BY: REY ANTHONY H. CHIU
Ubay Bohol, June 18 (PIA) – The country’s weather bureau may have officially declared the onset of the rainy season last week, but the long dry season may have longer lasting effect and the rainy season may not quickly recover.
At the National Dairy Authority (NDA) Multiplier Complex in Calanggaman Ubay, facility chief Jonathan Ampo said water may not be easily available in the rolling hills and sprawling 120 hectare dairy cow pasture farm, putting 100 milking herd and over a hundred calves at risk of dying of thirst and bloating.
Ampo said they are considering putting up two ram pumps to get water flowing in the facility without sacrificing operational costs to fill up the projected gap in water services for the complex’s over a hundred dairy cows and calves as effects of the El Nino.
Already operating shallow and deep wells, the NDA has to supplement the water requirements of the dairy cattle farm by gathering truckloads from nearby Capayas Dam, but this takes too much time from farm workers who would have to herd the cattle and corral them into the mechanized milking facility.
Beyond that, the prospect of dried grasses has pushed the NDA authorities to start ensiling fodder for the eventuality of supplemental feeding for the cattle. The facility is now putting up barn silos to keep hay from easily wilting, Ampo told media guests
Here at a portion of the 3500 square hectares of land titled to Ubay Stock Farm, the NDA holds its pastures and mechanized cattle milking process using imported cattle from New Zealand.
The bearded Ampo told members of the regional media joining the Department of Agriculture media familiarization tour of the region’s best practices and government facilities that seldom hit the media radar.
Open pasture mostly covered by shallow rooted green grasses and occasional legume patches on rolling hills, the NDA pastures suffer the most heat of the summer sun that water seldom stay on the grasses, leaving most of them baked under the scorching sun.
The NDA has shallow and deep wells to compensate for the water supply but according to Ampo, Ubay has a very low water table prompting them to dig deeper and spend more for the extraction of water for human consumption and its animal farm.
The problem then doubles with the extreme heat the summer has dealt, he shared.
There is a need to put up silage as the grasses may not be enough to feed the dairy cows, Ampo, who has a complement of 28 workers and 5 technical staff, have to venture out to secure water and additional fodder for their silos.
We are readying for the effects of the El Nino and we just can’t let mortality issues bother us, he remarked as he said the facility which used over P20 million government funds would need six more years to be truly profitable.
At the NDA, they need to get the cattle in perfect fit as healthy cattle can produce about 7 liters of raw milk in two milking sessions, farm technicians bared.
At over a hundred cattle here, the facility earns around P113 thousand a month and set up in 2010, the facility would need about six more years to recover the investments.
A milking cow an average of 8 years of productive milking before a decline can be noted, according to NDA technicians. (mbcn/RAHC?PIA7-Bohol)