Agriculture Diary

•Agra is offering the following lectures: October 13 – Infectious diseases of livestock (Part 2) by Dr Rainer Hassel; October 20 – Performance standards for livestock herds by Pieter Hugo; October 27 – Cash-flow planning and economic principles of production by Gunther Roeber. The lectures are held at the Agra/Bank Windhoek Ring, Windhoek Showgrounds from 17:30 to 20:30. The costs is N$100 per person per lecture. Register with Marieta Grobler at 061 2909208, advice@agra.com.na.

•Immuno-Vet Services is hosting a poultry information day on October 19 at 10:00 at the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) Boardroom in Windhoek. Speakers are Deon Vosloo of Immuno Vet Services and Dr Thierry Vendrell of Lohmann Animal Health Germany. The programme ends at 12:45 with lunch. Contact Vosloo or Jennie-Lee Blaber, at immunoct@netactive.co.za.•The Witvlei Farmers’ Association is holding a meeting on October 20 at 15:00 at the farmhouse at Witvlei. The guest speaker is Greg Christelis of the Department of Water Affairs in the Ministry of Agriculture. Contact Mrs Bouwer at 062 570317 or gmbouwer@iway.na.•The Kalkrand Farmers’ Association is holding a meeting on October 20 at 15h00 at the FA hall. Guest speakers are the Deputy Minister of Finance, Calle Schlettwein, and NAU President Ryno van der Merwe. Contact Mrs Smith at 063 265323 or cdsmith@iway.na. •The Steinhausen FA is holding a meeting on October 20 at 15h00 at the FA hall on Farm Steinhausen. Guest speaker is Mr Rickermer Osterkamp who will talk about global warming. For further information contact Mayke Rumpf, Tel 062 51422, combumbi@iway.na. •The Windhoek Farmers’ Association is meeting on October 21 at Farm Teufelsbach. Further details will be given in due course and can be obtained from Gudrun Middendorff at 061 225727, 081 2403635 or gudrunm@iway.na.•Pre-settlement orientation courses for future livestock farmers are offered by the Farmers Support Project and presented by Agra Professional Services. The five-day courses mainly focus on commercial livestock production and the development of business plans for farming units. An integral part of the course will be farming finances, rangeland management, herd management, livestock nutrition and health and livestock marketing. The dates and venues are as follows: October 11-15 in Gobabis; October 18-22 in Grootfontein; November 1-5 in Mariental; November 15-19 in Windhoek and November 22-26 in Keetmanshoop. Prospective and existing farmers who plan to engage in commercial livestock production on communal, resettlement and commercial farmland should take part in the courses. The courses are offered free of charge and accommodation and meals are provided. The courses are limited to 20 participants. Course application is a requirement and application forms are available at AgriBank and Agra branches. Contact Günther Roeber at guntherr@agra.com.na or Ulrica Abrahams at uabrahams@agribank.com.na.•The Khomas extension office of the Ministry of Agriculture offers the following lecture: October 21 – fire management (general information in Namibia and SADC region about veld fires) offered by the Directorate of Forestry. The lecture starts at 17:30 at the extension office, c/o Lüderitz & Fidel Castro Streets, in Windhoek. Further details can be obtained from Nadi at 061 2044112.•Karibib Farmers’ Association is holding a meeting on November 13 at 17:00 at Farm Ukuib of F Wittreich. Contact PS Swart at 061 241191.