This article features – and discusses (with charts) – responses to questions in an agribusiness research survey questionnaire I circulated a few years ago.
The semi-structured questionnaire was used to solicit responses from farm owners, feed makers and extension experts. Some were buyers/users of my Excel-VB Ration Formulator™.
CEOs of smallholder (fish, pig, and poultry) farm businesses make up 80% of respondents (30% of them own feed mills, to control feed cost/quality), and 20% are farm support specialists.
22.2% of those who formulate their rations use the Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator™. Others use off-the-shelf software (11.1%), manual Excel workbooks (11.1%), and calculators (11.1%).
Over 75% of the respondents were 41 years old and above. At least 55.6% hold a University Masters degree; one is a PhD holder, and some also hold professional qualifications.
Not surprisingly, all 55.6% say they always aim for least cost feed formulation. This suggests they are likely to adopt customizable Excel apps that quickly and accurately formulate rations.
Those who own feed mills will thus confidently formulate useful rations for themselves, and other farmers who come to their mills. Multiple benefits will thus accrue to the industry.
55.6% buy commercial feed (from “2 sources” or “anywhere they can find”). 66.7% of that percentage says they their animals’ performances vary noticeably with different sources of feed.
Their farm output tends to fluctuate as a result – and that naturally bothers the farmers.
Hen Day Percentage (HDP) data auto-charted – in September 2013 – by a custom Excel-VB software built for a layers farm in South West Nigeria, appears to support the above.
When the two farm managers were asked about a sharp downward slope of charted HDP data, over a one week period (from above 70% to between 55 and 65%), their checks revealed it coincided with their use – due to cash flow problems – of feed from a different supplier!
Customizable Excel-VB driven tools can help such farmers consistently formulate their own feed to specification. More predictable livestock performance and reduced feeding expenses will occur, and ultimately lead to increased profits.
Read: One New Skill Modern Extension Professionals Need to Succeed
Source: ExcelVB
