Super dairy farm for Hardap

CABINET has given its approval for Namibia Dairies to lease State land to establish a super dairy for about 1 500 cows.

Namibia Dairies, a subsidiary of the Ohlthaver & List Group, will now lease the remainder portion of R607 Farm in the Hardap Region for 99 years to develop that land for setting up a super farm, according to the latest Cabinet briefing paper released on Friday. Cabinet set the lease amount at N$130 000 per annum and directed that it should be reviewed annually.The O & L Group approached the Ministry of Agriculture with a proposal to establish a dairy super farm at the Hardap irrigation scheme.They already own a plot on the scheme that produces animal fodder under irrigation, which is used to feed milk producing cows.To establish its super dairy farm to accommodate 1 520 cows in milk, Namibia Dairies needs approximately 300 hectares of additional land for infrastructure to keep the cows under roof, since reduced temperatures increase milk production by up to 10 per cent.They requested Government to lease the remainder of portion R607 Farm, which is 398 hectares in size in the Hardap Region and which belongs to Government.The company has a modern manufacturing plant in Windhoek and six depots in the southern, far northern, north central and western regions of the country.Approximately 460 people are employed in its operations.Namibia Dairies has a market share of approximately 46 per cent ion Namibia and produces milk, cream, butter, cheese, cultured milk, yoghurt, dairy mixes and juices.”World trends and cross border trade within the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) are forcing producers to invest in more efficient and high yielding production methods to ensure competitiveness,” the Cabinet briefing paper said.”Namibia Dairies intends to restructure the milk value chain to secure the future supply of locally produced milk at competitive prices.”Cabinet set the lease amount at N$130 000 per annum and directed that it should be reviewed annually.The O & L Group approached the Ministry of Agriculture with a proposal to establish a dairy super farm at the Hardap irrigation scheme.They already own a plot on the scheme that produces animal fodder under irrigation, which is used to feed milk producing cows.To establish its super dairy farm to accommodate 1 520 cows in milk, Namibia Dairies needs approximately 300 hectares of additional land for infrastructure to keep the cows under roof, since reduced temperatures increase milk production by up to 10 per cent.They requested Government to lease the remainder of portion R607 Farm, which is 398 hectares in size in the Hardap Region and which belongs to Government.The company has a modern manufacturing plant in Windhoek and six depots in the southern, far northern, north central and western regions of the country.Approximately 460 people are employed in its operations.Namibia Dairies has a market share of approximately 46 per cent ion Namibia and produces milk, cream, butter, cheese, cultured milk, yoghurt, dairy mixes and juices.”World trends and cross border trade within the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) are forcing producers to invest in more efficient and high yielding production methods to ensure competitiveness,” the Cabinet briefing paper said.”Namibia Dairies intends to restructure the milk value chain to secure the future supply of locally produced milk at competitive prices.”