16 Oct 2022

Part time farming is reportedly the greatest stumbling block to increasing the national livestock herd.

A veterinary surgeon with the Botswana Vaccine Institute (BVI), Dr Gaseitsewe Sento said the genetics of the local cattle breeds and quality of meat were amazing, hence the only predicament was livestock population.

Presenting at a workshop organised by Visibility Distribution in Gaborone on Wednesday, where livestock farmers were introduced to the new Idexx Alertys on Farm Pregnancy Test, Dr Sento said though the country prided itself in cattle rearing, the declining national cattle population was a challenge that needed to be addressed.

He said it was unfortunate that some people who had inherited thousands of cattle, had nothing to leave behind for their children.

Dr Sento, therefore, said it was critical to engage all efforts towards restocking the country with the desired numbers of cattle.

“Some of us inherited cattle, got the education to enhance our farming, but still failed to grow their numbers,” he said.

He said if livestock farming was meant to produce income for a family and create employment, there must be reproduction.

“A cow must give you a calf every year. If it doesn’t, then there is something wrong with the owner,” he said.

He said post birth, a cow must be in a position to get pregnant in three months.

Dr Sento advised livestock farmers to prepare their animals for them to be productive, adding that body condition was a factor for an animal to produce. “It will conceive early and carry pregnancy with high chances of delivering a healthy calf and raising it well if its body is in a good condition,” he said.

He said a well tamed bull would have the energy to timely detect cows on heat and produce quality semen.

“An undernourished or hefty animal will never be productive.

It is only good for the abattoir, auction or show. It will bankrupt the farmer,” said Dr Sento.

He said high reproductive efficiency was an important aspect of productivity in livestock production, adding that the financial income that a farmer could generate would be based on the number of animals and their quality.

He thus appealed to farmers to prioritise pregnancy diagnosis, saying it was unfortunate to observe that livestock farmers hardly to pregnancy tests on their animals. Dr Sento said pregnancy tests would assist the farmers to among others; determine weaning period, estimate calving date, detect infertility rate and help in culling decisions.

He said it was unfortunate that farmers were wasting money on maintaining non-pregnant cows.

He said pregnancy diagnosis was also important when selling cattle, as pregnant cows would sell at a higher price.

Dr Sento also observed that expertise in the veterinary and animal production cadre was underutilised. “Engage experts in order to get the right solutions to challenges that are unique to your farms,” he advised.

For his part, Mr Marnix Weeda from Idexx said even though farming was part and parcel of Batswana’s culture, farmers tend to do it wrong by not paying attention to pertinent details, which may seem minute, but had dire consequences.

Mr Weeda said farm pregnancy testing was important to assist the farmer to detect non-pregnant cows early and avoid supplementing their feeding.

He said the Idexx Alertys on Farm Pregnancy Test was convenient and highly accurate as it uses blood specimen from the cow and would show the results in five to 20 minutes.

He said the on farm pregnancy test should be done prior to sending the cows for a 28-day post Artificial Insemination (AI) or introducing a bull.

Mr Oaitse Sekgwama of Thuo Consultancy reiterated that the greatest challenge to increasing cattle herd was that farmers stayed away from their farms and hired people who were not knowledgeable on livestock production.

Mr Sekgwama said even though qualified personnel were readily available, farmers still hired people who were not able to adapt and use the modern means of improving livestock production, hence the current decline in livestock population.

He said the Alertys pregnancy testing kit was a modern and most efficient way of selecting and keeping productive cattle, adding that since introducing the kit, he had tested more than 700 cows.  ENDS