Brookside Dairy roots for animal feed strategic reserves

General Manager Brookside John Gethi during prize awards ceremony for the first draw of 'Shinda Na Maziwa Promotion' at Nicoll Club in Ruiru on tuesday, February 24th, 2915. PHOTO/JONAH ONYANGO.

Regional dairy processor Brookside Dairy has called for the establishment of a national strategic reserve of conserved animal feed.

The move, the processor said, would be one way of addressing seasonality in milk production.

Brookside Director of Milk Procurement John Gethi said in a statement there was need for collaboration among industry stakeholders in building a strategic reserve of conserved feed for livestock to sustain milk production during periods of depressed rainfall.

 "More than ever before dairy farmers need to engage in smart farming now and for the future, and feed conservation is paramount towards succeeding in tackling the vagaries of weather," said Mr Gethi.

He said the recent rains were insufficient in key raw milk production areas, which had affected farm fodder and water supply for livestock.