Saturday, March 7, 2020
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Dairy and Beef Dual Purpose Production for Smallhold Cattlemen
Our country imports more than 98% of our dairy requirements. and almost 30% of our beef requirements. Meanwhile, in the rural areas millions of our farmers are underemployed and mountains of agricultural by-products that can be feedstuff for cattle go to waste. This includes by-products from the rice. corn, sugarcane. coconut, banana. pineapple. vegetable and other crop production industries.
If we can put together the millions of our underemployed farmers and the mountains of feedstuff-grade agricultural by-products into a world-competitive dairy-beef cattle production system, we can reduce our importation of dairv and beef products to a minimum. Most importantly, the income of millions of farmers will substantially increase resulting in a better qualitv of life for all of them, and a multiplier effect on the whole Pilipino economy.
However, one essential factor in this equation is still missing - dairy-beef capable cattle. More specifically, cattle that have the genetic potential to efficiently produce milk and meat under Philippine environmental conditions. We should not depend on importing cattle from Australia, New Zealand, USA, Israel and other countries. This does not only entail massive foreign exchange outflows but these have become uneconomic due to high landed costs. Also, production performance expectations were not met. How can you profitably defend a P90,000 landed cost cow that produces say, P200 (10 liters at P20 per liter) a day for 30 months in three years without factoring in veterinary, labor and concentrate costs. Not to mention the loan interest cost.
To produce our own dairy-beef cattle, we need the productivitv of exotic dairy-beef or dual purpose breeds to combine with the hardiness and fertility of the indigenous Philippine breed through crossbreeding using Artificial Insemination or Al. The Braunvieh is an excellent hardy dairy-beef mountain breed from Switzerland that is performance evaluated both for its dairy and beef dualities. This exotic breed is dairy capable, with the additional advantage of better muscularity and beef production, mountain-hardy development, and solid coloring. It has been the experience of smallhold farmers to be price-discounted if the cattle they are selling are spotted in color.
In Camiling, we can produce the needed dairy-beef dual purpose cattle at less than half of the imported price. By producing it locally through the smallhold cattle sector that owns more than 92% of our country's cattle herd, we provide substantial and continuous income to a sector that needs it badly. Since the beginning, this sector has been the backbone of the cattle industry and is world competitive in dairy and beef production.
By providing our smallhold farmers with dairy-beef dual purpose cattle, we give them the flexibility of producing both beef and milk efficiently and effectively, thereby enhancing their income and wealth of their communities.
If we can put together the millions of our underemployed farmers and the mountains of feedstuff-grade agricultural by-products into a world-competitive dairy-beef cattle production system, we can reduce our importation of dairv and beef products to a minimum. Most importantly, the income of millions of farmers will substantially increase resulting in a better qualitv of life for all of them, and a multiplier effect on the whole Pilipino economy.
However, one essential factor in this equation is still missing - dairy-beef capable cattle. More specifically, cattle that have the genetic potential to efficiently produce milk and meat under Philippine environmental conditions. We should not depend on importing cattle from Australia, New Zealand, USA, Israel and other countries. This does not only entail massive foreign exchange outflows but these have become uneconomic due to high landed costs. Also, production performance expectations were not met. How can you profitably defend a P90,000 landed cost cow that produces say, P200 (10 liters at P20 per liter) a day for 30 months in three years without factoring in veterinary, labor and concentrate costs. Not to mention the loan interest cost.
To produce our own dairy-beef cattle, we need the productivitv of exotic dairy-beef or dual purpose breeds to combine with the hardiness and fertility of the indigenous Philippine breed through crossbreeding using Artificial Insemination or Al. The Braunvieh is an excellent hardy dairy-beef mountain breed from Switzerland that is performance evaluated both for its dairy and beef dualities. This exotic breed is dairy capable, with the additional advantage of better muscularity and beef production, mountain-hardy development, and solid coloring. It has been the experience of smallhold farmers to be price-discounted if the cattle they are selling are spotted in color.
In Camiling, we can produce the needed dairy-beef dual purpose cattle at less than half of the imported price. By producing it locally through the smallhold cattle sector that owns more than 92% of our country's cattle herd, we provide substantial and continuous income to a sector that needs it badly. Since the beginning, this sector has been the backbone of the cattle industry and is world competitive in dairy and beef production.
By providing our smallhold farmers with dairy-beef dual purpose cattle, we give them the flexibility of producing both beef and milk efficiently and effectively, thereby enhancing their income and wealth of their communities.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)