Preparing for the rainy season

ELLANIE SMITWINDHOEKWhile Namibian farmers eagerly await the forecasted good rainy season, the signs of climate change still linger.“Every rainy season has become spatially and temporally unique in terms of its initiation, intensity, distribution, and duration,” says Erastus Ngaruka, technical advisor for livestock and rangeland management at Agribank.He says this means farmers need to continuously prepare for every rainy season, as each season may present different challenges and consequences.These include floods, lightning, heavy winds, cold, drought, disease, and pest outbreaks.He says the previous rainy season provided much-needed relief for many livestock farmers as the grazing capacity improved, although not optimally in terms of value.According to him much of the forage yield from the previous season was underutilised due to poor grazing value, and a significant number of grazing animals, mainly cattle, were drastically reduced during the drought.“This has left a huge amount of grass as fuel load which has intensified the impact of veld fires which recently destroyed large tracts of grazeable land in the Khomas, Omaheke, and Kunene regions.”Tricky balanceNgaruka says as much as farmers wish for a good rainy season to improve their grazing conditions, they also must be cautious of the veld fires at the end of the season.Therefore, it is very important that the rangelands are prepared to benefit from rainfall while ensuring that sufficient forage materials are preserved, protected and available until the next season.He says that farmers need to adopt restorative rangeland utilisation practices such as re-seeding with valuable perennial grasses, bush-thinning, soil improvement and protection, prevention of soil erosion, and sustainable grazing practices that could also minimise the impact of fire while reserving grazing.“With heavy showers predicted, farmers need to prepare and protect farm infrastructure and livestock from possible floods, especially in risky areas such as the northern parts of the country.”Moreover, farmers need to adopt techniques of harvesting rainwater and storing it for later use in gardens and other household needs, says Ngaruka.Diseases and parasitesOn the other hand, moist conditions also predispose the prevalence of insects such as mosquitoes, ticks, and biting flies. These insects can transmit common diseases like lumpy skin disease, and tick-borne diseases such as sweating sickness and anaplasmosis (gall sickness) amongst others.Therefore, Ngaruka says, farmers are advised to vaccinate their animals, especially against lumpy skin disease, by November as it can disrupt cattle marketing when there is an outbreak.“Similar to the previous rainy season, there will be a high prevalence of internal parasites, especially the liver fluke. The liver fluke’s intermediate host is a snail, and it releases it on the grass or in bodies of water.”Ngaruka says it is advisable to understand the seasonal prevalence of parasites and related symptoms such as itching, anaemia, bottle jaw, diarrhoea, and running nose, and to select the correct anthelmintic or antiparasitic remedy.He adds that as much as rainfall provides relief for livestock farmers, it can also be a disturbance to livestock wellbeing.Unhealty wet weatherApart from diseases and parasite prevalence, rainfall also comes with cold and windy conditions, lightning, and can create damp environments that are unhygienic and uncomfortable for the livestock, for example, muddy kraals.“The kraals should be always cleaned and need to be sheltered to protect animals from rain, cold, wind, and lightning.”According to Ngaruka these stressful conditions can result in incidences of lung infection, especially in goats and sheep.Furthermore, rainfall also affects livestock foraging activities, limiting their foraging time and daily intake as they run for cover to avoid getting wet. Thus, extra feeds need to be provided to compensate for possible loss of dry matter intake and to enhance the animals’ metabolism for them to keep warm from metabolic heat.Lastly, livestock farmers need to maintain hygienic and safe environments for their animals to ensure that their performance is not compromised. They need to keep abreast of information related to climatic activities and prepare for every challenge that can possibly come with every rainy season, says Ngaruka.

Preparing for the rainy season

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Namibian Sun 2024-12-26

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Preparing for the rainy season

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Namibian Sun 2024-12-26

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