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Tangama FarmIsinya, Kajiado, home
A farm worker spraying young green fodder rows with a yellow knapsack sprayer, a line of tall windbreak trees behind.

Feed and Land

We grow the feed before we grow the herd

Four fodder crops on 2.5 acres of drip, grazing in the rains, and silage for the dry months. The herd grows as the feed grows.

Principle
Feed first
Fodder
2.5 acres on drip
Crops
Napier, Sugargraze, alfalfa, desmodium
Reserves
Silage

Feed is easy to find in April. The number of animals the farm keeps is set by what it can feed in August, so that feed is grown, cut and stored months ahead.

From bare soil to green rows

Each season the ground is composted, planted and tended by hand, and the fodder is cut and fed fresh.

  1. A farm worker with a yellow knapsack sprayer walking the composted ground, drip lines laid in rows, the farm sheds behind under a blue sky.

    01 · Prepare

    Composted ground and drip line

  2. Pink treated seed dropped in a line along the row beside the drip pipes, a worker bending to sow further down the row, the gate and cattle beyond.

    02 · Plant

    Seed sown by hand along the drip

  3. Fodder shoots coming up in the dark soil beside a drip line, more rows and trees out of focus behind.

    03 · Grow

    The first shoots come up

  4. Fodder rows a few weeks after planting, a worker tending them at the far side.

    04 · Tend

    Rows checked and cared for by hand

  5. Freshly cut Super Napier, ready to feed.

    05 · Harvest

    Cut fresh and fed the same day

From the soil up

Good feed starts with healthy soil. What the animals give back goes into the ground that feeds them.

A handful of aged manure, ready to go back into the soil.

Manure back into the soil

Manure from the pens is aged and composted, then worked into the ground before planting. The farm feeds its own soil instead of buying fertiliser in.

Close up of fresh Napier cane cuttings set at an angle in composted soil beside a drip line.

Water at the roots

Drip line runs along every row, putting water where the plant needs it and wasting little through the Kajiado dry season.

A young tree newly planted at the edge of the fodder rows, drip lines and worked soil stretching to the boundary under heavy cloud.

Trees on the boundary

Young trees go in along the edges of the fodder ground. As they grow they shelter the crops from wind and sun, and give the farm shade.

What we grow for feed

Four fodder crops on 2.5 acres, set out in three sections and watered by drip. Grazing beyond the farm makes up the rest in season.

  • Super Napier

    A tall perennial grass that regrows fast after each cut, so the same ground feeds the herd again and again.

    Used for
    Cut and carry, and silage
    Grown
    On the fodder acres, on drip

  • Sugargraze

    A high sugar forage sorghum grown for bulk green feed and for silage.

    Used for
    Green feed and silage
    Grown
    On the fodder acres, on drip

  • Alfalfa

    A protein rich legume, also called lucerne, fed alongside the grasses.

    Used for
    Protein
    Grown
    On the fodder acres, on drip

  • Desmodium

    A legume that adds protein to the ration and fixes nitrogen, so the soil improves as it grows.

    Used for
    Protein, and nitrogen for the soil
    Grown
    On the fodder acres, on drip

  • Grazing and browse

    Grass for the cattle and sheep and acacia browse for the goats, on permitted land beyond the farm.

    Used for
    The bulk of the diet in the rains
    Grown
    Beyond the farm, walked to daily

Two rains, and the stores between

Kajiado has two rainy seasons and a long dry one. Feed planning follows when the grass grows, when it is cut and how long the store must last.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeed yearIsinya
  • RainfallThe long rains from March to May and the short rains from October to December.
  • GrazingBest in and just after the rains, thin from July to September. The herd goes out every day, eating less as the grass thins.
  • ConservingSilage made from Sugargraze and surplus Napier as each rain ends.
  • Feeding from storeThrough the long dry season and the short one, from silage and the fodder acres.

Rainfall indicative for the Isinya area · not yet measured on site

Napier cane cuttings set in the soil along two drip lines, a stone pile, fence posts and water tanks behind.

Napier planted from cane cuttings along the drip line

Fresh every day, stored for the dry

Napier, alfalfa and desmodium are cut and fed fresh. Sugargraze and surplus Napier go into silage, so there is feed through the dry months.

Cut and carry

Fodder cut on the farm and carried to the animals the same day. It is the freshest feed the farm has.

  1. Cut Super Napier when it stands about a metre high
  2. Chop it and feed it the same day
  3. Add alfalfa and desmodium for protein
  4. Leave the row to regrow for the next cut

Silage

Green feed preserved in its own juice. It is heavy to handle but keeps the herd on moist feed through the driest weeks.

  1. Chop Sugargraze and Napier short
  2. Pack it hard, layer by layer, to push out the air
  3. Seal it airtight and weigh the cover down
  4. Leave it about three weeks to cure before opening

What the herd comes home to

Grazing provides most of the feed. The evening ration makes up the rest and changes with the season.

Minerals and salt

Availability
Always, free choice
Why
Dry country grass runs short of minerals
Form
Licks and loose mineral in covered feeders

Supplementary feed

Wet season
Light. Grazing carries the herd
Dry season
Silage and fresh cut fodder every night
Priority
Breeding females, young stock, finishers

Dry season reserves

Rule
Stored before the dry, not bought during it
Measured
In weeks of feed for the herd on hand
Test
No new animals until the store can carry them
Young fodder rows on drip line, a line of windbreak trees beyond.

Land near Isinya?

The farm is looking for fodder land to lease long term (5 to 10 acre blocks to begin with) and for permitted grazing nearby. If you have ground around Isinya, we would like to hear from you.

Talk to us about landGrowing the farm