Farmer’s Weekly – 02 August 2019

Weekly neWs Wrap

ABOVE:

Harvesting

and shredding

encroaching

bushes for use

in animal feed

has created jobs

in Namibia, as

the process is

labour-intensive.

fw archive

18 farmer’sweekly 2 August 2019

The district of Loeriesfontein in the

drought-stricken Northern Cape

reminded him of a corpse, said

Willemse Visser, a local Dorper breeder.

“The veld is dead, spent and

done. We are left with nothing and

are dependent on the donations

of animal feed we sporadically

receive. It takes a superhuman effort

to continue from day to day.”

According to Visser, it was only

“the grace of the Lord” that kept the

farmers going. The people in the

western parts of the Bushmanland

region were battling to survive.

The lack of support from

government had added to a sense of

isolation and desperation, he said.

Livestock herds had been cut to the

bare minimum, and funds for buying

animal feed were either depleted

or on the brink of being depleted.

“We Boesmanlanders are known

for our unique sense of humour,

and that is our one respite in

the darkness of drought. But

nowadays we laugh with tears

in our eyes,” Visser said.

The carrying capacity of the veld in

the district had decreased from

1 SLU/10ha to 1 SLU/20ha in the

areas where some grazing was left.

Visser said the number of farms

put up for sale was increasing, but

nobody was interested in buying.

“But we won’t lose hope. We cling to

the hope that the rain will some day

come to save us from the nightmare.”

The TAU SA regional coordinator

in the Northern Cape, Wollie Burger,

said it was heartbreaking to witness

the agony caused by the drought.

“At the moment, I’m more concerned

about the farmers’ psychological

well-being than their physical well-

being. The situation is critical.”

Producers were desperately

trying to salvage a portion of

their livestock herds to be able to

continue when it rained again.

“Whenever the rain comes, they

need to have at least a core herd

to start again. They won’t have the

money to buy new breeding stock.

We can safely assume that prices

of breeding stock will increase

noticeably because of the increased

demand and the supply that

was reduced by the drought,”

Burger said. – Annelie Coleman

Drought

‘Heartbreaking effect’ of drought on Loeriesfontein farmers

Large parts of Namibia’s

farmland have been affected

by bush encroachment,

particularly in the north-western

regions of the country. They

included, among others, the

Kalkfeld and Outjo districts.

Encroachment has severely

degraded rangelands, according

to Roelie Venter, the CEO of the

Namibia Agricultural Union.

“However, Namibian

farmers have succeeded in

using the encroaching bushes

for their own benefit through

the manufacturing of [the

game feed] boskos, as it is

commonly known,” he said.

Venter said that to make boskos,

the leaves, branches and seed

of encroaching bushes, such as

blackthorn (Acacia mellifera), were

harvested and shredded into

a fine fibre. Woody parts were

not used because of their high

lignin content, which made it

less digestable. The fibres were

then mixed with, for example,

molasses, salt, maize meal or

chop to add energy and protein.

While boskos was manufactured

commercially in Namibia,

many farmers manufactured

their own on-farm. Boskos

rations usually consisted of

about 80% bush material.

“We have virtually no grazing

reserves left, and by far the

majority of farmers can’t afford

to buy feed. Boskos has come as

a godsend to drought-stricken

livestock producers,” Venter said.

The development of the boskos

manufacturing industry had

also added to the Namibian

economy through the creation of

job opportunities. In areas where

it was being manufactured,

the number of available jobs

had doubled. It was a highly

labour-intesive industry, as the

bushes had to be harvested

by hand, he explained.

Since the start of the drought

three years ago, 700 machines for

the manufacture of boskos had

a nimal FeeD

Innovative animal feed saves

livestock in Namibia

been sold in Namibia, with the

most popular being a chipper

combined with a hammermill.

Venter said the industry was

still in its infancy, and there

were many more questions than

answers about the effectiveness of

the feed. “[In this regard], we’ve

embarked on a boskos research

programme in co-operation

with the University of Pretoria.

The one thing we know at this

stage is that livestock thrive on

boskos, and bush encroachment

offers an unlimited supply,”

he said. – Annelie Coleman