Drought resistant forage crop for dairy and beef production

Came across this promo made in the DR while looking for info on a new forage crop for cattle. Kinda cool to hear Mano Chau in a grass seed ad:

[video=youtube;s6rrlDa13lQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6rrlDa13lQ[/video]

A 50 pound bag of seeds in the US runs about $700. I suppose at 30 tons/ha/year for a perennial you get your money back pretty quick. About 5 pounds seeds/ha.

The DR used to be a big beef producer for export. Imagine how much beef/milk they could produce if they moved away from sugar and put more into cattle feed.

More on the grass here:
Factsheet - Brachiaria spp. hybrids

Another video on using it, for raising goats, but I don't think in the DR. I'm having a hell of a time finding any videos on it in English:

[video=youtube;r3YWs8XZcnM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3YWs8XZcnM[/video]

Cattle like chicken and pig production, do well with economies of scale, but that doesn't mean they have to be huge concentrated feed lots like in North America. My mom grew up on a farm with chickens, dairy cows and pigs and it can still be done, esp with goats, which are a premium meat in the DR. I lived in VT for ten years where there are still plenty of family run dairy farms. I passed dozens of small beef farms just last week on a road trip. When you see Holsteins, it's for dairy, and when you see Black Angus, it's for beef.

This grass could be great for the DR due to its deep roots and tolerance for drought. Those are also good qualities for preventing floods. It could be even more of a game changer for Haiti if it replaces some of the sugar cane acreage. I don't know if most sugar production could make a profit without US aid and subsidies. The grass can reduce the amount of imported feeds, which are made from corn and even fishmeal. This reduces input costs and can make it more competitive with frozen imported beef. Seems to be a big winner in Brasil and many other areas of Latin America.

donP, what breed are those? Is Galloway a breed?

The Black Angus breeders have had a brilliant marketing campaign in the US over the last 15 years with their own grading system. Does the DR even grade their own beef? If not, then why bother to make prime beef when choice sells for the same price?

I remember watching a marketing video on it we got at work many years back in one of the kitchens I worked in. Their big hook line was,

"Some restaurant owners think Certified Angus Beef? is expensive. But you know what's more expensive? Empty seats.."

Now it's about being grass fed/finished.

On a semi related note, found this equipment for processing chickens on a small scale, maybe a couple hundred a day. I'm thinking the guy's Amish. The plucker is about $4K. Could be an interesting DR business, maybe on a trailer:


[video=youtube;HI_HgmshtSo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI_HgmshtSo[/video]