The interactive breakfast meeting was a great success. A large audience attended this meeting held on the 27 June at Agra/Bank Windhoek Ring. The meeting was facilitated by an Agra member, Dagmar Honsbein. Presentations were done by teams from the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Affairs, Feedmaster and from Agra.
It was noted that animals need food for reproduction, growth and survival. The animal breeders need their cattle herds to be optimized for income from sales, milk and meat. The animals need protein, energy, water, vitamins, minerals and vaccines. The cheapest and most effective way of feeding animals is directly from the rangeland. But obviously, the quality of rangeland changes with seasons. In winter, the rangeland becomes depleted in protein, minerals and vitamins. Thus it is recommended to supplement what is 'lacking' in the rangeland. An important aspect discussed was deficiency symptoms in animals. Below are the deficiencies of various food groups and their symptoms.
1. Protein
Loss of weight, weakness and/or no energy.
2.Minerals
Joint problems
3. Phosphate
Eating of objects with no nutritional value such as bones, and plastics. Lack of phosphate also results to Botalism (Ombindu in otjiherero)
4.Vitamin A
Eye infections, abortions, and retained placentas.
The sources of nutrients was discussed. These sources of proteins are fishmeal, lucerne and urea respectively. The yellow maize and molasses provide energy. Lastly, vitamin A is from injectables and maize.
Alot of research was done by the Feedmaster group inorder to enhance the quality of 'licks'. The research was done based on difference areas of Namibia (sandy and hardeveld areas). Feedmaster also discussed the differences in their licks and how they are mixed. It is very important to read labels and ask for advice before purchasing licks from suppliers. The licks that are already mixed (ready to use) are cattle lick 40, cow and calf lick and eco-grassveld lick. The cattle mix 4:1:5 and dry veld concentrate require mixing.
Overall, the meeting was very informative. Attached below is the link to the presentations.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-pU5Z4-HX23cHdPRVZxZDI5TDA/edit?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-pU5Z4-HX23Y2lTb1FpUTgteHM/edit?usp=sharing
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