I was recently in Australia to visit a cattle
farm owned by the Australian Agricultural Company,
one of Australia's largest producers
of beef.
It’s important to remember that the weather system you live in affects your livestock a lot.
Most of the world's poorest countries are
in hot regions, so to understand how to raise
livestock in a tropical climate, Australia's
a great place to go learn from.
They’ve been raising cattle successfully
for over 200 years.
It’s actually surprising how well the cattle
do in these conditions.
They are thriving even in a very hot environment.
Coming to Australia and meeting the scientists
at the leading livestock company was very helpful.
They’re taking this idea of digital agriculture
and they’re pioneering it.
They’re keeping track of the genetics of
every animal.
When that animal gets moved, they’re able
to weigh it and see which type of feed is
causing the most gain.
They’re gaining a really deep understanding
of beef production.
"You know more about cattle than you know
about people."
They also have to make sure the animals get
enough water and nutrients.
Lactating cows during the summer require anywhere
from 60 to 100 liters of water every day.
And for nutrition, these cattle producers
supplement the water with urea which improves
digestion of fiber and they supplement the
phosphorus to promote appetite, fertility, and growth.
A lot of what they do here we can’t immediately
take to Africa.
But over time, these are the kinds of things
that we hope can raise beef productivity pretty
dramatically even for a smallholder farmer
in Africa.
