Staff Reporter
Windhoek-The development of Meatco’s second feedlot, Annasruh, located 10 km outside Gobabis, which serves the communal and commercial farming communities of the Omaheke Region is progressing well.
The target is to accommodate 4,000 animals by the end of the year, including storing communal cattle, and to keep 3,200 animals standing in the feedlot that will be rotated 3.5 times a year, resulting in 11,200 animals being accommodated in total per annum.
This will gradually increase to 12,000 standing cattle in a period of three to five years, leading to 42,000 animals accommodated per year.
Corporate communication officer at Meatco Jethro Kwenani says with sorting stations accommodating between 600 and 800 animals currently, the total standing cattle by the end of 2017 is projected to be 4,000. This will allow farmers to raise their weaners to long weaners (250-300kg) that can be sold to Meatco, rather than being forced to market their animals on the hoof to South Africa under increasingly difficult export conditions.
Meatco’s backward integration programmes, which include Meatco-owned Cattle (MoC) and feedlots, have ensured a consistent and reliable source of high-quality cattle supplied to its processing plants.
This ensures the maximum utilisation of its facilities, because of dependable throughput volumes. The Meatco Okapuka feedlot has a standing capacity of 9,000 cattle. The animals are kept and fed there for 90 days before slaughter.
Meatco plans to establish the Kombat feedlot to create marketing opportunities for producers from Otavi and Grootfontein. Meatco is currently conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment on the Kombat Feedlot.