Our kandang lies silent, for now

For the past three weeks, our kandang has remained silent. No more bleating of goats. We sold our entire herd of goats and Zai and I are now taking a sabbatical from goat farming. (Mind you, not from farming, though!)

Our (now) empty kandang

I have not posted anything in our blog for the past 3 weeks. However our blog is called Ladang Fatima (after my late mother), not Ladang Kambing Fatima. I assure you that I am still a firm believer in “Pertanian adalah Perniagaan” and will continue to update you all on our progress (or lack thereof).

Several weeks ago, I wrote that it may not be that easy to sell goats at a economically viable price.

Another view of the empty kandang

I have been having doubts over the viability of this business, or perhaps we have just been doing something wrong. I have tried hard just to get to see a vibrant farm. A farm that projects an image of a thriving business. I must admit that I have not seen any so far.

I know that this is something I should have done earlier, but then rather late than never.

This is a lesson learnt and quite expensively.

Zai and I have redrawn our business blueprints and are now focussing on vegetables and fruits. It is a little early to write about this now. I just do not want to go the way of some blogs that started enthusiastically writing about their journey into goat farming and then seem to have just fallen off.

To those of you who have written in asking for my advice on how to start a farm, let me remind.

Visit as many farms as you can. At least 5 – 10. Ask the owners exactly how they make money, what are their main problems and what they would do different if they were to start again. I am sure some would say that their biggest problem is “having insufficient goats to meet demand”. Then ask them at what price are they looking for the goats.

Forget about the statistics the Ministry of Agriculture puts up on their website. I should have known better. Business finds its own level. No way would such disparities in supply and demand exist, without the resultant prices shooting sky high. And the best indication of retail prices is the price you can get at the wet markets and the price one has to pay for a bahagian of a korban.

Like the saying goes, “It is not how many times you fall down, it is about how many times you get up after that.”

Our Aqiqah Service Package

We have previously written about the religious ritual of Aqiqah.

Ladang Fatima is pleased to offer a package for the performance of the service of Aqiqah for any Muslim who wishes to have it performed on our farm.

We hope that you will contact us at ladangfatima@gmail.com with the following particulars:

a)    Name of the child,

b)    Name of the father,

c)     Sex of the child,

d)    Date of birth of the child

The price can be negotiated on a case to case basis.

We shall carry out your requests with full “amanah”, and Insya’Allah, your ibadah will be accepted by the All Mighty.

Considering growing some bananas

The land on which our farm stands is quite underutilised. There is about 2 – 3 acres which can be put to more productive use.

This time around, we want to look at our capabilities and marketing with an eagle eye before making any investments. So far the only commercial attempts at “pertanian” by Zai has been in mangoes and bananas. The mangoes attempt fizzled out due to an inability to secure a reliable market. The attempt on the bananas was however a reasonable success, and very valuable lessons have been learned. In addition relationships have been established with buyers.

Hence our zeroing in on bananas, more specifically the “berangan” variety.

Don’t they look delicious?

Zai and two of his friends grew pisang on a 6 acre piece of land near our farm. The project had its ups and downs. Over the project life, a sort of a manual has been prepared with the lessons learnt.

Zai’s maiden banana project.

We intend to replant pisang berangan on this piece of land. Starting with 3 acres first and a little later on the second 3 acres. I have discussed with and outlined to Zai the terms of my participation. He will be discussing them with his friends and should give me their answer in the next few days.

If there are no changes then it should be all systems go. 

The tissue cultured seedlings will be purchased from Mr. Sia of Batu Pahat from whom we bought the gaharu seedlings.

There is a lot of advice and guidance that we can get from MARDI and Jabatan Pertanian on the methods of growing etc. Here is one link.

A thousand things could and may go wrong, but Insya’Allah, we believe that Ladang Fatima’s maiden foray into bananas will bear fruit.

Visit to DQ Farm

I got to know about this unique farm when the owner, Mr. HS Wong dropped by this blog and made an encouraging comment. We got to communicate over email and Mr. Wong extended a kind invitation for me to visit his farm. Of course, I accepted.

Mr. Wong, at his “office”. Clearly no corporate office can compare with the natural serenity this office gives him. No wonder he looks so contended. I also suspect he is a Chi Qong master, which may help explain his very youthful looks.

The farm is situated about 20 kms from KL along the old Bentong road. An almost deserted winding road lined on both sides by tall trees and vegetation that gives a very cooling and soothing effect.

