Senior Consultant Anne Terpstra went to Kenya last month, visiting our department Bles Dairies East Africa. In this short summary, you can read more about his activities and findings.
“In coordination with local advisors Titus Maiyo and Charity Kurui I visited several farmers, with whom Bles Dairies East Africa has been working since 2016. The farmers have been breeding with our high quality bull semen and consequently the first calves and heifers are now walking around. I noticed that the work and efforts from the Dutch interns Ritske, Diederik and Jente is beginning to bear fruit. The results at a number of farms were particularly promising concerning young stock rearing. Farmers are now beginning to understand that good young stock rearing will increase the profitability of the farm on the long term.”
Anne also organised a two-day training course on the subjects of breeding, genetics and fertility. “Almost 35 persons attended the course and all were very interested and motivated to gain more knowledge and hands-on skills. The group shared their questions and practical examples with the goal to find good solutions where possible.”
Furthermore, Anne visited the Field Day organised by Bles Dairies East Africa, during which a lot of attention was paid to the partnerships with Ida and Nondoroto, both were present. “At the well-visited Field Day, Bles Dairies put the focus on scoring cows. Almost all visitors made an attempt to score the five cows, put available by Plateau Dairy, in the order from 1 until 5. More than 140 forms were filled in and it took some time to check them all. Finally, three winners were announced, who went home with a Semen voucher, put available by Bles Dairies East Africa.”
“Overall I have had a successful trip on which I can look back with great satisfaction.”
