Smart farms

: 26 August 2022; Hits: 2784

Steep egg prices to persist until October on maize & soya shortage

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By George Munene

As a tray of eggs currently retails for between Sh400-500, spare a thought for Kenyan bachelors. Unfortunately, according to feed manufacturers and egg wholesalers, these prices will be held at least until grain from Kenya’s maize basket, Rift Valley, comes into the pipeline in October.

“Feed manufacturers are facing a shortage of maize and soya--the most critical components in the formulation of layer feeds. From October, we expect significant maize supplies to soften feed prices and in turn egg prices,” explained Sammy Kigen, an eggs wholesaler.

He however caveats that Kenya still remains a net importer of most constituents crucial to layer formation.

“Traders are sourcing for soya as far out as Zambia add other constituents of feed such as premix-- micronutrients providing required nutritional value-- are sourced from outside Africa.

Despite the government waiver on import duty and all levies on maize and animal feeds for 90 days to cushion farmers from the high-cost feeds, manufacturers say there has been a shortage of raw materials in both regional and international markets.

Acquiring maize for human consumption itself has been a problem as a 90kg bag of maize has doubled from last year’s price, now costing Sh5,500 to Sh6,000.

The price list for raw materials used in making poultry feed keeps updating: A 70-kilogram bag of layer mash is currently selling for between Sh4,000 and 5,000, up from Sh3,800 in April.

Kenyan feed manufacturers who rely on imported raw materials have had to pay steeper prices for imports as the shilling continues to weaken against the dollar.

The strengthening of the global trade currency has seen traders having to part with a quoted price of Sh119.99 per dollar--a 10.4 per cent increase from this time last year.

On May 30, The Kenya Association of Manufacturers expressed worries over a dollar shortage, that has seen businesses such as Pwani oil suspending operations.

According to John Momanyi, a representative of Sigma Feeds-an animal feed manufacturer, the high cost of feeds can primarily be pegged to inflation in the cost of production.

“Raw materials such as maize remain high while overheads such as the cost of electricity are also steep,” he pointed out.

Lesser factors like weather are also not aiding the situation. Egg production often dips over the cold June to August months while diseases in birds rise with falling temperatures.

Farmers are often forced to invest in heating sources or increase their flock’s feed intake to sustain optimal production. If they can help it, many poultry farmers, avoid rearing chicken over this period.

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: 24 August 2022; Hits: 2782

WFP: Drought, fertiliser prices, & armyworm drop Kenya’s agri production

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By George Munene

According to a World Food Programme report on Kenya’s food security outlook; drought, rising fertiliser prices, and armyworm attacks have led to a steep drop in agricultural production.

Across marginal agricultural areas, the below-average and poorly distributed long rains resulted in below-average planted acreage and moisture stress. Crop failure was observed in Taita Taveta, Makueni, Kitui, Tharaka, and Embu (Mbeere).

The reduced cropping activities are resulting in below-average food availability and income from crop sales and casual wage labor opportunities.

In sampled regions like Nyeri (Kieni) and Meru (Meru North), maize production was 40-49 per cent below, while in Taita Taveta maize production was less than 17 per cent of the average.

Milk production in the pastoral areas in July ranged from 50 to 88 per cent below average across most pastoral areas.

By the end of May 2022, around 2.43 million livestock have likely died since the start of the drought, 17 per cent in Samburu, 11.3 per cent in Mandera, eight per cent in Isiolo 7.6 per cent in Lamu and Marsabit, and 6.8 per cent in Garissa.

The sharp rise in fertilizer prices following the start of the conflict in Ukraine and high fuel prices also contributed to a drop in the area planted by farmers due to the high cost of cultivation. Fertilizer prices in May were 60 to 200 percent above 2021 prices despite the government providing subsidized fertilizer prices similar to 2021.

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Projected food security outcomes, September 2022 to January 2023

Reports from the Ministry of Agriculture indicate that the acreage planted for the long rains (March-May) maize crop is within the five-year average in the western region and six to 12 per cent above average in the coastal and central marginal agricultural regions. However, in the Rift Valley and Nyanza regions, farmers planted six to 10 per cent less than the average, with farmers in the Upper and Lower Eastern regions planting 15 to 31 per cent less than average.

In the Rift valley region, an African armyworm attack impacted an estimated 400,110 acres (around 60 per cent of total acreage) but was successfully controlled. In the central region, African and Fall armyworms affected around 56 per cent of the crop.

Generally, the Fall and African armyworm infestations are raising concern among farmers about their impact on yields. Still, all of the infested counties have received pesticides from the Ministry of Agriculture.

In the marginal agricultural areas, the main crops planted were maize, beans, green grams, and cowpeas. Generally, the area planted was below average due to the late onset and poor rainfall distribution, with farmers having to replant their crop

The March and April long rains were below-average and delayed. They we're also marked by dry spells.

However, farmers in high and medium rainfall regions of the North and South Rift, and Western and Central Kenya saw improved crop conditions on resumption of the rains in late March and late April. This is expected to drive near-average production, particularly for maize.

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: 16 August 2022; Hits: 2678

Poultry farmer sells flock after production crashes over cold months

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By George Munene

Two months ago Jack Logongo was collecting five egg trays daily from his 200 six-month-old layers. The onset of cold weather in June however saw this drop to just one/ half a tray forcing him to sell off his flock.

This is not a unique experience; according to studies, cold stress can cause laying hens to lose about four times more energy in order to maintain their body temperature. This can necessitate an increase in feed or it causes a slow down in egg production.

“My chickens’ egg production cycle began in May-- the most inopportune time as it was right before the onset of the frigid June-August months. Unfortunately, I did not have a heating source for mature birds as I had not anticipated that they would require being kept warm to sustain their production,” he said.

The farmer based in Kitengela was looking to push his laying percentage to about 95 per cent, earning him Sh12,000-13,000 monthly. As a first-time chicken farmer, he had hacked his foray into the poultry business.

As the chicken began laying in May he had almost to double their feed intake. He was spending Sh40,000 a month on feed with a 50-kilogram bag of Fugo layers mash costing him Sh3,490. This, he points out, would have been sustainable if his egg harvest hadn’t fallen off a cliff.

To try and mitigate the effects of the chilly weather Logongo invested in multivitamins which he says did not arrest the situation.

Having seen the potential in poultry keeping, he is not disheartened but considers this part of a learning curve: “I am planning on keeping 500 birds. But this time around I will have invested in a proper source of heat and sync my chickens to start laying around September,” Jack informed.

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