Farmer ditches maize for the ‘better earning’ milk

As we approach the an affluent Amagoro estate on the outskirts of Kitale town, a serene environment welcomes you.

We are headed to the home of Joel Gesuka and we find the 57-year-old farmer inspecting his herd of 50 cows. At 10am, the cows are already fed and are resting under trees in the farm.

On the left is a lush napier grass plantation glistening in the morning sun.

Twenty-eight years ago after graduating from the University of New Delhi in marketing and management, Gesuka decided to try his luck in maize farming.

He did it for 19 years before he decided to venture into dairy production after realising that he was putting a lot time and resources in maize but at end of the day he earned less.

Gesuka used to cultivate maize on more than 300 acres.

“I used to harvest about 4,000 bags of maize in total which when you calculate you find that the yield is very low compared to the input,” he says.

He was forced to reduce the number of acreage gradually till he quit maize farming completely.

According to Gesuka, those who succeed in maize farming are farmers who have been contracted to grow seed maize and supply it to seed companies, saying maize farming is just a routine.

When he looks back today, he knows turning to dairy farming was one of the best decisions of his life.

Gesuka started with only three cows and slowly mastered the activity.

And within a short period, he grew to become the owner of Mutongorio Dairy Farm in Cherangany boasting a herd of 50 Friesian cows.

The cost of one Friesian cow is between Sh100,000 and Sh150,000.

When you visit his farm, you will always notice Gesuka giving instructions to his employees before leaving for work.
Every day he makes sure that 15 of his cows are milked at 5am and 5pm.

GIVES BETTER RETURNS

He obtains about 450 litres of milk per day, 300 litres in the morning and 150 litres in the evening.

“There is a ready market for my milk locally, but my main outlet is the hotel I own, the Skynest County Hotel. I also sell to the needy population and because of the quality of my milk it goes like hotcake,” he says.

To feed his cows, 50 acres of land have been set aside for growing maize solely for making silage.

On another 20 acres he has planted sunflower. Five acres is under napier grass.

His cattle are kept in a zero-grazing unit which is more economical and allows for easy disease and pests control.

Gesuka told Seeds of Gold  that for one to succeed in dairy farming, you need to ensure there is enough water and feeds for the cattle.

“Once you have enough pasture, stock hay, silage, napier grass and dairy meal and you will reap big,” he said.

Water is pumped into four tanks with capacity to store 34,000 litres. A spring in his farm ensures there is enough water during the dry season.

He ensures that his cows are feed thrice a day.

“We normally mix the ratio of feeds with enough silage, hay and napier grass every morning and supplement them at around noon and also in the evening,” he said.

Sometimes, he obtains the dairy meal from the Agricultural Development Corporation which has the highest yielding dairy meal that gives better returns than other animal feeds.

In terms of breeding, Gesuka does not keep bulls, saying it is expensive to manage bulls in the farm. He instead he serves his cattle with semen from ADC.

“Once you serve them with quality semen you will be assured of getting a good calf which will be get used to your farm and will give you more milk,” he explained.

In the next five years, Gesuka is thinking of venturing into large scale dairy production by purchasing milk coolers so that he can supply to a large market and institutions.

FARMERS HAD CHALLENGES BEFORE

Milk production business has continued to increase over the years in Trans Nzoia County.

Acting county director of livestock production Harisson Were said in 2017 Trans Nzoia produced more than 113,000 000 litres of milk from which farmers earned Sh2.8 billion.

“In 2016 more than 10.9 million litres of milk were produced that gave farmers Sh2.7 billion,” he said.

According to Mr Were, the dairy sector is improving due to the interventions put in place by the county government as a measure to discourage overdependence on maize farming.

The county government has strategies to subsidise livestock feeds and cost of disease control.

“Previously we had challenges of stocking milk but we purchased milk coolers which have helped in keeping milk fresh,” he said.

He said the county government purchased 10 milk coolers with a capacity ranging of 1,000 to 1,200 litres and distributed two in each of the five sub-counties in Trans Nzoia.

The sub-counties are Kwanza, Saboti, Kiminini, Cherangany and Endebess.

Mr Were added that before the milk coolers were introduced, farmers had challenges selling milk they milked in the evening which they were forced to sell locally in villages at lower prices.

The director pointed out that now the milk they obtain in the evening and in the morning is sold in cooperative societies where a litre of milk goes for Sh25.

He said farmers sell their milk to New Kenya Creameries Cooperative Society, Brookside, Daima and in various supermarkets while others supply directly to the hotels.