By Joshua Kato and Herbert Musoke
As we count down to the Dairy Master Class this week, the question will be: How should a farmer earn more money from cattle farming?
Moses Mwesigwa, who will be one of the trainers at the Dairy Master Class, says several strategies can help farmers.
Some of these involve changing one’s mindset, he says.
Mwesigwa, from the National Livestock Resources Research Institute, says the class aims to inform both active farmers and those interested in farming about important aspects that are often neglected but are crucial for the profitability of the dairy sector.
The free classes will be held at Sight Farm, Namulonge, in Wakiso on September 7.
Training will run from 9:00am to 3:00pm. Other trainers include Jolly Kabirizi, Henry Lugolobi of Sight Farm, and experts from Koudjis Nutrition BV.
“We need to change our mindset and approach to agriculture as a business. Many people enter agriculture thinking they know what they are doing, but end up losing money, which makes them believe agriculture is not profitable,” Mwesigwa says.
He adds that the Bantu-speaking people call a cow ente.
“By adding the letter ‘s’ at the beginning, you get sente (money). Many fail to make money from their cows because they don’t know how to manage them properly,” he says.
To Mwesigwa, many people are busy but unproductive, like a motorist on a roundabout who drives all day but remains in the same spot until they change direction.
He notes that dairy farming relies on three pillars: genetics, feeds and care (health and welfare). Each pillar is essential for making dairy farming profitable, as they all contribute to the production and productivity of the animals.
Think beyond the cow
“Farmers should be prepared to embrace changes that they might initially resist to achieve what they need to become. They must manage their farms as a business in an unconventional way, doing things that may seem insignificant but are crucial,” Mwesigwa says.
He says many people fail to progress due to poor financial discipline. While making and accumulating money is challenging, spending it is easy. Without financial discipline, it is easy to fall back into poverty.
Agribusiness involves innovativeness to maximise returns.
Mwesigwa will demonstrate how to turn cow dung into over 14 high-value products, generating income and benefiting the environment.
A well-fed mature cow produces about 28kg of dung per day. With five cows, a farmer would have 140kg of dung daily.
This can become a significant problem not only for the farm’s income due to the difficulty of disposing of the dung, but also for the environment due to gas emissions.
Experts recommend using dung for biogas production. Additionally, researchers have developed products such as detergents (liquid soap, hand and body wash, shampoo), industrial products (weak carbonic acid, sulfuric acid), and animal feeds from cow dung.
