By Alex Gathii Gitonga
Kenya’s dairy industry strategy is to double annual milk production from the current 5.2 billion litres to 10.4 billion litres.
This could only be achieved if and when you double your milk production at the farm level at the lowest cost possible.
Our private dairy consultant firm; Tanolope Consultancy Limited has developed several tools to help dairy farmers double their milk production with minimal cost implications.
Some of these are; Cowsignals Tool, KPI’s Tool,
24 hours Tool, Dairy Herd Management Tool and
Fodder Tool. If you want to double your milk production at the lowest cost possible Lookout at the following;
For the cow barn – maximum air circulation
Provision for a head swing
Deep dry soft material for cow beddings
Provision of clean Portable water, cow’s water points ratio of 3:1, cleaning of water troughs daily.
Total Mix Ratio feeding systems with high protein and energy density feedstuffs – balance diet, freshly prepared and thoroughly mixed (high homogeneity index)
Feed ad libitum (ad lib) – any time is party time for a cow. Feed the cow – day and night, 5-6 servings will do.
Do not relate feeding with milking – milking is a one-off activity, feeding a cow is highly continuous.
Reduce feed bulkiness, fodder particle size should be between 2.5 – 4.0cm
In conclusion, ensure you provide high quality maize silage, dairy meal, minerals, Boma Rhodes hay among other fodders.
Your feeding systems should be Total Mixed Ration -TMR, Segment feeding and Challenge feeding.
Get conversant with the three ratios of feeding a cow; Protein : Energy Ratio
Forage : Concentrate Ratio
Feed to Gain Ratio.
We are a strong believer that doing 10.4 billion litres annually is not rocket science. It’s just hard work, determination and focus.
Be the dairy humming bird, just do your part – double your milk production at your farm, your neighbours will learn from you. Milk is white Gold for Africa. Let’s create wealth together.
Alex Gathii Gitonga is the Managing Director Tanolope Consultancy Limited. He can be reached on 0723331611
John Kariuki