Animal raisers in the region may have just put an end to their woes.

This, after the Department of Agriculture – Caraga through the Livestock Program recently established two feed milling facilities, one each in Socorro, Surigao del Norte and Tago, Surigao del Sur.

Livestock raisers, particularly swine raisers in Caraga have long been complaining of the high costs of commercial feeds which they said accounted for a big portion of their expenses resulting to meager incomes.

“The Department saw the establishment of feed milling facilities for farmers’ organizations as one of the solutions that may solve this problem considering also that Caraga is abundant in raw materials for animal feeds such as corn, cassava, and soybeans,” Livestock Program Coordinator Edelmira R. Luminarias said.

“If the animal raisers themselves will produce their own feeds utilizing raw materials that are available and accessible to them, their operational expenses will be lessened,” she added.

The establishment of feed milling facilities is among the DA Livestock Program’s interventions for this year. The package includes a 3 in1 set feed milling equipment (hammer mill, mixer & pelletizing machine), vacuum dryer, mini mixer, and soybean extruder.

The recipients of the said project are the Socorro Empowered People’s Cooperative (SOEMCO) and the Pig Producers Federation of Surigao del Sur (Pig PROFESSUR).  The facility for SOEMCO was turned over last June 10 while the one for Pig PROFESSUR will be turned over on August. 

Members of the recipient organizations underwent a training on feed formulation at the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) while the supplier trained them on operating the milling equipment.

The feed mill project is also in support to the multiplier farms established in the last two years which meant to address the decline of animal inventory in Caraga in recent years as per data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Among the factors cited in the decline of animal inventory is the lack of quality breeder animals and this is where the multiplier farm comes in. Through the project, selected Local Government Units (LGUs) were provided stocks for breeding, housing, fencing, and initial feeds. The offspring of the said stocks shall be distributed to qualified and deserving farmer recipients.

In 2017 a total of 4 native swine, 17 native chicken and 9 goat multiplier farms were established in various provinces and municipalities of Caraga. The following year, the same numbers of multiplier farms for the same animals were established and some of these multiplier farms have already catered requests for animals of some farmers.

“We chose the native chicken and native swine because apart from being climate resilient, the demand in the market for these animals is also high,” Luminarias said. However, farmers who are interested in pure breed animals will be referred to the DA production centers in Del Monte, Talacogon in Agusan del Sur, Tagbina, Surigao del Sur, and Trento, Agusan del Sur.

Further, she said that with these projects along with the other interventions from the program including drugs and biologics, vitamins, various machineries and equipment, as well as technical assistance, the Caraga livestock sector and its stakeholders may soon rise up and be among the drivers of agriculture and the economy.