AGRICULTURAL
Surviving the winter:
What are the challenges?
Although much has been written about the subject of how to survive the winter, it remains
a huge challenge for every producer, the reasons being that feed is probably the largest
cost component for the cattle farmer and the fact that no two winter periods are ever the
same. Add to these aspects such as the quality and quantity of available grazing during
winter, veld fires, unusually long winters and the production expectations which producers
have in respect of their cattle - and we have a recipe for a very challenging winter.
By Phillip Lee
Hinterland Manager : Animal Farming
Solutions
T
his article focuses on certain
aspects of surviving the winter,
with the emphasis on hurdles, the
do's and don'ts of feed flow, feed
requirements and certain practical guide-
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SENWES SCENARIO | AUTUMN 2019
lines to survive the winter in the best and
most economical manner.
WHERE DO WE STILL GO WRONG?
Farmers work with nature and have no
control over it. It is therefore important
to deal very carefully with predictions
made by weather prophets - even if a wet
winter is predicted, our planning must be
of such a nature that we prepare for the
worst. The winter of 2018 is proof thereof,
when cattle farmers had to provide winter
licks late into November in parts of the
Free State and Northwest.
This brings me to the next hurdle. Farmers
are inclined to be reactive, normally with
negative cost implications. Planning for
winter survival must commence in the