Agriculture

Commercial cattle farming forms the backbone of the beef industry in Namibia. Over the past few years, the demand for good-quality Namibian beef products, both at home and abroad, has continued on a steady upward curve.

With the commencement of the winter season, small stock (goats and sheep) farmers have a big task at hand of ensuring that this lambing (sheep birth) and kidding (goat birth) season progresses well in order to potentially achieve their production targets. 

This is a continuation of last week’s column on estate planning for farmers as an important part of financial literacy, which has an impact on your financial wellness and that of those around you.

Conservation agriculture, intercropping and sustainability are words used by John and Adelma Damaseb, who carve out a living on Farm Okorusu, around 50 kilometres north of Otjiwarongo.

You may know all that is necessary about growing a crop – but if your timing is off, your profits will suffer severely, says Bill Kerr.

As part of the financial literacy components, the final one is estate planning and retirement for farmers. This is one of those topics that we do not talk about enough. 

Think about how much food you eat each day. Now, think about how big the human population is and how much food is needed to feed all of those people.

The government has extended its drought support programme for livestock farmers in drought-stricken regions of the country.

A privately-operated green scheme in Kavango West region is producing maize meal for the education ministry’s school-feeding programme (SFP).

One of the biggest letdowns in livestock farming is the lack of infrastructure on our farms. We often underplay the importance of good infrastructure and as a result, struggle to control and manage various aspects of our livestock farming.