James Omingo Magara is a veteran politician who served as South Mugirango constituency MP from 2000 to 2009. The politician operates a modern dairy unit in his Ongata Rongai home.
In this article, WoK looks at the ex-legislator modern dairy farm.
Interest in Farming
His interest in farming was always there since he was a child. Agriculture was his favourite subject when he was a student in Nduru High School.
He ventured into commercial milk production following the 1991 milk pollution incident in Ukraine “to help curb a similar calamity in Kenya,” Magara told the Standard.
Importing milking machines
The ex-MP has invested in modern computerized milking machines and high standards of hygiene are observed to ensure maximum output from his dairy cows.
“Like human beings, cows are sensitive creatures. If you treat them well, they will also serve you well with volumes of milk. That is why I invested in hi-tech technology. These machines are so spot on, they cannot milk a sick cow,” Magara told the Standard in a past interview.
He imported the milking machines and chilling tanks from Netherlands which have greatly improved hygiene, efficiency and cutting labor costs.
“The machines can effectively milk 10 cows within seven minutes or 40 cows an hour. The milk is then filtered before it is finally transferred into the chilling tank which has a capacity of 2,150 litres. The milk is safely stored for four days,” he said.
He started his dairy farm in 2010 with three cows which he had bought at the Rift Valley Institute of Technology farm at Ksh 150,000 each. He has grown his portfolio over the years to have over 78 dairy cows comprising of high yielders, low yielders, in-calf heifers and unweaned heifers which are housed in different sections of the farm.
He has employed five workers who look after the cows and oversee the production of over 500 litres of milk from 24 cows every day.
Cost of Feeds
The MP spends Ksh500,000 on fees to feed his flock livestock. The erratic weather patterns with long dry spells have made feeds scarce. To cut on costs, he makes his own feeds by buying ingredients which he mixed using his own posho mill.
