By Joshua Kato
Vision Group will hold two farmers’ master classes (training) next month.
The classes, focusing on livestock, apiary and crops, will be held at Sight Farm, Namulonge in Kampala on September 7 and Bego Family Farm in Soroti on September 27.
The training will be free of charge for farmers. Dairy master class The dairy master class will be held at Sight Farm which is owned by last year’s best farmer, Henry Sight Lugolobi.
The training will focus on dairy cattle nutrition including pasture growing, innovative ways of feeding dairy cattle, supplementary feeding and breed selection.
The trainees will also have a farm tour. With 35 mature cows and about 10 calves at different growth stages, the dairy unit at Sight Farm is fairly well maintained, because it is clean.
The farm has developed its dairy production system to increase milk yields. And while there has been tremendous progress, the aim is to have cows that produce at least 40 litres per day. Lugolobi contacted a semen processing company, URUS, who supplied him with semen.
“At the moment, I have cows that can give as much as 35 litres a day,” he says.
All present cows were born at the farm, through using improved genetics.
“It took me time to develop a line of genetics. I sourced good semen and gradually, I see the results,” he says.
While his highest milk cow produced an average of 15 litres, he now has cows that can produce 35 litres per day. From those that are milking, he gets 300 litres (total) per day.
“I have combined good genetics and proper feeding using grass grown on the farm and my milk yield has tremendously gone up,” Lugolobi says.
“Previously I faced a lack of enough feeds for my cows. However, I have since planted all types of pastures. My milk yields have improved to an average of 25 litres from each cow everyday,” he says.
In addition to earning from milk, Lugolobi also sells heifers and calves to other farmers.
“We sell these from sh4m for calves to sh8m-sh10m for heifers. These are high-quality animals, whose lineage can easily be traced,” he says.
He sells about 10 heifers per year. At an average price of sh6m per cow, he earns a gross of sh60m from the sales alone.
While Lugolobi will share his experience with the trainees, other experts will include Dr Jolly Kabirizi, experts from Koudjis Nutrition BV, who will train about effective supplementary feeds for dairy cattle plus experts in breeding good dairy cows.
At the moment, there are several silage bunkers with a capacity to feed Lugolobi’s cows for over a year. From the brachiaria, he makes hay for his cows and for sale to other farmers.
A 10kg bale of hay costs sh5,000. When you visit the farm, you will be taken through the serene pasture fields and you’ll learn how to grow pastures.
About Soroti training
On September 27, the training at Bego Family Farm will focus on zero grazing, goat keeping, poultry, bee-keeping and growing watermelon, oranges and maize.
Besides other experts, the farm owner, Teddy Wabomba Wanzunula, will tell the journey of her farm, including the trip to the Netherlands in 2017 which transformed her farm.
“I used rudimentary farming methods and all was subsistence. Upon winning the best farmer competition in 2016, I was able to meet and interact with farmers nationally and internationally who have helped me improve my practices,” she says.
When she returned from the Netherlands, she started putting into practice lessons learnt from the farms there.
“I learnt farm management, value addition, the use of water for irrigation and agri-tourism,” she says.
Wabomba, popularly known by the ‘Bego’ (family farm brand) name, started with a poultry unit in her residential home in Senior Quarters, Soroti city.
The zeal to farm as a business motivated her to acquire five acres in Okidoi village, Ocokican sub-county, Soroti; a stone’s throw from the city.
She started farming as a business 15 years ago. Before the trip, her major enterprises were poultry, passion fruit, pumpkin growing, horticulture and beekeeping, all at a small, urban-like scale.
Upon returning, she prioritised enterprise selection including, piggery with 300 pigs, seven fish ponds, two acres of passion fruits, over 40 beehives, pineapple, poultry, but reduced the number of birds from about 1,500 to about 500 because it is labor-intensive.
The pig categories at Bego Family Farm are sows (40), boars (20), gilts (50), weaners (60) and piglets (140). After the trip to Netherlands, she introduced fish farming.
