These livestock practices can make or break your operation

Livestock farmers face several challenges, particularly in terms of overgrazing, management practices, and disease prevention. Issues such as overgrazing can lead to reduced production and environmental degradation. Adopting livestock strategies for rural success is key to the success of these farmers.

In this episode, Kenneth Malatji, an animal health technician at Afrivet Technical and Training Service, explores these challenges and shares practical tips for success.

According to Malatji, overgrazing is one of the problems, and it means that the population of livestock is not directly correlated with the amount of grazing land. Numerous animals are grazing on a limited area of land. Reduced production and environmental deterioration may result from this overgrazing.

Lack of knowledge and good management

“The main problem, and why our emerging farmers are struggling to get out of the bracket, is due to management,” he explains.

Malatji adds that many farmers lack sufficient knowledge on disease prevention and treatment methods.

“Most of our farmers keep livestock for business. They keep livestock for prestige. What I mean when I say prestige is that they want to be respected in the community to see that this one owns a number of cattle. So that means he’s the man. And most of these farmers are struggling with hunger, but they have a lot of animals.”

He shares a real-life example that exemplifies the power of collaboration. A group of sheep and goat farmers were struggling with a high mortality rate. By working together and following his guidance, they achieved significant improvements through collaborations, record-keeping systems, and investing in quality breeding.

“The mortality rate, which was at 40%, we managed to decrease to at least 10% within a period of around eight months. So we also improved the livestock health in general and productivity rate,” he says.