. Around 1953 the whole herd was infected with tuberculosis and was slaughtered. We had to start again and we slowly built up to where we are today.
CM: Thank you, Mr Franklin, for your time and an insight into your dairy farming operations.
RWF: The pleasure is mine. I hope our little chat will inspire and help upcoming farmers to make it in this capital-intensive venture.
Online Reporter