Impact of fodder management on dairy farm performance in Kenya

This study assesses the impact of adoption of fodder conservation and feed rationing interventions on economic performance and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of dairy farms in central Kenya. A comparison was done between groups of farms in these intervention categories and with control farms that had no interventions. The results show that fodder conservation increased daily milk yield by 3 litres per lactating cow, while feed rationing in addition to fodder conservation gave an additional 3 litres milk per lactating cow per day in comparison to fodder conservation alone. We recommend farmers to adopt fodder conservation measures in combination with ration formulation in order to increase their profitability. Ration formulation advisory programs should include follow up visits to enable farm managers better understand formulation concepts, and potentially benefit from the effects of manure utilisation and soil mining for better estimates of NUE.