Mr. Wong started the DQ Farm more than 20 years ago. There were some stoppages etc. along the way but now the farm is, as he says, is lot more than viable. Mr. Wong did not talk much about his past during my 2 hour stay at the farm, but his blog mentions that he spent many years at the very top of corporate Malaysia before calling it quits to go green.

A firm believer in reducing waste, the farm recycles everything. The theory and practice is that from the initial input of chicken feed (which he formulates and cooks at the farm, by the way), the chicken and their waste are all used or sold. The end products from this chicken business are used in his other divisions, i.e. fishes, bees, vegetables as well as goats.

Mr. Wong is obviously well read and very knowledgeable on farming and the benefits of our local herbal vegetation. He took me through the creation of fertile black soil from the leaves and the chickens that were culled. Just like what the great forests do….he says.

One of the bee hives

There were just too many things that I found fascinating. For example, he has an ingenious way to trap fly maggots for his fish fry to eat. By this method, not only does he keep his farm fly free, but gets free feed for his fries too.

One of Mr. Wong’s ingenious ideas. The mother flies enter the tin through holes punched along the sides (top) attracted by some “food” left in the tin. Then they find themselves unable to come out and lay their eggs. When hatched, the maggots crawl out of the holes at the bottom sides of the tin and fall into the water. Where they are eaten by the fish fry! 

The waste water from the chicken sheds is routed into what he calls his mini wetlands. Perhaps one day he might even secure Ramsar certification. Dotted with fruit trees, vegetables and herbal plants (he showed me a pegaga plant with the greenest leaves I have ever seen). All growing happily and healthily with the generous input of natural fertliser.

Another juicy tidbit that he mentioned was the using of the “pokok pagar” or Gliricidia Sepium as a natural nitrogen replenisher for soil. He has a write up about this tree on his blog. It seems that the local name is Bunga Jepun. I have never heard this name, and must check up on it.

He gave me an outline briefing on his organic chicken business. I mentioned about our initial foray into ayam kampung. He has given me some very useful ideas to follow up on.

I am truly grateful to Google who must have led Mr. Wong to my blog, which in turn led me to him and DQ Farm. I hope that this initial meeting will grow into a warm relationship.

Once again, Mr. Wong, thank you for your kind hospitality. I look forward to reciprocating your kindness if you should ever drop by our farm. And please consider this as a standing invitation.

Our Aqiqah Service Package

We have previously written about the religious ritual of Aqiqah.

Ladang Fatima is pleased to offer a package for the performance of the service of Aqiqah for any Muslim who wishes to have it performed on our farm.

We hope that you will contact us at ladangfatima@gmail.com with the following particulars:

a)    Name of the child,

b)    Name of the father,

c)     Sex of the child,

d)    Date of birth of the child

The price can be negotiated on a case to case basis.

We shall carry out your requests with full “amanah”, and Insya’Allah, your ibadah will be accepted by the All Mighty.

Goat waste as organic fertiliser

Rizal and Ustaz Jaafar

The processing of goat waste into organic fertiliser for sale is considered lucrative. Lucrative enough to be classified as “black gold”. We at Ladang Fatima also believe in recycling the waste to put to good use.

We have been looking at the processing of goat waste for some time now. In early 2007, Zai, Zaini and I visited Captain (Rtd) Kamarul Zaman at his vermicompost farm in Kajang. I still remember Captain’s words that the worms basically process the green waste that they feed on and then excrete them as vermicompost. And if they feed on goat waste, which has already been processed once (by the goats, of course), then the vermicompost should be even better. Or something like that.

I remember thinking that goat waste should be okay as a stand alone fertiliser.

Neither Zai or I have attended any special courses on the production of organic fertiliser. Web resources are available, such as that listed as a downloadable file here.

Manure in various stages of the drying cycle in Sdr Rizal’s farm

Last week, Ustaz Jaafar took Zai and me to visit an organic fertiliser farm in his birthplace, Kampung Jus.

It was a simple operation, nothing fancy. No long and scientific sounding terms were heard during our discussions with Sdr. Rizal, who operated the farm together with his father.

Basically Rizal collected the waste from his cow and goat farm, dried the stuff, then ran the stuff through a wire mesh “filter”, then ground it using a grinding machine, ran the stuff through another finer “filter” and packed the stuff.

The grinding machine. Note the basket of ground fertiliser.

That was it.

He told us demand was encouraging enough for him to collect the waste from other farmers in the vicinity. Some farmers also sent the waste to him.

This operation seems basic enough and cheap to set up.

