Description
Experimental research into the possibility of employing winter forages as a low-cost, high-quality winter supplement has produced promising outcomes. The extent, challenges, and mitigation strategies of communal farmers involved in winter fodder production in the Eastern Cape are unknown. This study examines farmers' knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of winter fodder production, its difficulties, and perceived advantages for communal sheep farmers. The study was carried out in the Swartwater communal area of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Thirty-two sheep farmers who cultivate winter forage were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Using SPSS 17, descriptive statistics were produced for the data analysis, and frequencies were used to assess categorical variables. Most farmers maintain an average of 55 ewes in their flock. June was noted to be a common month for lambing (36%), and a high rate of lamb mortality (42%), which was attributed to poor nutrition (43.8%), was reported. Winter is considered by farmers to be the critical time to supplement. All responders predominantly used planted forages (26%), and maize grain (26%) as a supplement. The most widely planted fodder species were oats (52%), radish (18%), and barley (14%). Some of the advantages of producing winter fodder were improved wool quality (22%) and better sheep body condition (21%). Planting winter forage, according to 94% of respondents, has advantages for sheep production. The cited issues of moisture stress (57%) and inadequate government support (19%) must be resolved for forage production to be widely adopted. We recommend more farmer training and research on appropriate planting guidelines to produce data to assist context-specific production methods to encourage the growing of winter fodder and integrate it into communal area farming systems.
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Dry Season Feeding Strategies and Winter Forage Production by communal area sheep farmers of the Eastern Cape province in South Africa
Experimental research into the possibility of employing winter forages as a low-cost, high-quality winter supplement has produced promising outcomes. The extent, challenges, and mitigation strategies of communal farmers involved in winter fodder production in the Eastern Cape are unknown. This study examines farmers' knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of winter fodder production, its difficulties, and perceived advantages for communal sheep farmers. The study was carried out in the Swartwater communal area of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Thirty-two sheep farmers who cultivate winter forage were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Using SPSS 17, descriptive statistics were produced for the data analysis, and frequencies were used to assess categorical variables. Most farmers maintain an average of 55 ewes in their flock. June was noted to be a common month for lambing (36%), and a high rate of lamb mortality (42%), which was attributed to poor nutrition (43.8%), was reported. Winter is considered by farmers to be the critical time to supplement. All responders predominantly used planted forages (26%), and maize grain (26%) as a supplement. The most widely planted fodder species were oats (52%), radish (18%), and barley (14%). Some of the advantages of producing winter fodder were improved wool quality (22%) and better sheep body condition (21%). Planting winter forage, according to 94% of respondents, has advantages for sheep production. The cited issues of moisture stress (57%) and inadequate government support (19%) must be resolved for forage production to be widely adopted. We recommend more farmer training and research on appropriate planting guidelines to produce data to assist context-specific production methods to encourage the growing of winter fodder and integrate it into communal area farming systems.
