Whole and ground soy will come to the rescue of livestock herders and their dairy cows.

The previous issue of abc Burkina, n° 375, carried the heading « Cows’ prime fodder is green grass, hay comes second. » Having said that, it must be added that a dairy cow will often need fodder supplements in order to be in good health and produce more milk. Until now Burkinabè livestock herders have been made to believe that the salvation of their animals was to be found in cotton seed cakes and nowhere else. And this to the good fortunes of the cotton industry ! But all too often, stock- keepers and their cows were worse off for it.

In this way the cotton companies have managed to sell the cotton by-products (seed cake) which remain when the oil has been extracted at a higher price than that of a pure and unprocessed product with a number of valuable properties; i am referring here to soy ! (The main reason for cultivation of cotton is obviously to obtain the cotton fibre). With the blessings of the Government, which also is looking for salvation in the cotton industry.

The alliance of the cotton companies with the Government has turned out to well that most of the livestock herders who attended the seminar on May 3rd, headed by Mr Cothenet, doctor of veterinary medicine (see the previous issue), did not even know what soy was ! The organisers had to go an find a sample to show them. However, soy is in fact grown in Burkina, especially in the cotton belt. Mostly it is intended for human consumption, but since a few years for modern livestock farmers around the capital, where they raise exotic breeds of dairy cows, imported from Europe or from Brazil, or cross-breeds selected for their capacity to yield 12 to 18 litres of milk a day. However, the soy that they receive is not unprocessed but roasted and therefore sold at twice the price of untreated soy (around 30 000 CFA francs/100 kg bag, compared to the 12 000 – 15 000 unprocessed kind), in other words at a price which does not undermine the sales of cotton seed cake (which often costs 7 000 or 7500 CFA francs for 50 kg).
On the basis of his work in Brazil and other tests in France, Dr Georges Cothenet is unconditionally positive in stating that :

A dairy cow with a body weight of 250 – 300 kg can very well be given up to 2 kg of whole and ground soy per day
it is even an excellent thing !

Moreover the nutrients of soy are far superior to those of cotton seed cake.
Below are given the rate of digestible proteins contained in some of the products currently used to feed dairy cows :

We may therefore say that 1 kg soy will bring nutrients equivalent to 1.5 kg of seed cake or 3 kg of wheat bran.
A very good dairy cow can give an additional 7 or 8 litres a day, if fed a supplement of 2 kg of soy/day. With a supplement of 1 kg of whole, ground soy/ day a Goudali cow or a good zebu can produce 4 extra litres per day.

Any change that the cows have to undergo (just like humans) is a bit difficult. Therefore, a cow that has become used to cotton seed cake, will gradually be introduced to soy and the seed cake will be reduced. After a few days it will no longer need the seed cake and will appreciate the whole, ground soy instead.

It will obviously be necessary to also supply minerals (from a stone that the cow will lick) and vitamins.

Usually adding 1 kg of soy/day to a good Fulani zebu or a Goudali is a good choice, provided that it then performs accordingly and gives an extra 4 litres a day. The Goudali should be checked so that, when given a daily ration of 1.5 kg of soy, it actually yields 6 more litres.

If 2 kg of soy complement will result in 7 – 8 additional litres of milk, this feed regimen may be continued. But if the milk output is the same as with 1.5 kg of soy, one must obviously go back to the 1.5 kg ration.
As for the zebu cow of the Fulani herders, does not produce 2 more litres of milk, whengiven 1 kg soy/day, it is advisable to reduce the amount to 0.5 kg a day.