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Dairy is a major agricultural sector in Kosovo.
Currently dairy production meets less than 20 percent of demands; and import
make up the shortfall. One of the top priorities for the dairy farmers is to
develop more nutritious feed programs for their cows at the least cost
possible.
Last week Dr Roy Chapin, an American dairy
nutritionist, held a one-week seminar throughout Kosovo, teaching farmers how
to increase their milk production by 20%. Under his instructions, cows are
about to change their eating routine and a new feeding program will help them
produce more milk.
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President of Kosovo Association of Dairy Producers,
Behlul Behluli, organized this seminar and as he describes it, this opportunity
would be a real challenge for the young farmers:
Behlul Behluli - Our farmers are all very young, and the issue of feeding
animals is a very big problem, and we as an association, have taken a step to
invite a foreign expert, someone like Dr Roy, in order to tell us in a concrete
way about how to feed animals.
During the seminar Dr Roy Chapin explains that if the
cow is too thin there is not enough energy in her food. This can be solved with
more corn. If a cow is too fat she gets more energy then she spends in which
case you have to feed her with more proteins in the form of Soja. And soja also
makes it possible for cows to produce more milk.
Soundbite: -
Sunflower mill will supply enough protein to support up to 15 or 20
liters of milk - EDIT TO - with soja you can take a cow up to 50 or more liters
of milk, if she has the potential.
The nutritionist is optimistic about the future of
Kosovo’s dairy industry and he believes local production can be vastly
increased. Dr Roy Chapin again:
Soundbite: -
I think the dairy industry in Kosovo will get stronger and stronger. I
have seen that 70 % of the milk is imported while there is no reason for that,
why not more milk could be produced here. Increasing the productivity of the
cows that are already here can do this.
Dr. Chapin’s feeding suggestions concentrate on good
timing and adjusting the food to the needs of the cows: farmers do not
necessarily need to buy more expensive feed to get the results.
Among Kosovo’s farmers, for example, there is a
belief that cows should not be offered too much hay, a readily available and a
cheap feed. According to Dr. Chapin however, hay is very important for cows as
it helps digestion. One of the participants of the seminar Bajram Mujota
explains what is the feeding procedure according to DR.Roy.
Bajram Mujota - Professor Roy have explained us
all things from the scratch, how to start in the morning and until night. In
the morning cows need to be fed with hey and parallel milking then we start
with concentrate food, after that we give them hey, add some silazh and then
we continue with hey and in the evening milking, so hay should always be
present
A few days after the seminar we visited one of the
participating farmers to see the results of the new feeding method.
Every morning at 5 and in the evening at 6 Sadri
Luma, an owner of the ”Luma” farm milks his cows as also a regular schedule,
which helps increase the cow’s milk production.
Sadri Luma -
These days we have cooperated with Dr Roy and we have had very good
results, for example this cow previous days have given 20 lt, and now 24 to 25
because of the way we are feeding cows, we have also change the feeding
schedule and concentrated feed.
This farmer has achieved great results with his cows.
However, his plans do not end here, as he wants to even further increase his
farm’s production. Sadri Luma again:
Sadri Luma - We are planning to change the brand
of cows. These cows are Simmental and we are planning to have a brand
“Holstein” because they give 35-40 lt of milk, and those ones give 30-lt
maximum and for this reason we plan to change the brand (type) of cows ... this
is what we talked with Roy.
Farmers in Kosovo are more and more aware that the
way they feed their lactating cows could result in better milk production.
Using the experience from the countries with developed milk production could
help these farmers to achieve better results. And many of them in Kosovo
realize that such an approach is first and necessary step for having more milk
and meat, as well as more money in their pockets.
And with this we end today’s program ... Tomorrow we
are going to talk about jay walkers and the traffic signs in Kosovo towns.
Thanks for listening us and stay tuned.