Livestock management until the rains

THE good news is that “La Niña” has replaced “El Niño”, and Namibia can expect an average to above-average rainy season in 2016/17. Let us hope that good rains come early. What has to be done on a livestock farm until then?

Perennial grasses are the foundation of livestock and game farms. Namibia’s indigenous perennial grasses are well-adapted and are not often killed by drought. Only a few species, like silky bushman grass (Stipagrostis uniplumis) die off easily but make copious seeds that germinate readily once it rains.

Keeping grass tufts alive after the drought is very important. It requires that animals are continually supplemented with drought emergency fodder (e.g. bush feed) until the grasses start flowering midway through the rainy season. In nature, wild animals would have evacuated a drought-stricken area or been killed off by the drought, giving perennial grasses chance to recover before migrating back to find them. Farmers have to try and imitate this natural system of delayed grazing by feeding preserved fodder on the veld.

To make preserved fodder more palatable than freshly sprouting grasses, spray it with 5% molasses syrup or meal diluted in water.

Cows will calve long before the first rains come. It is critically important that young calves get enough milk, at least five litres per day, to make them strong, keep them healthy and set them on a fast growth trajectory. On drought-stricken grazing, emaciated cows will not have enough milk to achieve these goals. But the cattle farmer cannot afford to lose this year’s calf crop and with it, next year’s income.

Therefore, cows in late pregnancy and early lactation have to be supplemented with a concentrate feed on the veld to enable them to produce enough milk for their new-born calves. There are several urea-free cow-and-calf feed formulations on the market that are safe for young calves. They are expensive but are the opportunity cost of having growers to sell in future, i.e. earn future income.

By the time the good rains come in December/January, calves should be two to three months old. They will become increasingly less dependent on cow’s milk as they increasingly consume grass themselves. The farmer can now switch from an expensive cow-and-calf supplement to a normal summer lick for cows if they are in satisfactory condition for the upcoming mating season, or a mid-priced energy-and-mineral supplement if body condition is poor.

Calves can be supplemented with a protein-dense grower meal that is fed in a small enclosure with a low entrance to keep cows out (see picture). Calves can creep through the obstruction to get to their supplement, hence its common name: “creep feed”.

Sheep ewes and goat does mated in autumn are lambing now. Unless the females were supplemented with an energy feed in late pregnancy, abortion of foetuses and desertion of new-born lambs will be common.

Nutrition-induced abortion can no longer be avoided but “throwing away lambs” can be prevented by good husbandry such as minimal and calm handling of mothers and supplementation with an energy-dense feed that is safe for lambs too (urea-free). Small ruminant females will only be mated next year at the height of the rainy season and long after their lambs were weaned.

Therefore, supplement energy only until the rains come. However, survival and growth of lambs will improve if they are supplemented with a protein-rich “creep feed” similar to calves. Growing up during a drought reduces the chance of selenium-induced exudative diathesis (“natkarkas-sindroom”) this year.

Good veld reduces the lick bill, even during a drought. This is true for proteins and energy, but not for minerals, which derive from the soil. Hence, all late-pregnant and early-lactating females on drought-stricken farms should be supplemented with micro-minerals, especially zinc and copper to improve health, milk production, re-breeding ability and the growth rate of offspring.

This is especially important on leached, sandy soils and where the drinking water is hard (calcareous). “Trace elements” are best injected intra-muscularly as ingestion of dusty, short grasses may impede mineral absorption in the gut.

The stronger and more perennial the grass sward on your farm, the fewer supplements you need to feed. This is one of the economic advantages of taking care of perennial grasses.

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