cost of commercial feed

[Jacky Foo]

Source: http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/962/3189#comment-3189
++++++++++
cost of commercial feed
Submitted by Jacky Foo on Fri, 04/05/2007 - 10:29.
++++++++++

Jackson and Henry wrote:
>.....feeding the animals posed challenges to intensive
>pig-keeping. Small-scale farmers were not able to produce
>a lot of feedstuff themselves, nor could they afford
>the high cost of feeding pigs commercial feeds all
>year round.

how much does commercial feed cost in Bamendjo if purchased by a
farmer and if purchased in bulk (as by members of Eleveurs
Agriculteurs Solidaires de Bamboutous) ?

A general feed conversion rate is 1 kg feed to 1 kg meat.

Since members of Eleveurs Agriculteurs Solidaires de Bamboutous would
normally do fattening, how does the economics look like, i.e. what is
the feed input and how much can a farmer sell a fattened pig, etc.

-----
Jacky Foo
http://www.iobbnet.org

[CA...@aol.com]

This seems to be a good time to remind readers of the work discussed in earlier seminars on Black Soldier Fly larvae. The hog manure, food waste, even human manure can be efficiently converted to protein and fat by the larvae. The fat can be used as fuel in diesel generators if desired. The 45% protein content of the larvae can be feed for the hogs, chickens or fish.

 

A great deal of economical feed can be derived this way.

 

Regards,

 

Cornelius A. Van Milligen

Kentucky Enrichment Inc

www.kentuckyenrichment.com

ca...@aol.com

---

See what's free at AOL.com.

[jackkson ntapi]

The issue of the cost of commercial feed is a serious problem to the livestock sector in Cameroon especially to small scale farmers who can't buy in bulk. The prices are not only high but they have the characteristic of changing indiscriminately as demand or supply changes (see table below). Taking into consideration the high prices of compounded feed in the market, farmers are supplied with commercial feed ingredients so that they can compose their own feed on-farm in an effort to reduce cost. If we take into consideration price fluctuation, different feed formulae used at different physiological/developmental stages of the animals; the price of one kg of feed ranges between 120cfaf to 250cfaf (1$¡Ö 550cfaf). The price to fatten a piglet for 4 to 5 months to reach market size at 7 to 8 months ranges between 35,000cfaf to 45,000cfaf.

At 7 months of age, the pigs have an average weight of 60 to 70 kg. The farmers sell a kg life weight at an average of 800 to 1,000cfaf. Average sales range from 54,000cfaf to 63,000cfaf.

Looking at the cost of feeding animals commercial feed and reflecting on the additional cost related to other inputs like veterinary drugs, farmer¡¯s labour and  transportation, one immediately recognizes how small the profit margin can be.

 

Situating pig farming in  a development context

 

Heifer is a development organization that aims at building resources in resource limited farm households that will in the course permit the creation of viable livestock enterprises capable of providing sustainable solutions to the food crises in communities. When we talk of resources we don¡¯t limit ourselves to economic resources, we equally think about farmers organization and the knowledge base  a small farmer will require in setting a sustainable farming system. Thus such project must have an adaptation phase in which farmers are assisted to think about their traditional practices and adopt or incorporate new techniques that could improve efficiency of their production system. Once the farmers find reason in the new approach the system is then scaled-up to improve efficiency. I

 

In Bamendjo farmers were encouraged to adopt a sedentary system of pig rearing that requires more intensive feeding, in another phase they were involved in evaluating the cost effectiveness of the method and to adopt new strategies to improve efficiency. The scaling-up process included intensification of crop-livestock integration to promote on-farm feed production to cut down cost of production and increase profit.

The strategic crops ear-marked include maize and sweet potato and with the kind of results farmers are achieving in their crop farms, they will be able to substantially cut down cost of feeding. We are looking forward to evaluate the economic performance in pig production when farmers production substantial amounts of pig feed on-farm.

 

Table: Most frequently used feed ingredients in Bamendjo and their market prices

Feed ingredient	Unit weight in market (kg)	Actual market price	Price range
Maize	100	20000	19,000-23,000
Wheat bran	40	3500	2,800-4,000
Cotton seed cake	60	9500	9,300-10,500
Palm kennel cake	40	1400	1,200-2,300
Fish meal	50	22000	20,000-24,000
Soya bean cake	50	20000	18,000-22,000
Shells	30	3000	2,500-3,200
Salt	18	3000	2,800-3,000

 

 

Jacky Foo <jack...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[jackkson ntapi]

That is an interesting alternative to substitute the very costly protein supplements in pig feeding. The university of Dschang has been undertaking some studies on worm production and its use as a protein supplement in animal feed. All these approaches are needed to improve the ability of small farmers to produce feed on-farm.

