adminLindy Nyathi Business Correspondent
STILL reeling from the loss of four of his bulls during the 2012-2013 farming season, Mbongeni Sibanda was not ready to lose more of his cattle this year.
The Umguza farmer, who relies on selling milk to feed his family and pay fees for his four daughters, is already dealing with the death of two of his cows.
“I’m not prepared to lose more cattle this season,” he said. “I’m determined to take action and protect my herd before it’s too late.”
Sibanda is one of the many cattle farmers who are keeping a watchful eye on the sky, desperate for the rain they need to maintain their herds.
With meteorologists predicting low rainfalls due to the El Nino phenomenon, Matabeleland agricultural specialists are urging cattle farmers to resort to supplementary feeds and feedlots to save their cattle.
“We’ve received reports from Matabeleland South that about 12 cattle died in Gwanda due to drought,” Gerald Bhebhe, director of the Matabeleland Agricultural Business Chamber, said.
“We encourage farmers to buy supplementary feeds to protect cattle from persistent deaths.”
Siphiwe Ndebele, an Agritex supervisor said supplementary feeds could include maize bran and sweepings, which are grain by-products resulting from the grinding process.
She added: “Farmers can mix maize bran and sweepings from Grain Marketing Board (GMB) with molasses.”
Molasses is an appetiser.
Ndebele also urged farmers to de-worm their cattle to increase feed conversion ratio, which means cattle eat less but assimilate their food better.
“When the worst comes to the worst, farmers need to relocate or move their cattle to grazing areas,” she said.
The sentiments come after predictions that some countries in southern Africa could be devastated by the El Nino weather phenomenon, which occurs when the surface water of the Pacific Ocean warms up.
Last month, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) warned that 11 million children in eastern and southern Africa could face hunger and disease because of the strongest El Nino in decades.
According to Unicef, about 1.5 million Zimbabweans could be in need of food aid by the beginning of 2016.
Farmers from Matabeleland North were quoted in the media early last month calling for the government to intervene to avert a food crisis next year.
However, Winston Babbage, the Matabeleland region chairperson of the Zimbabwean Commercial Farmers’ Union, said if farmers turned to stock feed, this would not only save cattle from dying, but also keep the animals healthy throughout the dry season.
Babbage, who also owns a butchery and a farm at Woolendale, near Umguza, added that farmers should attend workshops where they could receive training on how to feed their cattle.
However, some cattle farmers said they could not afford to buy commercial stock feeds due to financial constraints.
According to GMB sales clerk Thenjiwe Msindo, 30kg of maize bran cost $6, while sweepings cost $12 per 50kg.
Farmers said an average cow, which weighs about 500 kilogrammes, consumed about three percent of its body weight a day. This means an average cow would consume about 15kg of maize bran a day, costing about $21 a week, or $84 a month.
Bhebhe said: “Farmers can sell two or three of their cattle to buy feed for the rest of the herd”.
But farmers said even this was not an option for some of them.
Shalom Nkomo, who owns a farm at Ntabazinduna, pointed out: “I’m an unemployed farmer and I rely on selling milk to feed my family. I’ve four big cows and three calves; there’s nothing to sell.”
In addition to threats of drought, farmers have been devastated by the outbreak of foot and mouth disease, a highly contagious viral disease affecting cattle and swine.
They are also battling vandalism of fences resulting in their livestock straying from protected areas into highways.
Matabeleland region used to be one of the leading livestock producers in southern Africa, before it was affected by dry spells and diseases.
According to the Department of Livestock Production and Development, more than 500 animals died in Matabeleland alone in the 2012/2013 season.
About 1,240 cattle died across the country in the same year.
Online Reporter