29 Mar 2016

The Veterinary and Animal Health office in Selebi Phikwe has urged livestock farmers to take precautionary measures during the drought season that has impacted negatively on this country to avoid losing their livestock to the harsh climatic and natural environment conditions.

Dr Kingdom Tshireletso from the office which is responsible for disease control in Zone 7, commonly known as Bobirwa- Sub district said that his department was involved in the assessment of grazing and cattle conditions in the area and it has been concluded that the area has been hit by drought and grazing conditions in the sub district are not adequate.

He said during drought season farmers are bound to encounter high mortality in their stock, reduced weight gain in livestock resulting in unmarketable animals, reduced fertility which will affect the farmer’s ability to breed his or her animals. Further, farmers will also experience shortage of water for their livestock.

He advised farmers to sell off extra animals and leave a reasonable herd size for easy management. He said the move is also expected to reduce challenge on the availability of grass for grazing. “Farmers can sell their cattle to butcheries and also to the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) through quarantine entries. The BMC is buying cattle at 23/kg all categories,” he said encouraging farmers to offload some of their cattle.

He said funds raised through sale of livestock could be used to take care of left over livestock by purchasing feed and supplements.

Meanwhile the chairperson of Mmadinare District Agriculture Show Mr Joseph Seipato who is also a cattle farmer, urged farmers who have the means to farm and produce cattle feed such as lab-lab to feed their livestock during drought.
He said it only takes three weeks for the lab-lab to be ready for harvest and to be given to livestock, though the country is experiencing less rain. Ends