01 May 2017

Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) CEO, Dr Akolang Tombale has urged beef producers to prepare their beasts prior to sale as such could help them get good prices.

He said this during the Sandveld Ranchers Association Field day at Kagotsii farm on Saturday.

Dr Tombale said some of the farmers were busy with feedlots as they had realised their importance.

He said without changing their current system, they would continue to complain that BMC was not paying well.

He further said even with low cattle numbers, profitability was still possible, adding that Namibia and other countries had settled for cold dress mass (CDM) that were over 240kg at abbatoir levels, while locally it weighed 220kg.

He encouraged local beef producers to improve carcass weights through proper feeding regime and management.

Dr Tombale said lack of succession was also a concern and said there was need to lure young people in order to improve the beef sector.

The problem is that ‘we sell when we want money, not that the cattle are ready to be sold’, he stressed.

He said the recent rains brought good grass, yet BMC had only 30 per cent of what they budgeted for and wondered when the cattle of the so called commercial farmers would be ready for market.

Dr Tombale advised farmers to engage in proper range/farm management to avoid over-grazing.

The CEO said to date some million worth ranches were managed by people who could not read or write and said that such was a call for concern.

He stressed the importance of engaging skilled farm personnel who could keep records that could help in giving a farmer a picture of how much he had spent in a cow and how much profit he is likely to make.

He said without proper record- keeping, farming would remain to be more of a hobby than business.

Dr Tombale said market certainty was assured by consistency in throughput, farmers’ commitment, compliance and maintaining of production standards.

For his part, the SRA chairperson, Mr Madongo Direng said the industry was faced by more challenges than opportunities, hence the theme, Beef Farming During Uncertainty of Ownership of the Export Abattoirs, a Serious Hindrance of the Industry - What is the Way Forward.

He said they were at cross roads and had to choose a path that led to growth and prosperity of their industry.

The chairperson said they were constrained by lack of resources, infrastructure and lack of national policies to guide the industry’s way forward.

Mr Direng said despite challenges they had made some modest achievements such as a fully functional secretariat in Serowe, they have drilled and equipped a borehole at Makoba as well as renovating the ablution block.  

He revealed that the SRA owned the Kagotsii farm though they were yet to construct an ablution block, which was still at a tender stage.

Mr Direng said they were yet to introduce cattle auction sale at their centres at Kagotsii and Makoba.

He said the proposed privatisation of BMC was their biggest challenge and said although the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security had already presented this to cabinet, farmers were never consulted prior to that.

He said they were concerned that although the association had agreed with farmers in 2013 to let the privatisation be informed by a sector study, the ministry was going ahead without outcome of the study.

He said by not waiting for the study to be completed by rh end of the year, the ministry was putting the cart before the horse.

Mr Direng said there was need for BMC to find a working formula that would return the national abattoir to its glory days as the current situation did not look good.

He also expressed disappointment in the association members’ lack of interest in education presentations made during the field day and said the essence of the event was to exchange ideas.

He encouraged farmers to join associations in their areas as such could make their views heard and in turn make an impact. ENDS