By Alex Gathii
Worth Noting:
- Milk production is a Science, it’s a Business too. Use science to do business. Let’s look a case in point on forage Crude Protein content. You require an effective business and financial modeling for your dairy enterprise.
- In 100kgs of Supper Napier, fresh from the farm, the effective crude protein is 18% x (23% x 100) = 4.14kgs. Wilting of the Super Napier would increase Dry Matter Content per Kg to between 40 – 50% and therefore more Crude Protein per 100kgs Forage.
- In 100kgs of a high yielder dairy meal, not less than 18% CP and 3200kcal, the effective Crude Protein is 18% x (92%x100) = 16.56kgs. A kg of high quality dairy meal costs about Sh40.
Why do you feed your dairy herd? For growth, reproduction, maintenance, health, immunity and largely also for milk production.
You provide high quality forages and high quality Concentrates to provide your dairy herd with sufficient amount and highly digestible crude protein, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins and dietary fiber.
All these coupled with good cow comfort, sufficient amount of water, about 100 – 150 litres of clean portable water, good dairy management practices; effective deworming, pests control, proper feeding and feed systems, you would be turning your dairy enterprise to profitability.
For more milk, your require to provide more digestible crude protein, more carbohydrates, sufficient high quality minerals and vitamins. Good quality Boma Rhodes hay is a perfect source of dietary fiber, at 33%.
When doing cow’s ration, we normally use 3 Ratios; protein : energy ratio, forage : concentrate ratio and feed to gain ratio.
A secret for more profit; high quality forages produced at the lowest cost possible would result in high quality milk and higher profits, average milk production notwithstanding.
For milk production, you require specific amounts of all the stated nutrients. Milk production is not rocket science, it’s that simple.
Milk production is a Science, it’s a Business too. Use science to do business. Let’s look a case in point on forage Crude Protein content. You require an effective business and financial modeling for your dairy enterprise.
In 100kgs of Supper Napier, fresh from the farm, the effective crude protein is 18% x (23% x 100) = 4.14kgs. Wilting of the Super Napier would increase Dry Matter Content per Kg to between 40 – 50% and therefore more Crude Protein per 100kgs Forage.
In 100kgs of a high yielder dairy meal, not less than 18% CP and 3200kcal, the effective Crude Protein is 18% x (92%x100) = 16.56kgs. A kg of high quality dairy meal costs about Sh40.
In 100kgs of 18% CP Lucerne Hay, harvested at 30% flowering and baled, the effective Crude Protein is 18% x (85% x 100) = 15.3kgs. A bale of Lucerne weighs between 18- 20kgs and costs about Sh630 including transport.
In 100kgs of Boma Rhodes hay, harvested at 30% flowering, clean baled hay with a high leaf : stem ratio, having high Crude Protein content of 12% and DM of 90%; that’s 12% x (90% x 100) = 10.8kgs.. Remember a bale of hay weighs about 14-16kgs.. A bale of 14-16kgs high quality Boma Rhodes hay costs between Sh250-400.
Home work; what is the best combination to do your milk production (10 marks)…. Let’s make Africa’s Dairy Industry profitable.
Africa produces a pastry 5% of the global milk, let’s double this figures. It starts with you, collectively we’ll make it.
Remember, dairy farming is a marathon, talk to Eliud Kipchige not Usain Bolt and Omanyala…. Never has it been a sprinter’s thing.
Talk to the experts, Tanolope Consultants based in Kenya . +254 723 331611.
Alex Gathii Gitonga is the
Managing Director,
Tanolope Consultancy Limited,
Nairobi, Kenya.
