Uvhungu-Vhungu dairy cows sold to Meatco

THE dairy cows of the Uvhungu-Vhungu farm, which were relocated to the Mashare Agricultural Development Institute (MADI) in the Kavango Region in 2009, were sold to Meatco late last year, Nampa has learnt.

The dairy cows were sold because they were reportedly unproductive and dying in large numbers.Since the cows arrived at MADI, they were reportedly doing poorly and never produced any milk, while some simply died.Thirty-five of the 124 dairy cows that were moved in November 2009 have died.MADI chief training officer Twewaadha Alweendo confirmed to Nampa that the cows were sold to Meatco.He declined to say what price was paid for the cows.In an earlier interview, Alweendo had said that the ageing cows were dying due to hunger as the institute could not afford to buy special fodder to feed them and enable them to produce milk.’The cows were fed with normal grass, just like all the other cattle that are kept at the institute,’ he had said.The Uvhungu-Vhungu farm, which is part of the government’s Green Scheme project, suspended the supply of fresh milk to hospitals and two schools in the Kavango Region in 2009, following the relocation of the cows to MADI.Meanwhile, Nampa has learnt that the Uvhungu-Vhungu farm will soon revamp its whole dairy section, which includes a milking parlour, animal kraal and an animal shade area.The dairy farm’s milking parlour is currently in a dilapidated state, and there is an urgent need to renovate it and make it more hygienic.Before the closure of the dairy farm, the cows only produced between 265 and 300 litres of milk per day, which was far from the farm’s target of more than 1 000 litres of milk per day.The Uvhungu-Vhungu farm was in the media spotlight on several occasions in 2009 for poor production and management. – Nampa