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29th August, 2010
Both handsets were placed on the answering machine and at once I suspected that something must have transpired at Asreeny Dairy Farm, at Kampong Ansip, Keningau. Later I was able to contact Irene Chan, a dairy farm pioneer, having come from the first batch of dairy farmers when dairy farming started in Sabah in 1983. She confirmed there was a little mishap but all was well and the cow that fell into the muddy pool was being attended to.
For Irene’s family, that was very much just another activity on the farm. Having run the farm for thirty years now, Irene has been a witness and active player in the field of dairying in Keningau, which sees the concentration of Sabah’s dairy farms. Pockets of dairy farms are also found in other areas.
When Irene first began her dairy farm, there were also several others in her batch but now there are only three remaining dairy farms from the first batch of dairy farmers. The dairy farms were the results of Jabatan Haiwan (Department of Veterinary Services and Animal Industry) campaigned the setting up of dairy farms. Those who signed up for the program underwent training on dairy farm management and technology.
Irene participated and on completion of her training she received two pregnant cows. In those days they milked cows manually. Gradually her cattle increased and it was time to take a commercial loan. By then she had began to supply the milk to Jabatan Haiwan for the Government’s milk subsidy program to Sabah schools. In 1999 the dairy industry contributed about 40% of local fresh milk amounting to 4.64 million liters worth RM6.96 million.
Asreeny Dairy farm produces milk only that is stored in churns ready to be transported. For the past thirty years life on the farm had remained a little laid back which was good as that left plenty of time for the family to work, play and enjoy the fruits of their labour on the farm.
Lately, Irene’s youngest son, Chanberlan Asik, 21, has been ringing some changes. Chanberlan studied Dairy Farm Management at Skill –Tech College in Malacca. He is an Usahawan Trampil receipient, given to forward thinking young entrepreneurs in their chosen field of study.
Chanberlan grew up on the farm and from young, his father Asik Emor, a veterinarian assistant at Sook Jabatan Haiwan, had schooled him in the ways of farming and rearing cattle and other livestock. He recalls waking up at four in the morning to help milk the cows until six o’clock. He also cherished dreams of going to take up Medicine in Indonesia, but his father suggested he took up dairy farming management instead as he already had a firm foundation in that field. That clinched it and today he is glad he is back working on the farm.
“I want to improve the farm and upgrade the quality of our milk,” he told me during the phone interview. Currently they have 39 cows of Sahiwal-Frishen mixed breed. SID has graded the quality for milk in three categories: A,B, and C. Grade A cost RM2.50 a liter. Grad B at rM2.00 a liter and C at 1.50 per liter.
“A good milking cow can give up to 31 liters of milk per day, the average yield 7-10 liters per day,” Chanberlan informed.
The cattle are fed on Napier or Guinea grasses that grow lush and healthy in the Keningau uplands. Chanberlan said that feeding the cows is fairly easy as fodder is fresh from the fields. One cow will consume fodder 10% 0f their body weight. Asreeny Dairy Farm itself has been upgraded and now mechanized. Milking is also done mechanically as well as farm chores carried out by the farm tractor.
Chanberlan is also indebted to his father for invaluable help and advise. I managed to also speak to him over the phone. He answered many of my questions regarding our dairy farming style that differs from other farming areas abroad. We tend to keep our animals in the feedlot and not let them to graze freely in the fields.
The Sabah scenario is different in that most dairy farms are built on limited land area. In the ideal case, one head of cattle will require one acre of grazing plot. If you have 30 heads one will require 30 acres of land, which is not readily available to dairy farmers in Sabah. In addition, cattle will trample on their fodder and a lot goes to waste. Confining the cattle to their feedlot makes dairy farming more viable and manageable.
How do they treat their waste? Cow dung makes good fertilizers so at Asreeny Dairy Farm, according to Asik , the dung is collected and stored in septic tank like containers and directly pumped into the field of Napier or Guinea Grass. The grass is then sprinkled with water.
“ It’s basically being caught up in the food chain. The cow feeds the grass, the grass feeds the cow who gives milk and meat to humans etc.,” Asik explained.
Odd how things worked out. I was talking to Connie Chong who was telling me about her brother Chanberlan, taking pride in the achievements of her farmer entrepreneur brother. Later, when talking to her mother and her brother I realized that I also needed to talk to the father on some technical aspect of the farm.
Asik commended Chanberlan for his commitment to running the farm, which he will naturally inherit. Father and son are also gearing the farm system towards being fully organic in a year or two. As of now they can safely claim to be some 90% organic.
And how great minds think alike. I asked Chanberlan first and then his father, at different times in the day, what would they like to share with the young people of Sabah? They both gave the same answer. They passionately belief that there is a lot going for dairy farming. Even after 30 years, it is still considered a fledging industry and the opportunity to succeed in this area is immense.
He also expressed the hope that more school leavers and youth would consider dairy farming and that they be assisted and encouraged to go into dairying. While there may be certain shortcomings in this fledgling industry such as the scarcity of certain organic fertilizer and the many challenges of the industry, it offers tremendous opportunities for upgrading one’s livelihood and income.
Supposing one has land big enough to rear 10 cows in confined area and they produce up to 10 liters of milk per day each that gives you a total of 100 liters. Multiply that by RM2,00, which is the going rate for Grade B milk. Minus other expenses, there is still some to live on. Certainly a better option than going away from the farm to eke out a living in a strange place.
Asik has a word of encouragement. “If you have even a small parcel of land, you can rear cows. At the worst the couple of heads of cows can produce milk for the family and beef for eating.” A sound advice. And to underscore the value of even a small land area, he revealed that they are also into organic farming, but only for their own consumption at the moment.
Indeed, land is a precious and valuable gift of inheritance. Have land and one will not go hungry provided one is willing to till the land and live off it. At 21, Chanberlan has already unearthed the treasures of the land and is well on the way to reaping the fruits and the rewards of his labour.
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