Beef farmers bemoan high cost of production 

Source: Beef farmers bemoan high cost of production – herald

Business Reporter

BEEF producers are facing viability challenges due to the rising cost of production, which has seen feed prices surge by 58,3 percent since 2012, while beef prices remained largely unchanged, the Zimbabwe Beef Producers Society (ZBPS) has said.

The industry lobby has since called for collaboration between farmers and input suppliers to explore ways to reduce production costs.

This emerged during a field day held at Biano Farm in Esigodini on Wednesday last week, where farmers, learners, Government officials and experts in the livestock sector converged to gain insights from experts on best practices of managing their cattle.

The event, hosted by ZBPS, focused on effective strategies for their herds to survive the dry season, head management and health.

This included practical demonstrations on hay baling and fodder production, dipping and animal nutrition.

ZBPS chairperson Mr George Chiunda said disease outbreaks, droughts and the cost of production had emerged as major challenges for the beef sector.

He said beef prices had never changed in the past 10 years, yet production costs had skyrocketed, squeezing farmers’ profits and shattering interest in the business.

“The cost of feed is affecting a lot of farmers. The cost of feed has been going up from about US$13 in 2012, and it’s about US$19 this year, but the cost of meat has not gone up in the past 10 years or so,” said Mr Chiunda.

“The cost of meat has remained steady. If you want super beef, it has been around US$4,50 per kilo, if it increases, it can be just 50 cents or less, so that balance is not there.

“The producers of feed need to come together with farmers and come up with a formula that will make it easy for farmers to produce quality meat.”

To reduce the input cost and poverty deaths during droughts and the dry season, the Government urged farmers to prepare plots for growing fodder, which will go towards silage production utilising initiatives like Pfumvudza/Intwasa.

This comes as the Government continues to roll out strategies to ensure national food security.

Meanwhile, Mr Chiunda commended the Government’s interventions in promoting growth in the agriculture sector, saying the Second Republic is a listening Government.

“When value added tax (VAT) was put on cattle sales, we fought tooth and nail with the Government, and we are grateful that the Government listened to our concerns and VAT was removed,” said Mr Chiunda.

“That was a great relief to the beef industry, but the sector is grappling with droughts as climate change continues to impact rainfall patterns, so we need to come up with innovative ways to convert whatever we put our hands on into better feed.”

Mr Chiunda commended the Government’s initiative to grow the national herd from about 5,7 million to 11 million by 2030, saying that this needs all hands on deck to achieve the target.

Renowned cattle breeder Mr Obert Chinhamo of Biano Farm told the visitors gathered for the event that if farmers manage to produce their own feed, they could increase the number of animals per unit area and reduce the need for huge tracts of land for livestock keeping.

He revealed that he had managed to produce about 1 000 tonnes of silage and 2 000 bales, between 250kg and 300kg of hay.

“Even if we have a drought for the next two years, we are prepared and we are still baling until August,” said Mr Chinhamo.

Farmers have also been urged to harvest as much grass as they can before the outbreak of veld fires.