Murungaru’s other love

A cow’s full potential for milk production after calfing down is 60 days. During this time, they feed from a common trough in a special section to encourage competition, which helps the individual cow realise optimal production.

The cows are also trained to be calm. “For a cow to produce milk to its full capacity, it has to be very calm. Every cow has it own ‘personality’ which you need to understand to help it reach its potential,” he said.

With a river running through it, Amboni Farm uses irrigation to supplement natural rain for growing foliage. Manure from the cows is used on the farm. Foliage grown on the farm is used to make silage, which can be stored for years on end.

Running the farm has its challenges, though. “Because we are on a slope, we are unable to make extensive use of machinery so the cost of labour is high,” he said.

Currently, the electricity rationing programme has slowed down the farm’s operations as chores like milking are done using electric machines. Fodder is also prepared using electricity. Without a standby generator, operations are interrupted every three days in a week.

And the last 23 years have not been without challenges. For instance, when the then Kenya Creameries Co-operative started tottering towards the end of the 1980s, the farm found itself producing milk without a market, something Dr Murungaru describes as particularly demoralising.

“With proper management, market for milk should never be a problem. Countries such as New Zealand depend almost exclusively on milk produced in the country. There is no reason the same should not happen in Kenya,” says Dr Murungaru.

Dr Murungaru’s love affair with cows started as a boy herding his grandfather’s cows around Mt Kenya. He belongs to a generation when the main chore for young boys was looking after cows.

“As a boy, I would graze our cows in Hombe and Gathirathiru forests that are part of Mt Kenya before I joined school. We learnt everything there was to learn about taking care of cows. It was a man’s job and this is how I came to love cattle. Throughout my schooling, all the way to university, I was always around our cows during holidays,” he recalls. However, those were the traditional breeds