CA...@aol.com wrote:

---

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(and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list.

[CA...@aol.com]

While we do not promote the concept of feeding unprocessed byproducts to hogs we do see the benefit of fermentation as a means of producing feed ingredients for poultry, hogs and fish.  We have successfully processed fish offal, poultry mortalities and other byproducts by blending the ground byproducts with a carbohydrate source to encourage the growth of lacto baccillus under anaerobic conditions.

 

We have fed a variety of ruminant as well as monogastric animals this feed ingredient with great success.

 

Cornelius Van Milligen

Kentucky Enrichment Inc

www.kentuckyenrichment.com

ca...@aol.com

 

[Jacky Foo]

Source: http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/962/3198#comment-3198
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protein supplements: worms and insect larvae
Submitted by Jacky Foo on Fri, 04/05/2007 - 21:51.
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Dear Jackson

Interesting to know that the University of Dschang has done studies on

worm production and its use as a protein supplement in animal feed.

One of the principles of the integrated biosystems approach is to try
to make two products from one waste. Vermiculture does that and
generates worms as well as vermicompost.

See the paper 'Home Garden with Worm Composting'
by Hennie Eksteen at http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/609

Also "Vermiculture Industry in Circular Economy" by Kangmin Li at
http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/767

I located a webpage on "Culturing earthworm in different substrates"
by San Thy (IOBB Member, Cambodia) at http://www.mekarn.org/minipro/SanThy.htm

Could we try to contact the person at the Univ of Dschang to join this
discussion ?

[Jacky Foo]

Source: http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/963/3201#comment-3201
To view image, click on source
++++++

unconventional sources of protein
Submitted by Jacky Foo on Sat, 05/05/2007 - 05:25.
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Cornelius wrote in http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/962/3191#comment-3191

>This seems to be a good time to remind readers of the work
>discussed in earlier seminars on Black Soldier Fly larvae.
>The hog manure, food waste, even human manure can be
> efficiently converted to protein and fat by the larvae.
>The fat can be used as fuel in diesel generators if desired.
> The 45% protein content of the larvae can be feed for the
>hogs, chickens or fish.
>
>A great deal of economical feed can be derived this way.

>From the earlier IOBB seminars, we are informed that the potential use
of the larvae of Black Soldier Fly is huge for many reasons - some
being :
(i) its high protein content
(ii) extractable fat
(iii) 24 hr conversion of wastes (compared to other biosystems like
composting and earthworms which takes days)
(iv) ability to load wastes (e.g. pig manure) at a rate of 16 kg per
m2 per day
(v) simple "automatic" harvesting method of the pre-pupae
(vi) and others (see 2004: Hermetia Black Solider Fly Larvae and
Technology in http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/forum/41)

To Neal:
I dont know of any site that uses BSF larvae (or protein) as a feed
supplement for pigs.

Q: Do you know of any farm ?

[Jacky Foo]

please note the typing error for conversion rate of feed to pork

> A general feed conversion rate is 1 kg feed to 1 kg meat.

it should be 6 kg feed to 1 kg meat

.sorry
++

[Jacky Foo]

Source: http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/962/3203#comment-3203
+++++

cost of commercial feed and "sustainable livelihoods"
Submitted by Jacky Foo on Sat, 05/05/2007 - 06:46.
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Jackson wrote:
>... the price of one kg of feed ranges between 120cfaf to
> 250cfaf (1 US$ = 550cfaf). The price to fatten a piglet

>for 4 to 5 months to reach market size at 7 to 8 months
>ranges between 35,000cfaf to 45,000cfaf.
> At 7 months of age, the pigs have an average weight of
>60 to 70 kg. The farmers sell a kg life weight at an average
> of 800 to 1,000cfaf. Average sales range from 54,000cfaf
>to 63,000cfaf.

so the profit margin after subtracting feed costs (ONLY) is about
19,000 cfaf. When you add other additional cost for veterinary drugs,
labour, transportation, and risks of loss via mortality, it certainly
look like it is a very high risk operation.

Heifer Intl is suppose to introduce "sustainable livelihoods" to poor
Bamendjo farmers.

In your paper, you wrote:
>.....as most families can hardly produce enough for their own
> consumption, basically because of the poor soil conditions on
> their farms. Farmers here cannot afford farm inputs like
> fertilizers.

and you also reported (in paper) that :
>Heifer Cameroon has some project groups in Koutaba, in the
>Noun Division, who are focusing on breeding while the four in
>Bamboutous Division, including Eleveurs Agriculteurs
>Solidaires de Bamboutous, are fattening groups. Several
>members of this group now generate substantial income from the
>sale of pigs for slaughtering as well as from selling any
>excess crop produce such as maize, cocoyam, potatoes and
>vegetables produced using pig manure as fertiliser.
>.....
>By using compost made with pig manure, yields of crops,
>including maize, have considerably increased.

