Meatco announces 2021 cattle procurement strategy
Meatco’s Livestock Production and Value-Addition Department has devised a robust strategy to buy cattle from local cattle producers with marketable cattle.
The department aims to buy animals from communal and commercial producers through strategically devised platforms, such as permit days scheduled in the communal areas, which allow for mass gatherings where the department can buy many animals. The department also robustly sources animals at communal and commercial auction days organised through farmers’ associations or organised agricultural entities.
Meatco will also buy animals directly from the farm using a platform referred to as ‘on-farm permit days’, which is an arranged sale between Meatco and the farmer where the farmer receives payment immediately to avoid additional transportation costs.
According to Meatco, the direct delivery of cattle by communal and commercial producers to their Export Abattoir is another way they aim at actively buying animals this year. Producers can also directly deliver the animals to various daily permanent buying points like the Annasruh Feedlot, 30 kilometres east of Gobabis; and the Klein Hamakari buying point in the Otjozondjupa Region that is due to open by the end of March; and the Okapuka Feedlot.
Meatco is rolling out a Special Feeders Contract, which will bind cattle producers to deliver a fixed number of animals per month for the period April 2021 to January 2022. An expression of interest has been issued in this regard.
Besides these strategies, the Corporation will buy animals from neighbouring Botswana. Namibia and Botswana have the same animal health standards, and that country also has access to the European Union (EU) Market. Therefore, sourcing cattle from Botswana will secure raw material for the local market and leaving the Namibian cattle South of the Veterinary Cordon Fence for the international markets in the interim.
“Namibian cattle producers remain an important stakeholder and Meatco will continue to source animals from Namibian producers. However, we will not limit ourselves to the Namibian farmers in our quest to secure throughput for our abattoir sustainably,” Meatco said.
