I, Farm Boy! Silage-Making Technology Boosts Livestock Industry

In a feedlot in Glamang, Polomolok, South Cotabato, Outstanding OFW Arnel Corpuz and his business partner, Paul John Alcoreza, feed, at any given time, about 600 old and emaciated cattle bought from farmers and fatten them in just 100 days ready for the meat matket.
From the lean to sometimes very thin cattle, they get good meat after the fattening period enough to earn a net income of P5,000 per head or at least P3-M for the 600 heads.
Both are old hands in the cattle industry with Paul John taking over the DEALCO feedlot named after his father, Delfin Alcoreza, and Arnel spending 11 years of his life managing a 50,000-head Wagyu Feedlot in Australia.
The secret to the success of the duo is their deep understanding of cattle nutrition, Silage-Making and the availability of feed materials.
In their feedlot, they use a lot of pineapple pulp because of the proximity of the Dole Pineapple plantation and processing facilities.
Arnel says the Silage could be adjusted depending on the available material locally.
I have been raising goats for a long time now feeding them with a variety of roughage which the boys cut and carry everyday and occassionally mixed feeds.
But I never got the body and the heft that I would like to see in my goats.
I had long wondered why the animals owned by my American friends fed only with Hay and Alfalfa were stouter than mine.
It was only during the lecture series on Silage-Making and Ruminants Nutrition conducted by Arnel did I fully understand the reasons why I could not achieve the desired body from my goats.
Today, I am fully convinced that properly prepared Silage consistently fed to my goats is the answer to all of my questions.
Silage-Making makes goat raising, including Cattle, Carabao and Sheep, a lot easier.
Now, we will no longer scour our surroundings for roughage, feeding our goats with a variety of grass and legumes, a practice which Arnel says disturbs the microbes in the animal rumens and affects their growth.
Droughts and floods would no longer be a threat to us because we have the Silage vacuum-packed in plastic bags which could last for up to 5 years.
This technology which I learned will now be shared to other farmers all over Mindanao as part of the Livestock Industry Development Program initiated by the Mindanao Development Authority.
With prices of meat shooting through the roof because of the lack of supply, this program will certainly assure our farmers good income while ensuring our consumers of steady supply.

#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#FarmIsTheBestClassroom!
#AgricultureIsCommonSense!