It looks that the role of pigs in the Heifer Intl project is
essentially to supply the animal manure to fertilise the crops. The
reality of the system may be clouded by the subsidies/aid from Heifer
Intl. This is a very common issue and problem in any intervention.
Further if income from pigs is low, the payback of investments for
improvements in the pig stylies will be extended. This means that
income from crops will need to go to payment of loans taken for
improving of the pig stylies.

I visited 2 pig farms near Bamenda and know of an initiative that
failed.

The successful on was a large farm that grew a lot of maize. The one
that failed was based on commercial feed. The other one was struggling
and surviving because meat produced was directly used in the owner's
restaurant (and income from the restaurant was pumped into the pig
operation as a "subsidy").

I believe that a pre-requisite in economic and sustainable farming is
connected to the amount of land a farmer has. Small farms are the
losers.

[fu lucas]

I once worked in a farm called Dominican Farms located a kilometre from the University  of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria on the Ibadan -Lagos  Express way   and this farm was making good use of these larvae to feed fish. The larvae were generated from fowl droppings from  a small poultry  and used to feed fish in their large fish ponds. It was quite interesting  watching these fishes  scramble over the larvae once they are introduced into  the  pond.  Heifer Burkina Faso has a similar project but they are using  the larvae to feed local fowls.
Jacky Foo <jack...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Jacky Foo]

Source: http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/963/3205#comment-3205

++++++
unconventional sources of protein

Submitted by Jacky Foo on Sat, 05/05/2007 - 20:32.
+++++

Thanks Lucus for the info in Nigeria and Burkina Faso.

To Lucas:
Are they the insect larvae of black soldier fly ?
This is most interesting if they are since I have been looking for
farms where BSF pre-pupae are being used.

Paul O might be able to update us on activities in Vietnam. I know he
is growing them but dont know how he is using the pre-pupae.

I know in Benin there is a farm that grows housefly larvae and using
it as feed for chickens and fish.

When I was in W. Samoa, I was growing housefly larvae on brewery spent
grains for chickens. Also I had visited a layer farm and chicken
manure was wet because of the leaks in the drinking water pipes. This
was great for housefly larvae and kept many free-ranged chickens
happy.

[Jacky Foo]

For those who could not view

>Table: Most frequently used feed ingredients in Bamendjo and their market prices

properly, it is now available at
http://iobb-sem02.googlegroups.com/web/table1.htm

regards
jacky

[Jacky Foo]

Source: http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/962/3228#comment-3228

+++++++
sustainable livelihoods
From: author unknown
Subject: Reply
Date: Mon, 07/05/2007 - 16:52
++++++

I could not react to this message because i didn't receive it in my
inbox.

It is very interesting as the author has been in the field to witness
what is going on and made some interesting comments about what has
been observed in the past.

S/he made mention of increased sustainability with a farmer who
efficiently diversified and was producing a lot of maize on-farm to
use as animal feed. That is exactly the type of lessons we learnt from
past pig projects and decided to embark on diversification in
smallholder farms.

We are not only limiting ourselves with maize because the price of
maize may at times rise to a point that it will be wise for the farmer
to sell maize produced on-farm. We have seriuosely embarked in
encouraging our farmers into sweet potato production which is a less
valuable crop compared to maize, in this way farmers can reduce the
quantity of maize used in feeding pigs and replace it with sundried
sweetpotato flour.

Yes it is important for the farmer to have land and for a farmer to be
selected in a pig project, having at least 1ha is a pre-requisite, we
insist on this because it is clear that the farmers need to integrate
pig farming with other crops to obtain acceptable turn over.

For very poor farmers without enough land rabbit projects are
encouraged.

Please it is important to know that Heifer is not starting with pig
project in Cameroon, She as gathered lots of experience that is paying
off today. Pigs are encouraged because it is the farmers' choice, and
they have a reason: the market is potentially available as pigs forms
an intergral part of their tradition, we in Heifer want to help this
farmers put into place viable pig production systems that could
efficiently respond to the percularity of their environment which is
principally characterised by the complete absence of mechanisms that
protects the rights of a poor farmer.

Prices of input increases indiscriminately without taking into
consideration the profitability in using them, if these farmers can
put in place alternative systems that could survive in such adverse
economic situation then they have all to gain.

The question of whether the farmers are making profit or not and of
whether pig project only serves as a source of manure is not well
placed.

