Cowkeeper

Utilisation of sugarcane tops / Although some cane tops have always been used as a roughage feed, particularly in the past by smallholder cowkeepers, they are probably the most underutilised of all sugarcane by-products. Options for the use of cane tops are feeding as fresh material; ensiling fresh and/or wilted material for future feed use; and leaving in the field to dry followed by baling.

During the last decade, the Ministry of Agriculture introduced a series of incentives in order to increase milk production at the smallholder level. One of these incentives was the Milk Productivity Bonus Scheme that was introduced in 1993. It had the twin objectives of encouraging dairy smallholders commonly known as cowkeepers to decrease calving interval and increase milk production on their farm.