Mitigating rainy season challenges

Although rainfall brings relief to farmers, it is also associated with several adverse conditions that affect the farm environment as well as livestock and crops.

A good rainy season should be perceived as one that starts at the anticipated time, is well distributed throughout the season and ultimately rehydrates the soil, refills water sources and re-vegetates rangeland.

According to Agribank’s technical of livestock and rangeland management, Erastus Ngaruka, recent rainfall activities are conspicuously erratic and their effects can be of concern.

Ngaruka said adverse conditions can include lightning strikes, floods, mud traps, pests and disease outbreaks.

These conditions pose a significant threat to the health, nutrition and general well-being of livestock, consequently compromising their productive performance and survival.

“Therefore, farmers need to be wary of these threats brought about by rainfall and find means of mitigating the consequences.”

Pests and diseases

Ngaruka said pests are a common threat in Namibia.

For example, an outbreak of army worms in recent years in the northern regions and the outbreak of locusts in the southern regions had a devastating impact on productivity and livelihoods.

“Crop farmers lost their yields to worms and livestock farmers in the south lost grazable materials (grass) to locusts.”

Moreover, livestock diseases during the rainfall season are highly prevalent.

Common ones that farmers should be alert to include footrot, sweating sickness, gall sickness and lumpy skin disease, among others.

Footrot is a bacterial infection of the hoof, characterised by lameness and a smelly wound on the hoof. The predisposing factors include dampness or wet soil.

Footrot can be prevented by keeping animals out of damp kraals and from damp surfaces.

The treatments include cleaning and disinfecting the wound, use of footbaths such as copper sulphate solution at kraals and injection with common antibiotics when necessary.

He said in the prevailing moist environment, tick populations are on the rise and thus, the prevalence of tick-borne diseases such as sweating sickness and gall sickness should be expected.

Sweating sickness mainly affects young calves and the symptoms among others include hyperthermia, anorexia, sweating, hair loss, sensitivity and pain.

Risk for humans

Gall sickness is characterised by fever and anaemia.

“It is important to note that these diseases are deadly if not treated in time. Moreover, they can be prevented by controlling tick infestations by means of applying common anti-parasitic remedies on animals, such as Deadline, Eliminate, Delta-pour and many others along the backline of the animal," Ngaruka said.

In addition, humans are also at risk of tick bites as some ticks carry Congo fever virus, he warned.

Congo fever is a deadly viral disease that can be transmitted to humans through a tick bite.

It is worth noting, he said, that there have been cases of Congo fever infections reported in the country in recent years.

“Therefore, every person on the farm or handling animals should always take precautionary measures and seek immediate assistance from health professionals for tick bites.”

Clean, safe environments

Another disease gaining prevalence during the rainy season is lumpy skin disease (LSD).

LSD is a viral disease affecting cattle that is transmitted by biting insects such as flies, ticks and mosquitoes, The presenting factor is a wet environment, Ngaruka explained.

LSD is however preventable with an annual vaccine readily available at veterinary medicine shops.

Ngaruka advised farmers to keep their farming environments clean and safe for themselves and their animals and to always observe and report abnormal livestock conditions or behaviours to the nearest veterinary office or livestock health experts.

Lastly, farmers should note that each rainfall season is unique in terms of commencement, distribution, intensity and associated risks; thus, farmers need to adopt appropriate management strategies to circumvent possible adverse conditions.