It seems that goats produce about 12 kg of waste a month. For us at Ladang Fatima where we let the goats out a few hours daily, the rate should be more like 9 – 10 kgs, I suppose. The rest would have been excreted whilst they were exercising in the fenced up area. Also we do not have too many goats at the moment. We also use the goat waste to fertilise the turi trees, our gaharu trees as well as napier grass we grow.

Packed and ready to go. These are 25 kg bags. Sdr. Rizal also sells in 5 kg packs.

But we intend to increase our goats head count, and there should be a corresponding increase in goat waste. We will also be learning as much as we can about this processing.

When we are ready, and when the stocks of waste are economically feasible, our processing and marketing will begin in earnest, Insya’Allah.

Ustaz Jaafar bin Ali – Ladang Fatima’s resident Ustaz

Uztaz Jaafar bin Hj Ali, with his trusty motorcycle.

Maybe I should not call Ustaz Jaafar Ali our resident Ustaz, but as the imam of the nearby Surau Kampung Hilir and as my partner Zai’s former Guru Agama, he is as much a Ladang Fatima family member as the rest of us.

Ustaz Jaafar bin Ali, 49 is better known as Ustad Japar, Ustad Ateh or as Ustad Japar Ateh. Born in Kampung Jus, which is about 6 kilometres from our farm, he now lives in Kampung Hilir, where our farm is located. The ties of friendship between him and Zai’s family goes back 4 or 5 generations. Well before piped water, electricity and motorable roads came to the vicinity. 

Ustaz Jaafar has 5 children, 3 boys and 2 girls. The eldest boy is 18 whilst the youngest daughter is 7 years. They are all presently schooling. The children, too, have been inculcated with religious education and the two eldest children are capable of leading a congregation in prayer. Alhamdulillah!

His day starts after Fajr prayers when he starts work as the gardener in one of the local schools, from 7 a.m. –  4 p.m. Then he starts his second shift as the Guru Agama for students in Tingkatan 1 – 5 in Sekolah Integrasi Selandar from 5 p.m. – 6.30 p.m. Then it is back home to have a bath and freshen up and he takes on his third job as the Imam of Surau Kampung Hilir for Maghrib and Isyak. In between the two prayer times, he teaches the Al Quran to the kampong people, both young and old.

He has been rearing cows, on a small scale for more than 20 years, a business handed down from his late father. Ustaz Jaafar has recently added some sheep to his herd.

Ustaz is also known as the “guy with the 99 occupations”, as he also takes on many other part time jobs like rubber tapping etc during the weekends or school holidays.

Ustaz at the surau with the Bilal

Ustaz studied in a sokolah pondok, those informal religious schools which are low in facilities but noted for imparting serious religious education to their students. It was during these times that Ustaz started his first experiences in the art of “sembilih ternakan”.

Ustaz Jaffar has now more than 30 years experience in the delicate art of performing the “sembilihan”.

He is and has been the person the whole kampung, in fact the whole area, depends upon to do the “sembilihan” when it came to kenduris, aqiqah and korban. Be it chickens, ducks, goats, sheep or cows. Ustaz Jaafar’s methods, his doa and special abilities are believed to result in great tasting meat from the animals he “sembilih”. The biggest number of animals he has slaughtered at one time was 11 cows for Hari Raya Korban in 2004.

It was Ustaz Jaafar who did the “sembilih” when we did the Ibadah Aqiqah for our children and the various times we have done our Ibadah Korban in Kampung Hilir.

Ustaz Jaafar also conducts courses on the correct way to slaughter animals as prescribed in Islam. Most of his students are from the Sekolah Integrasi Selandar. Once Ustaz passes the students they get a certificate authorising them as capable of doing the slaughter themselves.

20 – 30 years ago, the ritual slaughter for Ibadah Korban and Ibadah Aqiqah was done house by house. Ustaz remembers those days when he had to cycle from house to house doing the slaughter. Other kampung people would take over the task of skinning the animals and cutting them up, and he would move on to the next house in the list.

These days, Ibadah Korban is done on a “kelumpok” or group basis. The animals are brought to the mosque compound or an area selected by the mosque committee and the slaughtering, skinning, meat cutting and distribution is done from that one place. Naturally almost all the men from the kampung will be there pitching in the other tasks.

Ustaz has known Zai since Zai was born. Zai considers Ustaz a family elder, having been his Guru Agama as well as his mentor in the various agricultural activities.

Ustaz Jaafar is whom we call whenever we have a request for any goats to be slaughtered. And, Alhamdulillah, we have had only excellent feedback on the taste qualities of the meat.

