East Kalimantan Animal Husbandry Service Trains Farmers to Produce Preserved Feed Ahead of Dry Season

Samarinda (ANTARA) - The Animal Husbandry and Animal Health Service (DPKH) of East Kalimantan Province is training livestock farmers to produce preserved feed as a mitigation measure to address potential feed shortages during prolonged dry seasons.

Head of DPKH East Kalimantan Arief Murdiyatno in Samarinda on Sunday explained that producing preserved feed such as silage, hay and fermented straw is very important to prepare as an emergency reserve.

“This preserved feed is not only useful during the dry season, but also serves as a reserve when farmers are ill or travelling, while also utilising surplus fresh grass so that it does not rot,” said Arief.

This preservation innovation is crucial for the economic independence of farmers, given the high cost of feed which always dominates the expenditure structure, accounting for 60 to 70 percent of total livestock production costs.

In addition to preserving grass, DPKH East Kalimantan is also encouraging the use of biomass or agricultural waste, such as corn and rice harvest residues, to be combined into nutritionally valuable preserved feed ingredients.

To ensure the nutritional quality of these alternative feeds remains guaranteed, DPKH East Kalimantan has also deployed 25 Feed Quality Control officers distributed evenly across 10 regencies and cities.

Arief added that for large-scale livestock operations, the service is also directing the use of bunker systems to store fermented feed with the help of EM4 probiotics, which can produce a pleasant aroma in the feed.

As a long-term effort to reduce the cost of expensive concentrate feed on the market, the regional government is currently also building a new feed factory in the Kota Bangun area, Kutai Kartanegara Regency.