Page 254 - Agriculture_Form_Three

Agriculture for Secondary Schools

Exercise 11.1
Answer the following questions:
1. List any three breeds of cattle suitable for meat production.
2. What should you consider in selecting animal breeds for meat production?

Farming systems for livestock kept for meat

In Form One you learned about the major farming systems of livestock production:
intensive, semi-intensive and extensive livestock farming systems. Here you shall
learn more specifically on the systems used for production of animals for meat
production that fall under the three major systems.
Intensive system
This is a system where animals are confined indoor and fed inside all the time. It is
a system in which feeding of the animal is done under a confined area. Feeding and
drinking equipment are placed in the shed where the animal can have more access to
feeds and water. The main feed for ruminant animals such as cattle, goats and sheep
is grain, grain by-products and hay or grass. A good example of an intensive system
of producing meat from ruminants is feedlot production system which is an area or
building where ruminants are fed or fattened on high energy feeds such as maize
grain with little roughages.

Semi-intensive system
This is a system where animals are grazed on either natural or established pastures
during the day and confined in the night. Animals are normally provided with
supplementary feeds. For meat ruminant animals, this system is commonly practised
in ranches and smallholder production system.

Extensive system
This is a system where ruminant animals rely totally on natural pastures and other
roughages without any kind of supplementation. During night hours, animals
are placed in bomas or kraals. It is a common system in the traditional ruminant
production where indigenous types of animals are used.

Tethering
This is another system used for a smallholder ruminant production and it is very
common for raising goats. In this system, the animal is tied with a rope at a place
where it can graze within the radius of the tying rope. Tethering is often practised
to keep the animals under control. This is much cheaper but can mean quite a lot of
work; moving the animal twice daily to fresh pastures, bringing the animals in when
it rains and out when it stops.

Student’s Book Form Twos Book Form Three
Student’
243

10/01/2025 12:32
AGRICULTURE FORM 3 9.11.2022.indd 243
AGRICULTURE FORM 3 9.11.2022.indd 243 10/01/2025 12:32