The prices used in calculating profit for the question the author was
making reference to was based on the market prices of feed ingredients
and the question was answered based on how it was asked. When data was
collected in early 2006 (used in drawing information for the article)
it was registered that some farmers have cut down cost of feeding
(65-70% of running cost) by as much as 40% by replacing some and at
times all of the maize used in feeding their pigs with maize produced
from their farms.

The profit margin found in my answer is the one that is obtained when
a farmer depends entirely on commercial feed (which is an inexistent
practice with our farmers now) but this profit is not far from the one
obtain by farmers at the start of the project in 2004, we knew in
advance and accepted the situation.

We had another objective to encourage the farmers to scale-up their
traditional practices by incorporating other elements into their pig
farms, once they have understood and loved what they saw on their
farms as quality of animals and the quantity of money they fetch, we
helped them in evaluating the benefits and diversifying or integrating
compartible crops into the production system.

This is development, first show the beautiful picture of the other
practice (which come with a cost) to help the change in attitude and
build on that to obtain the required results.

++++

[Jacky Foo]

source: http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/962/3231#comment-3231
++++++++++

sustainable livelihoods
Submitted by Jacky Foo on Tue, 08/05/2007 - 22:23.
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Unknown person wrote:
>We are not only limiting ourselves with maize because the price
>of maize may at times rise to a point that it will be wise for
>the farmer to sell maize produced on-farm. We have seriuosely
> embarked in encouraging our farmers into sweet potato production
>which is a less valuable crop compared to maize, in this way
>farmers can reduce the quantity of maize used in feeding pigs and
>replace it with sundried sweetpotato flour.

at a small farm level, both leaves and root of sweet potatoes can be
used as pig feed. If one has just 6 fattening pigs, it is often not
necessary to produce flour. You can grow sweet potatoes anytime and
therefore harvest leaves and roots when you need to feed the pigs.

Picture taken in Bamenda showing prepared sweet potato field and crop
in background

[Jacky Foo]

Source: http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/963/3245#comment-3245

+++++++
Dominican Farms, Nigeria
Submitted by IOBB Editor on Thu, 10/05/2007 - 15:22.
+++++++

from fu lucas wrote:
>I once worked in a farm called Dominican Farms
>located a kilometre from the University of
>Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria on the Ibadan -Lagos
>Express way and this farm was making good use
>of these larvae to feed fish.

Dear Lucas

Do you still have contacts with Dominican Farms ?

Would it be possible to have an e-seminar about the Dominican Farms
and its operations ?

regards
jacky

[jackkson ntapi]

Yes you are right, but we encourage farmers to cook or dry in the abundant sun to reduce the effect of the trypsin inhibitors found in the fresh potato stems or tubers. Also note farmers were not so much into sweet potato cultivation because of its low market value, and with its use in pig feeding farmers are making effort to increase the quantity they produce on-farm.

Jacky Foo <jack...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[jackkson ntapi]

Sorry, the person who initiated the project in the faculty of agronomy (Pr. Mpome Mbida) was given an administrative position last 4 years and he neglected the project, i do not know if the research project is still going on. I personally do not have his contacts so cannot contact him, but i will make an effort to get in touch with him if i can.

Jackson

Jacky Foo <jack...@gmail.com> wrote:

[fu lucas]

Is more than eight years since i worked at the farm. I will still find out whether the farm is still operational and  if possible collect the e-mail address and send to you.

Not withstanding if there is any  other development i will still keep you informed

Best regards

Jacky Foo <jack...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Charles Twesigye]

Dear Jackkson,

Heifer projects in Uganda have been mainly with "Zero
grazing" dairy cows. A farmer normally keeps only one
and may produce about 20 litres per day.

Do you have something like that in Cameroon?. How
would it compare with your current project with pigs
in terms of sustainability?

Charles K.Twesigye

____________________________________________________________________________________
Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center.
http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/

[jackkson ntapi]

Dear Charles,

Glad reading from you, we do have a dairy project in Cameroon that is infact the largest in terms of farmers assisted and budget. About the dairy project in Uganda i can't tell as i am not informed, but if i take the dairy project in Cameroon as i see : Obtaining sustainability in any of the two depends on a lot of issues that can be farmer or region specific. These parameters includes:

 

• The invlovement of the farmer
• The enabling environment (market, availability of resources etc)
• Introduction and adoption of techniques by farmers that could efficiently cut down cost of production especially feeding. This will be crutial not only to provide incentives for farmers to continue but to give them an edge over any uprising competition.

In summary you have to consider a lot of factors to be able to make such judgements. I do not think i have enough informationon on the dairy project (not working in the dairy team) to do an instant comparism and will decline to make any conclusion based on gross values as i know details like the profit margin, % increase in access to market etc etc are most important to determine level of sustainability.

Kind regards

Jackson Ntapi

Charles Twesigye <twesi...@yahoo.com> wrote:

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