By Felix Ochieng Akech

 In Oyani, Awendo subcounty, Migori County, dairy farmer Jackson Amoeba once struggled to keep his cows fed through the dry months, spending over Sh2,000 a day on hay and dairy meal. “There were days I almost gave up,” said Jackson. “I was spending over Sh2,000 a day buying hay and dairy meal from agrovets, yet my cows still produced very little milk. I used to joke that I was working hard just to make the agrovet rich.”

His breakthrough came in 2022 after attending a field day organized by agricultural extension officers in Awendo, where he learnt how to make sack silage — a low-cost way to store animal feed. He began collecting maize stalks and Napier grass, chopping them finely with an electric chaff cutter, mixing with molasses, and sealing the mixture tightly in heavy-duty plastic sacks for fermentation.

“The first time I opened a sack after three weeks, I was amazed,” said Jackson. “The silage was soft, had a sweet smell, and the cows loved it. It was even better than the dairy meal I used to buy.”

Milk production on his farm rose from 90 to 135 litres a day, raising his daily income from Sh5,400 to more than Sh8,000. “Silage has freed me,” he said. “Now, I don’t panic when the rains stop. My cows are healthy, milk keeps flowing, and I’ve reduced my costs by more than half.”

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Each of his 15 cows consumes about 25 kilograms of silage daily, costing him less than Sh15 per cow. The same amount of commercial feed would cost Sh50 to Sh70. The savings have allowed him to upgrade his dairy equipment, improve cow housing, and pay school fees on time.

Now Oyani Livestock Farm has become a local learning centre, with farmers visiting to watch Jackson demonstrate how to chop, mix, and pack silage. “At first, many farmers thought silage was for big farms,” he said. “But I tell them, even if you have just two cows, you can make your own feed using sacks. The materials are right there on your farm.”