High cost of fodder production burdens dairy industry
The high cost of fodder production has made dairy production in Namibia less competitive, further aggravated by the non-availability of spent grain during the lockdown.
Bertha Ijambo, Agricultural Economist at the Namibia Agricultural Union said in order to reduce and control feed costs (which makes up 71% of the production costs), most dairy farmers are using spent grain, which is a by-product of beer brewing sourced from Namibia Breweries.
However, as a result of the State of Emergency declaration on the Covid-19 pandemic, which prohibited the sale of alcohol, there has been a non-availability of spent grain.
“The non-availability of spent grain resulted in high feed costs, reduced milk production and it forced farmers to change dairy rations to supplement for spent grain,” Ijambo explained.
