Hot weather, farmers rush to grind dry plants to feed livestock

(Baonghean.vn) - Due to hot weather and scarcity of animal feed, Nghi Loc farmers use dried peanuts and crushed corn as animal feed.

Mr. Thach Quang Ty's family in hamlet 9, Nghi Truong commune produces 8 sao of peanuts. Thanks to good intensive farming, each year the family earns more than 1 ton of peanuts and about 700 kg of dried peanuts. Mr. Ty said: "My family regularly raises 2 buffaloes and 2 sows. Because in a colored commune, the amount of straw collected after the harvest is not much. If there are no peanuts as a supplementary food source, there will not be enough food for the livestock raised during the year."

Mr. Thach Quang Ty in hamlet 9, Nghi Truong commune (Nghi Loc) uses dry peanuts as a source of food for livestock during the lean season. Photo: Nhat Tuan

Peanuts are dried by farmers after all the tubers are removed. It is important that this by-product is not left damp. If damp, the plant will ferment or mold, which can easily cause disease in livestock. When the weather is sunny, it only takes a few days for the peanuts to dry, and can be ground (people call it pounding powder) to make dry feed for livestock.

According to the experience of the people, the hotter the weather, the crispier the dried peanuts are, which is the best time for everyone to do this job. Because the dried peanuts are easy to grind, save electricity, the powder is light in weight, and the labor cost is reduced.

After taking the tubers, the peanut stems are dried in the sun for two to three days before being ground into powder. Photo: Nhat Tuan

On hot days, milling sites have to work at full capacity. Mr. Hoang Viet Tien in Hamlet 8, Nghi Truong Commune has been grinding animal feed for decades. He said: "These days, my family has had to arrange 3 workers, working continuously from early afternoon until late at night to process all the goods for customers during the day."

Mr. Hoang Viet Tien's family in hamlet 8, Nghi Truong commune had to grind peanuts from early afternoon until late at night to sell all the goods to customers that day. Photo: Nhat Tuan

In key peanut communes such as Nghi Long, Nghi Trung, Nghi Truong, Nghi Thinh, Nghi Thach, Nghi Phong... each commune has up to a dozen peanut grinding machines. The operating time for grinding peanut powder only lasts a few weeks. Each crop, a machine with many customers can grind up to 50 tons of plants. With a labor cost of 70,000 VND/quintal of finished powder, after deducting the cost of electricity, materials, and labor, the owners of these grinding machines earn about 30 million VND each crop.

Dried peanut stalks are ground into powder. According to farmers, peanut powder mixed with water, corn bran, and salt is essential food for buffalo and cows before plowing and pulling during cold winter days. Photo: Nhat Tuan

Peanuts are rich in nutrients, with a protein content of 15-16%, twice as high as the protein content of corn kernels. Dried peanut stems can be crushed and easily stored for a long time. This is the main food for buffalo, cows, and pigs when green vegetables are scarce./.

Nhat Tuan