Farmers in Nghe An mountainous region prepare "dry food" for cows to prevent cold weather
(Baonghean.vn) - To cope with the cold weather, many livestock farmers in Tan Ky district have prepared "dry food" for their cattle. The dry food is chopped corn stalks, mixed with molasses, corn bran, salt and fermented for 15 days.
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| Mr. Pham Van Mai in Nghia Dung commune uses large sacks to ferment sour food for cows. Photo: Xuan Hoang |
Mr. Pham Van Mai's family in Hamlet 3, Nghia Hop Commune (Tan Ky) raises 16 beef cows at a time. To have a source of food for the cows in the winter, the family uses nearly 1 hectare of land to grow corn in the spring-summer and winter crops to feed the cows.
On harvest day, in addition to feeding the cows fresh food, Mr. Mai also uses a corn chopper to ferment food to store during the cold winter when food sources are scarce.
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| Silage has a fragrant smell and ensures nutrition, so cows love to eat it. Photo: Xuan Hoang |
Mr. Mai said: To ensure silage nutrition for cows, every 1m3The corn has been chopped, mixed with 2 liters of molasses, 3 kg of salt, 5 kg of corn bran. After mixing well, cover tightly in a sack or warehouse, after 15 days, feed it to the cows gradually. Mr. Mai's family built a warehouse of about 10m3and sewed 3 large sacks (2m) myself3/bag) to ferment feed for cows.
Thus, during the food shortage season, Mr. Mai's family's herd of cows still has enough roughage to ensure nutrition.
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| Fermenting feed for cows at Mr. Nguyen Thu Ngoan's cow farm in Nghia Dong commune. Photo: Xuan Hoang |
Mr. Nguyen Thu Ngoan's cow farm in Nghia Dong commune currently has 150 dairy cows and beef cows. To ensure roughage for the cows in winter, Mr. Ngoan built a house specializing in fermenting sour food. In addition to the elephant grass he grows, Mr. Ngoan also buys corn from the locals, chops it up, mixes it with molasses, corn bran, and sea salt for the cows to eat gradually.
Mr. Ngoan said: "Every year, before winter, I invest hundreds of millions of dong to buy corn from the locals, chop it up, and compost it into hundreds of cubic meters.3feed the cows. If not, on cold winter days, when food is scarce, what will we feed the cows?
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| There are households in Tan Ky district that raise a large number of cows and have to build additional warehouses to increase the amount of food stored in winter. Photo: Xuan Hoang |
In recent years, commercial cattle farming in Tan Ky district has developed quite strongly. To ensure a source of food for cattle in winter, the district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development regularly propagates and guides farmers on how to ferment feed for cattle. Three years ago, the district directed professional associations such as the Gardening Association and the Farmers' Association to go to the grassroots to train members on how to ferment sour feed for cattle.
According to the data of the District Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, there are currently more than 29 thousand households raising cattle in Tan Ky, of which about 40% of households apply sour food storage for buffaloes and cows. With this method, buffaloes and cows in Tan Ky district still develop well in winter.
