Meat Board warns farmers against the use of unregistered animal feed
The Meat Board issued a warning to the farming community against the use of chicken manure as it is not registered as animal feed in the country and the use thereof is not in the interest of the meat industry.
The Board this week in a statement wanted to remind the farming community that only registered animal feed products may be used as livestock feed.
“This is in line with the Fertilizer, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act (Act 36 of 1947), as well as being in line with Farm Assured Namibia (FAN Meat) Meat standards for producers,” they stated.
This also applies to so-called “Boskos”, a supplementary feed farmers produce themselves from bush but which is not a registered feed product. Only registered feed products may be used to round off slaughter oxen for the export market. Due to the drought, boskos is widely produced across Namibia’s premier cattle districts.
According to the board, the use of chicken manure is an unsanitary practice as it can lead to the spread of diseases as well as unwanted antibiotic residues in meat.
Furthermore, Namibia’s most important trading partner, the European Union, strictly prohibits this practice.
