Cost effectiveness of mechanized hay production for feeding beef cattle in the central and southwestern rangelands of Uganda

Significant decline in pasture productivity in the central and southwestern rangelands of Uganda in the past 20 years has led to rangeland rehabilitation interventions to sustain beef production. Here we report the results of a study conducted between October 2020 and June 2021 on selected farms to verify the cost-effectiveness of hay production using mechanized and manual methods. Chloris gayana planted in intervention sites was mowed using a Falcon F80/180 EV haymaker- Intermediate duty mounted on a TAFE 8502 4WD 80HP tractor and left in the field for 1 or 2 days to dry with occasional raking. Thereafter, a Fimaks 5690 small square baler was used to compress and package the hay. Manually cut Chloris gayana was left to dry in the fields for a maximum of 4 days and baled using a hay box. In both cases finished bales were collected and stored in locally constructed hay barns. Data was collected by direct observation and farmer interviews and analyzed using SAS version 9.4. The time taken for hay harvesting, baling and storage space requirements reduced significantly with use of machinery. The monetary benefits of machine harvested hay (CBR=0.75) and cattle raised (CBR=0.13) on this hay outweighed the costs of production. Economic benefits were only realized with sale of fattened cattle (CBR=0.39) in the manual system. Mechanized hay production has potential to increase economic benefits for beef farmers hence development interventions should mainstream provision of specialized feed production equipment which farmer can access through a cost sharing arrangement. Key words: Beef cattle, cost effectiveness, hay, mechanization, rangelands, Uganda