On the 19th of July, we hosted our first Field Day on the farm in a long time! This wonderful event brought together over 100 local farmers from Ol Rongai giving us the chance to showcase all the exciting developments we’re working on!
As part of the day’s attractions people were able to see some of our latest crop trials, including cowpeas, potatoes, five varieties of beans, sorghum, maize and pigeon peas. We also had small packs on sale, crucially these enable farmers to try small quantities of new crops and varieties without taking financial risks.
We were also joined by external exhibitors, including KEPHIS – the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, who discussed the importance of avoiding fake seed on the market. As well as by CKL Africa, who showcased their wide range of animal health solutions, and Greenlife Africa who are experts in crop protection.
CKL exhibiting their products.
In addition to the crops we showcased, we demonstrated our silage production process, using our E6315 sorghum variety.
Janey showing off our silage sorghum
In a bid to increase discussions about the importance of healthy soils, we also demonstrated production of dynamic liquid fertiliser with the new Johnson Sue system we’ve been implementing.
Philip showcasing our Johnson-Su composting set up
As the driving force at the inception of Leldet seed was the marginal conditions we in Ol Rongai face, it was wonderful to bring together a group of enthusiastic and expert neighbour farmers to share our vision of what successful and sustainable farming in these conditions can be.
The rains have come and we’ve been busy this quarter!
The whole country faced severe flooding in April and May, we were not immune as several catchments on the farm are fed by drainage from surrounding roads. Our main dam was full for the first time, but did not overflow.
Our dam, full of water but fortunately not over flowing
We were also really pleased to see no runoff from any of our own fields, unlike over grazed areas on neighbouring farms, proving our concept for crop rotation resulting in healthier soils able to maximise water retention.
Our field are sodden, but there wasn’t any run off or erosion due to the soil management regime, where lots of last year’s biomass is left on the field.
At the same time, we have been laying pipes for distributing water to cattle troughs and other points around the farm, this will reduce the cost in distributing water.
A new pipeline to distribute borehole water across the farm.
Crops
April always means planting, planting, planting! And we’ve been busy! This season as part of our usual rotation and in anticipation of good rains, we have planted seed maize, beans, sorghum and grass. We were flat out managing field preparation, planting and subsequent scouting and pest management.
A crop of fresh Boma Rhodes grass.
The crops are all doing well, with the maize seed crop ready for detasseling in June. We continue to monitor wildlife threats, especially reed buck and guinea fowl which love to eat shoots, and wild pigs which will eat freshly planted seeds and small cobs.
Our maize seed crop, post detasseling with males on the left and females on the right.
The beans harvested in Q1 have met our consistently high quality, with KEPHIS returning 99% and 98% for Kat B1 and KK8 germination tests respectively.
Livestock
We’ve had an exciting development this quarter, bringing in a new herd of dairy cattle from the Hairy Dairy. These beautiful Jersey cattle will join our existing dairy cows as we develop this aspect of our livestock program.
Hairy Dairy cows, on their way to the farm!
In another first for us, we’re going to start breeding from one of our own AI bred bulls, this young Charolais cross should fill out and provide great genetics for our beef herd.
Our first AI-bred bull being used in our general beed breeding herd.
Additionally, we’ve been managing Foot and Mouth alerts in the area, with a vaccination program for all cows.
Life on the Farm
Loloto left us again, giving us time to fix fences and collect trees he has knocked over, we hope he’ll be safe until he returns.
In 2023, we shared information on our efforts to clear Lantana, an invasive shrub that smothers pasture, we recently commissioned a wood chipper, which will enable us to further deal with this threat while producing mulch returning biomass to the soil.
Cows happily grazing in pasture that is growing in a field cleared of Lantana
Lamu
While we were planting on the farm, we were also planting at the coast! This year we planted 500 mangroves along the beach at Mnazi Mmoja, in line with broader efforts in Lamu county to conserve mangrove cover to reduce beach erosion and create more habitat for marine life.
Mangroves planted in front of Mnazi Mmoja.
We’ve also been planting fruit trees for several years now, and these are starting to bear (delicious!) fruit!
This year we’ve been off to a busy start, following the droughts in 2022 and 2023, we’ve been relieved to have had only a modest dry season, with a total of 150mm of rain in the first three months of the year.
Patchy rain kept us reasonable green through the dry season.
We’ve now transitioned to using our borehole water for livestock and general operations, however as it’s not fit for human consumption we’re still using rainwater for all our drinking needs. In 2024 we aim to pipe the borehole water to all the main usage points, especially cattle troughs.
Crops
We’ve had an exciting time with our beans this quarter, harvesting, dressing and packing seeds crops, with more in the field. We’re especially proud that our seeds produced outstanding germination results from KEPHIS: KK8 99%, KAT B1 97%, Chelelang 98%.
Our amazing Leldet beans!
These first class seeds are being introduced to new markets, through a field day in March in Timau where we reached farmers from as far afield as Meru and Maralal. We’ve introduced new packaging, including a new 1kg packet, to meet the demand of cash strapped farmers as we all adapt to the challenging economic conditions. Our sales throughout Mulot and Bomet remain strong.
Leldet at the Timau Field Day, introducing our quality seeds to new farmers.
We’ve also been harvesting grass seed from our Boma Rhodes grass crops, and making hay. However, the light dry season has suppressed the hay market, which is a challenge for cash flow going into the pre-planting field preparation season.
Boma Rhodes grass, cut for baling.
Field preparation has been going on in the lead up to Easter, and the expected long rains. We have bean and sorghum crops to harvest, and then we’ll be aerating fields that are going to be planted coming out of the grass phase in our rotation.
Livestock
Our cows and sheep have come through the dry season well, we’ve been topping up their grazing with silage in their bomas in the evening. The AI program has been ongoing, and we’ve welcomed our first AI Jersey calf.
Our first Jersey AI Calf
Other work has included livestock chipping, in order to improve our records for better breeding and tracking for more productive and healthy herds. We’ve been keeping up with our consistent provision of beef cattle to choice meats, and our cows continue to rank at the highest quality.
Our cows making it through the dry season in great condition!
We have faced some disease challenges this quarter, in large part due to the influx of cattle from a wide area onto a neighbouring farm, resulting in increased disease and pest – especially tic – load, and unfortunately some casualties. We’re continuing to build capacity within the team to recognize, diagnose and treat issues as soon as possible to maximise the welfare of the livestock.
Life on the Farm
Loloto the elephant is back from his Christmas holidays, as ever, we’re pleased to have him back, but a little less thrilled to be dealing with the constant fence, tree and crop damage. We’ve had challenges this quarter keeping the farm safe for the wildlife we share the space with, especially from poachers who continue to set snares catching birds, hares and small antelopes, and cut down trees for charcoal production.
Hares caught by poachers using snares on the farm.
We’ve been planting more trees, trying to make use of the borehole water to establish some fruit trees and other indigenous varieties.
New fruit trees planted on the farm!
Lastly, we’ve slowly been building our workshop, so that onsite maintenance can be optimised. So much of our time is spent fixing tractors, planters, sprayers and other equipment, we want to ensure this can be done as seamlessly as possible.
All in all, we’re looking forward to a productive 2024, mindful of the increasingly challenging economic conditions we’re facing alongside our team, neighbours, suppliers and customers.
Rajwera Farm 