Marketing of our goats – it may not be as easy as the Jabatan Veterinar or the Kursus Kambing people make it out to be

The basis of the mushrooming number of goat farms seem to be the concerted efforts by the Jabatan Veterinar to create self sufficiency of goat meat and related products in Malaysia. To support this, a table of the gross shortage is often shown and quoted repeatedly.

The summary as it relates to goats is shown here:

                                               2007                  2008

                                            (estimates)        (forecasts)

Mutton (Goat)

Production (`000 mt)                               1.75                         1.92

Demand (`000 mt)                                 20.00                        20.98

Local Market Value (RM million)                 45.58                        50.01

Total Population (million)                         27.17                        27.73

% Self Sufficiency Level                            8.75                        9.15

Per Capita Consumption ( Kg )                    0.74                        0.76

This is an unbelievable situation. Such a vast disparity between supply and demand. One wonders if this is the case, why has the market forces somehow not bridged this gap. Simple, we are told. Imports have bridged the gap and that it is this large import that the aspiring goat entrepreneurs should substitute with local production.

The former Minister of Agriculture has been quoted as saying that Malaysia needs 10 million, yes, 10 million goats a year.

This is well and good, in fact great. Until we start our goat farms and the hard facts sink in.

The end market for goats is ultimately meat for food. Maybe some people want them as pets. Others may want them to be used for breeding, but then the bred goats eventually do end up on the dinner table.

Fresh goat meat is sold by butchers at the wet markets for RM28 per kg or so. If I am not mistaken, this is a Government controlled price.

So we have to work out what would be the net weight of the meat that our goats would yield and at this rate of RM28 per kg, what would then be the gross price that we would be able to sell our goats.

And please don’t forget the profit margin of the butcher!

And then see how this compares with the price of frozen mutton that is available in the clean airconditioned Jaya Juscos and Giants

For Korban and Aqiqah.

This is a religious issue. Our religion requires goats to meet the conditions required, or as it is said, “cukup syarat”. I have written about the requirements for goats as far as Korban and Aqiqah are concerned.

Ibadah Korban is done during a particular time of the year, whilst Ibadah Aqiqah is done throughout the year. Here live goats are needed, so we have an advantage over frozen meat.

Since Islam is the religion followed by Malaysia’s majority, then this is a great market. Still two things need to be considered.

Role of Suraus and Mosques in Ibadah Korban

Suraus and Mosques play a increasingly large role in Ibadah Korban. People who continuously look for easier ways to get things done, prefer to just pay a certain amount to the Mosque /Surau Committee who then arrange for the goats or cows as the case may be to be brought to the Mosques / Suraus for the religious slaughter.

The goat farmer has then to contend with this Committee being a middleman and its attendant commissions and discounts.

Aqiqah, on the other hand is a religious obligation done by the parent of a child, to show gratitude for the birth of the child. Hence this is distributed throughout the year and throughout the country. Distance of the goat farm is an issue.            

Some parents just give their’s and the child’s names to the Ustad arranged for by the farm and the slaughter is done at the farm. The more conservative, like some Indian Muslims prefer that they place their hands on the animal as it is slaughtered. 

Either way, distance between parent and the farm is a deciding factor.

I am not an expert on goat farming or goat marketing. Based on what little experience I have gathered over the last few months, it seems to me that Aqiqah and Korban is the best market that we should aim for. Especially for the small farmer with less than 100 goats in his herd.

Price

Everyone wants high quality at the lowest possible price. Whilst some goat breeders advertise goats with “certificates” and the related high prices, the rest of us have to struggle at the lower price levels. 

Coming back to the table of demand and supply:

Demand for 2007             -       20 metric tonnes  = 20,000,000 kgs

Local Market Value           -       RM45.58 m          = RM 45,580,000

Or                                          RM 2.28 per kg

Ouch!!! Is this the true market price (average though it may be) of lamb / mutton consumption per kg in Malaysia? Is this the “huge market” touted by the Ministry of Agriculture?  

Then, one must wonder what the advisors to the former Minister of Agriculture must have been smoking when they advised him that Malaysia may need 10 m goats!!! Presumably to be sold at RM28 per kg nett!!!

Or was it what the newspaper journalists must have been smoking!!!!

Reconciling Jabatan Veterinar statistics with real life

Since the consumption statistics must have been gathered from the importation figures, they must be pretty accurate (The Customs guys know how to keep track of what comes into the country.). So Malaysians must be eating a fair amount of goat meat. If this were to be the case, there should be a fairly long queue outside our farm gates daily. Sadly this is not the case. 

