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Kazakhstan Farmers Rotate Cattle to Protect Fields and Raise Milk Output
FrontLines - July 2009
By Virginija Morgan
Alipov-T Farm, Kazakhstan—Unlike farms in the United States, most farms in Kazakhstan lack the modern know-how to operate as a business.
With the fall of the Soviet Union, most of the collective farms, or kolkhozes, have been split into small, privately owned units whose owners cannot afford to hire agricultural specialists
or purchase modern equipment. |
Bolat Alipov, owner of the Alipov-T farm.
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To turn the situation around, USAID introduced the latest pasture management technologies
to the Alipov-T farm in south Kazakhstan and the Kamyshinskoe farm in the north.
Alipov-T adopted a rotational
grazing method and has cut feed costs, raised milk output, and improved the environment.
Dairy cattle now graze one section, or paddock, of a pasture for as little as 12 or 14 hours. As they rotate through the paddocks,
grazed areas are able to re-grow and hooves massage manure into the soil.
The cows get fresh air and exercise, less mastitis and other infections, and improved muscle tone—which reduces the need for antibiotics and lengthens the life span of the animals. Because there is less need for machinery, harmful emissions are reduced as well as water pollution and the need for chemicals. This helps slow climate change.
“Now I sell the feed to my neighbors, while my cows receive nutrients straight in the field,” says USAID partner Bolat Alipov, owner of the Alipov-T farm.
A month after using the new system, the herd was producing
an average of 15 liters per cow per day. Milk production increased to 17 liters once dietary changes were introduced as well. Feed costs have also been cut.
“Now that the cows are grazing
in the pasture throughout the day, the cows receive dry feed only in the evenings,” said Alipov. “We save on diesel, machinery, and staff time that was formerly required to produce
and bring hay and water to the barn, as well as to remove the manure.”
Demonstrations and training
sessions for farmers and agricultural specialists have helped to spread the message about rotational grazing to the rest of the country and neighboring
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Russia.
USAID formed the Kazakhstani dairy farm project
in 2006 with Winrock International, the University of Vermont, Gallagher Animal Management Systems, Kencove Farm Fence, Fisher & Thompson, and Taurus Service. Kazakhstani partners are Taurus Service Central Asia, Alipov-T and Kamyshinskoe farms, the Dairy Union of Kazakhstan, and the Kazakhstan Land Cultivation Research Institute.
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