Oxfarm.co.ke in Collaboration with farmers trend and FarmExpose Event Embu County

 

Next farm tour and training to be held at Tujenge Dairy Farm in Embu County

Theme: How to run and manage a modern dairy farm on a small piece of land.

WHAT TO EXPECT DURING THE FARM TOUR & TRAINING

Expect to learn on the following
  • Dairy farming as a business
  • Production and herd structure
  • Animal health
  • Calf rearing/young stock management
  • Feeds/feeding management (TMR system)
  • Groupings and requirements
  • Cow comfort and efficiency
  • Herd management
  • Adoption of technology
  • Socio-economic management
  • Challenges

CHARGES PER HEAD

  • 4,000/= Inclusive of transport (to and from Nairobi), Breakfast, Lunch and Writing Materials
  • 3,300/= Exclusive of Transport
  • Payable to “Farmers Trend” Mpesa TILL number 201677 {Buy Goods & Services Option}

 

 

ABOUT TUJENGE DAIRY FARM

The farm was started with only two cows in 1977 by David Wachira. Located at Mutunduri, about 5km from Embu town off the Embu-Nairobi highway, sits Tujenge Farm, a modern dairy outfit with towering credentials.

The farm currently hosts 500 dairy cows and has extensively employed technology, some sourced from abroad, to reap maximum benefits.

From the gate, one can see how orderly the four acre farm is. A third of it is under zero-grazing while the rest hosts storage facilities and offices.

At the zero-grazing unit, each shed holds cows depending on their ages and status. For instance, there are sheds for 12line milking parlor that milks 12 cows at-ago, for calves, heifers, a maternity wing and a sick bay.

Each cow has a cow mat, with the sheds being cleaned thoroughly twice a day.

Only 200cows are being milk, with a herd average of 35litres, the farm produces 7,400litres of milk everyday, with airline industries in Kenya being their major client as explained by David Wachira – The founder of the farm.

After milking, the produce is then chilled to around 2 degrees Celsius for preservation so that the milk reaches the buyer when it is at 5-6 degrees Celsius.

 

“Getting good milk, in both quantity and quality, is all about giving the animals the correct concentrates and feeding them right. One should also keep proper records and make good managerial decisions, including being financially prudent.”

 

Tujenge Farm has up-to-date records that capture every single activity on the farm. They include records on reproduction, growth or weight, health, mating, feeding and finances.

The employees always monitor the animals to detect and record when they are on heat, when they are served and when they are about to calve.

To ensure their animals get the right feed concentrate, the farm produces its own dairy meal that consists of whole grain maize, cotton seedcake, sunflower, fishmeal, salt lick and a mixture of quicklime, among other ingredients. The cows’ feeds consists of a Total Mixed Ration (TMR) that comprises of silage, lucerne, hay and dairy meal mixed with molasses. TMR combines forages, grains, protein feeds, minerals, vitamins and feed additives mixed to make a specific nutrient concentration.

They mix the ruminal magnet with feeds and offer them to the cow. The cow swallows the magnate and it lodges in the omasum, the third stomach, where it is retained in an animal’s entire life, with its function being to capture metals that the cow might swallow. The farm has received several awards, national and international.