So we should ask the question “Is the consumption mutton, or is it the meat of sheep? Sheep that the Australians and the New Zealanders produce by the busloads. The price / kg also seems to indicate that it cannot be local mutton.”

This concern is shared by others in the industry. See this comment by The Kebun, another goat blog that I follow avidly. 

My appeal to the Jabatan Veterinar

The Jabatan Veterinar and AGRO Bank are pulling out all stops to promote goat rearing. Using the figures shown in the table above to support their campaigns. 

The Neem tree – A herbal pharmacy for goats?

Neem leaves

People have been rearing goats for thousands of years. Well before the advent of modern medicine. Have you ever wondered how our forefathers used to treat their goats when the goats got sick?

Our forefathers relied on traditional methods. Methods discovered through trial and error, methods discovered by chance and methods passed on to them by their forefathers. These methods revolved largely around various herbal plants and minerals that could treat the goats. And these herbal plants grew freely and easily.

Why not try to use these methods now? For one, the rich treasure trove of knowledge has disappeared. Most of the herbal doctors of today prefer to use their knowledge to treat humans.

I am certainly no expert in traditional remedies. But I am aware of one extraordinary plant, the Neem tree. Known as pokok semambu locally, this tree grows quite easily and is very hardy. The variety of uses for this miracle tree as listed here can only be said as fascinating.

A neem tree in full bloom. Note how the tree seems to be protected.

This tree is planted widely in India, Indonesia, and even in the African countries that I have been to, like Ghana, Sudan, Mali, Mauritania, Benin and Djibouti. In India and Sudan, they are usually planted along the roadside and their trunks painted with black and white markings to act as road warnings. (I understand, that in India, the trees were ordered to be planted by Emperor Ashoka way, way back in time.)

About.com lists many uses for various parts of the Neem tree, from its leaves, twigs and its bark. No wonder this tree is called a natural pharmacy!

Another educational video link on this can be seen below. See the variety of uses this humble tree can be used for in the ordinary household. Including that of insect repellent, for dental care, skin care and animal feed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8MsIpkqZuI

We have planted 5 of these trees around our farm at Ladang Fatima. They will take about 4 – 5 years before they reach maturity.

I have been informed that we can feed the goats with the leaves of this tree and its help the goats with clearing any intestinal infections that they might have. The leaves will have to be mixed with their normal feed and they’ll just eat them.

I have also been warned that it would take about 3 days for the goats to get the leaves out of their system. Until then the meat would taste a little bitter.

I have yet to use this method. I certainly intend to.

There is a Neem Foundation whose objective is to “Green India with Neem”. Its website also lists quite a number of uses, even as that of a pesticide and mosquito repellent.

In fact even in vermicomposting, the addition of neem leaves is said to have a vastly positive effect on the grade of the vermicompost produced. The Kebun seems to be starting vermicomposting. This fact may be of interest to him.

It is a pity that the Malaysian Government does not plant more of this tree along the road sides. At the very least we could be reducing our carbon footprints!

Note: The above pictures are from Google. The trees that we have planted at our farm are still too small to be paraded.

Visit to KTL Farm Sdn Bhd

I got to know about KTL from their web site, which I found by going through some of the goat listings in the Directory.

We are looking to have a relationship with one of the bigger farms so as to have a dependable regular supply of goats. Of course, the price would have to be at a level that would allow us to have a decent profit also.

We contacted Mr. Hee who was most cooperative and made an appointment to meet him on a Sunday at the farm in Segamat. Though I have lived in Segamat for a couple of years in the late 90’s, I did not know the location of the farm.

Zai and I met Mr. Hee along the road at Buluh Kasap and followed him to the farm.

The farm is very big, I think it was 300’ x 70’. Very clean and there was no odour associated with so many goat farms.

Mr. Hee showed us around the farm (about 14 or 16 acres in size), situated amongst rubber plantations owned by other smallholders.

The farm has a population of more than 600 goats, well sorted out in clean airy and labelled pens. The species we saw were Boer and Ferals.

Zai at one of the pens at KTL Farm. Notice that the feeding trough are made of canvas. This makes them easy to clean.

We did some discussions on prices and did not come to an immediate agreement. Mr. Hee promised that he would get back to me soon on whether he could meet our requirements.

I think KTL Farm looks like one of the best organised and managed farm I have seen so far. I hope that some sort of mutually beneficial arrangements can be reached with KTL for my long term supplies.