HomeOld_PostsCattle nutrition: Part Three...advocating optimum rangeland grazing

Cattle nutrition: Part Three…advocating optimum rangeland grazing

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WHAT do cows eat?
Believe it or not, in some circumstances, cattle are even fed wine or beer in the belief this improves the taste of the beef.
Although the technique has been used both in Japan and France, I would not recommend it in Zimbabwe where the temperatures are much higher and likely to cause cattle to dehydrate.
The amount of feed cattle eat depends on the breed, age and in the case of cows, the stage of lactation.
This is why in other countries many farmers use expert advisors who recommend a nutritionally balanced feed, to develop the correct diet.
Different cattle feeding systems have separate advantages and disadvantages.
Cattle, however, need a regular (tasty) diet and a constant and regular supply of fresh water to drink to stay healthy.
The cattle feed business is an industry where millions of dollars move through these custom and private cattle feeding facilities every year.
According to the International Feed Industry Federation, the animal feed industry produced 873 million tonnes of feed (compound feed equivalent) in 2011 worldwide; fast approaching one billion tonnes with an annual growth rate of about two percent.
Most grass-fed cattle in the US are raised for beef production.
Dairy cattle may be supplemented with grain to increase the efficiency of production and reduce the area needed to support the energy requirements of the herd.
Though the use of agricultural land to grow animal feed rather than human food can be controversial and competitive; some types of feed, such as maize, also serve as human food; thus the production of grass for cattle fodder could be a valuable intercrop between crops for human consumption because it builds the organic matter in the soil.
Grazing land is the mainstay of livestock survival in Zimbabwe. As a result of overgrazing and frequent droughts, there has been a high loss of plant cover.
Evidently, the current rangeland does not provide sufficient animal feed; this is exacerbated during the dry season, when the quantitative nutritive value of the rangeland is drastically reduced.
The natural rangeland of cover differs from area to area in Zimbabwe. Some communal areas have been abused more than others, but most have been overstocked and overgrazed.
In view of the fact that rangeland users are increasing in number and the country is prone to droughts, it calls for feeding, not only during the dry season, but even during bad years to sustain the nation’s livestock.
According to AGRITEX, the main grazers in Zimbabwe’s communal areas are cattle, goats, sheep and donkeys; cattle are the most populous specie in terms of numbers and animal bio-mass; the goat population comes in second.
In Zimbabwe, the Grasslands Research Station (GRS), located 67 km South East of Harare, is one of four livestock and pasture research stations in the division of Livestock Research, Department of Research and Specialist Services (DR&SS) under the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.
The Grasslands Research Station, situated along the Harare-Mutare Road, was established in 1929 when the Government, at the time, bought three farms which were consolidated into one farm in order to satisfy the growing demand for agricultural research in the high rainfall sandveld region.
The research farm is 2 700 hectares in extent, sub-divided into 300 hectares of arable land, 2 200 hectares for grazing and 200 hectares of woodland, roads, buildings and wasteland. Success of the station was largely dependent on the outcome of work with pasture legumes.
The station is at an altitude of 1 200m with a mean annual rainfall average of 600mm to 900mm with about 80 percent falling between November and March.
Precipitation is usually reliable to support intensive mixed crop-livestock production.
Soils are predominantly acidic (pH4.5) deep brown, fine, loamy, kaolinitic, thermic derived from granite.
The Grasslands are dominated by species of hyparrhenia and wooded with various combretum (mufititi muchenja mutepe mutepe) and acacia species together with terminalia serica (mukonono) and burkea Africana (mukarati) as well as brachystegiaboehmii (mupfuti) which occurs in places.
Here, the main research was focused on dairy, beef, sheep and pasture production as well as research.
The remainder was commercially farmed for demonstrations.
In 1954, the station’s main dam was built across the headwaters of the Hunyani River in order to irrigate pastures.
In 1956, studies began on lamb production, followed by dairy work in 1966.
The thrust of the station’s research programme has since then been re-oriented from focusing on the minority large-scale commercial farmers’ needs to focusing on the needs of the majority and previously neglected communal, small-scale and emerging A1 and A2 farmers for improving both livestock and pasture production in Zimbabwe.
According to a nation-wide survey conducted by the Agriculture Research Centre (ARC) in 1999, the major constraint to livestock production in Zimbabwe has been singled out as shortage of feed, especially during the dry season after the rains.
During the winter dry season, feed supply is shortest and those feeds that are available are deficient in protein.
Smallholder farmers in communal areas rarely offer food supplements to their animals.
Only after harvesting are animals allowed to forage randomly on crop residues in the arable areas, and for a short time animals will be on a high plane of nutrition.
It follows that animals without any offer of supplements are in poor condition at the onset of rains in October or November and that heavy losses are incurred at this time of the year as the animal’s body reserves are very low and unable to generate enough energy.
Grasslands Research Institute conducts research in collaboration with other organisations and partners, including farmers, farmer organisations, extension and livestock development service, other local research institutes, NGOs and international research centres.
The station’s main areas of research covers the development of dairy, beef cattle, goat and sheep feeding as well as husbandry systems through evaluation of locally available feed resources and management systems.
In view of the change in farming systems brought about by the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme, which has witnessed an overall reduction in farm sizes in the form of A1 and A2 schemes, available grazing for cattle has become limited in both quantity and quality. For high intensive production systems, such as dairy and beef fattening, the cost of bought-in concentrates has become prohibitive and beyond reach of most indigenous farmers.
There is need therefore to promote research that constantly evaluates and develops cheaper alternative sources of feed such as use of crop residues, use of industrial by-products and home-grown feeds.
Insufficient feed supply in terms of both quantity and quality is usually cited as the major cause of poor livestock production in communal areas.
The lack of supplementary feeding of proteins, minerals or concentrates is blamed on the lack of cash and to the relatively low importance of commercial production from Zimbabwe’s cattle herd.
Since the diet of cattle affects not only the flavour of the resultant meat and milk, but also sustainability, there is an urgent need to improve pasture production in Zimbabwe.
This is the cheapest form of livestock feed, especially in areas where beef is produced exclusively off the veld.
In view of the fact that grazing constitutes over 55 percent of the communal areas in Zimbabwe, the development of an acceptable range management system is essential to ensure reduction in degradation and sustainability in the management of this critical national resource.
Dr Tony Monda holds a PhD. in Art Theory and Philosophy and a DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) and Post-Colonial Heritage Studies. He is a writer, lecturer, musician, art critic, practicing artist and corporate image consultant. He is also a specialist art consultant, post-colonial scholar, Zimbabwean socio-economic analyst and researcher. E-mail: tonym.MONDA@gmail.com

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