Teaching Dairy Cattle Feeding and Milk Quality Tips
Daniel Scothorn
January 25, 2006
We traveled to a community called Kamwangi, which is southeast of Mt. Kenya. The scenery was beautiful, as well as the weather; about 25 Celsius with a light breeze. The objective of the day was to teach the people improved dairy cattle feeding and milk quality tips.
The first stop was at Embu Dairy Co-op, where we managed to fill the van to capacity with our own group (Heather, Daniel, Ken) along with John (manager of Embu Dairy) and three local producers. We then headed to Kamwangi, about 30 km, which took about 45 minutes. The potholes, ruts, furrows and channels were not a challenge for our driver Clement though, who later acknowledged, "They were not bad". The only scare was coming upon an overturned coffee bean truck, though surprisingly on a better section of the roadway.
Upon arriving at the teaching site, a small coffee bean factory, we received introductions to several young- well dressed gentlemen who gave us a quick tour of the factory. The spectators quickly grew in number, when we started showing our personal photos of Canada. By about eleven in the morning some 80 people had shown up, and we started the prese
ntations. Ken and I discussed feeding while Coleen and Regina followed with the topic of milk quality. One hundred people showed up by noon hour and the audience was both interested and inquisitive. We discovered that most of the people had one or two cows with daily production ranging from two to ten litres. Most producers had improved genetics though, so we explained the high potential (20 to 30 litres) these animals had, and how this could be attained. The teaching was preceded and concluded with a grace. The lessons wrapped up at two in the afternoon, and we headed back to Embu Dairy.
The audience was very thankful and endlessly expressed their gratitude. Many people walked for miles in order to attend our presentation. Personally, I was amazed of their passion to learn, the gender balance, and the diversity of age groups in attendance.
January 25, 2006
We traveled to a community called Kamwangi, which is southeast of Mt. Kenya. The scenery was beautiful, as well as the weather; about 25 Celsius with a light breeze. The objective of the day was to teach the people improved dairy cattle feeding and milk quality tips.
The first stop was at Embu Dairy Co-op, where we managed to fill the van to capacity with our own group (Heather, Daniel, Ken) along with John (manager of Embu Dairy) and three local producers. We then headed to Kamwangi, about 30 km, which took about 45 minutes. The potholes, ruts, furrows and channels were not a challenge for our driver Clement though, who later acknowledged, "They were not bad". The only scare was coming upon an overturned coffee bean truck, though surprisingly on a better section of the roadway.
Upon arriving at the teaching site, a small coffee bean factory, we received introductions to several young- well dressed gentlemen who gave us a quick tour of the factory. The spectators quickly grew in number, when we started showing our personal photos of Canada. By about eleven in the morning some 80 people had shown up, and we started the prese
ntations. Ken and I discussed feeding while Coleen and Regina followed with the topic of milk quality. One hundred people showed up by noon hour and the audience was both interested and inquisitive. We discovered that most of the people had one or two cows with daily production ranging from two to ten litres. Most producers had improved genetics though, so we explained the high potential (20 to 30 litres) these animals had, and how this could be attained. The teaching was preceded and concluded with a grace. The lessons wrapped up at two in the afternoon, and we headed back to Embu Dairy.The audience was very thankful and endlessly expressed their gratitude. Many people walked for miles in order to attend our presentation. Personally, I was amazed of their passion to learn, the gender balance, and the diversity of age groups in attendance.
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