This is according to Elizna Erasmus, an animal health and bio-security specialist at Bupo Animal Health, who is of the opinion that climate change and resultant droughts, which reduce grazing, are one of the biggest challenges facing smallholder and commercial livestock farmers in the country.  Because of its impact livestock farmers are forced to supplement their livestock feed with additives or growth supplements as they can no longer solely depend on natural grazing. She also speaks about the misconception that exists about feed additives.  OFM News' Christal-Lize Muller spoke to Erasmus...

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She says feed prices mostly depend on the price of the raw material, such as maize and soybeans, among others. It is, however, important to note that feed additives are not something that a small scale farmer or some other farmers will include in their feed if they are not mixing the feed for their animals by themselves. She says most farmers buy complete feed from feed manufacturers with feed additives already added to the feed.  Nutritionists formulate feed and add feed additives needed which is then made available in the complete feed.  She says the only time that a farmer will include food feed additives in a ration is when they mix the feed themselves. That too needs to be done with the help of a nutritionist or someone that formulates feed.  

According to Erasmus, the existing misconception about additives is that it is chemical products inserted into the feed to help animals grow and alter hormones, but it needs to be taken into account that feed additives include nutritional supplements that are added into feed because of the deficiency of grazing.  

These additives are in a lot of cases natural products.  It is vitamins and minerals that animals need and can't in most cases get from grazing because of the quality of the grazing, especially during winter months. Together with that, drought conditions are a reality in the country and the quality of natural grazing tends to be very low.  That is why it is important to add nutritional elements to feed and additives are not always hormones and antibiotics added to feed to improve the growth of animals.  In most cases, it is natural products things animals need to be healthy and grow to optimal levels. 

Erasmus says Bupo Animal Health does not have a complete feed that is distributed. They only have additives that act as natural antibiotics and natural coccidiostats. It is natural products that are offered to feed companies or farmers that mix their own feed.  

Bupo Animal Health is a pharmaceutical company based in Pretoria and is a manufacturer and supplier of animal health products for poultry, ruminants, and swine. It exports products all over Africa and has multiple distributors across South Africa. The company's founding family is in Argentina. 

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