Lack of fodder leads to reduction in number of cows

The cattle breeders of Moldova will have to slaughter about 7% of the cows as they do not have enough fodder. A large part of the cows will be butchered before they reach the necessary weight. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, the head of Agriculture Ministry’s Animal Breeding Division Vitalie Ciobanu said that the shortage of fodder is a consequence of last summer’s drought. The Ministry allocated 12 million lei for supporting the cattle farms in southern and central Moldova, by 500 lei per dairy cow. The eight reproduction farms of the country, which include 1,422 head of cattle, received by 1,125 lei per animal, regardless of the region where they are located. “We want first of all to keep the genetic stock of cattle. We are aware that a large part of the cows and bulls will be slaughtered,” stated Vitalie Ciobanu. According to him, the situation is not the same all over the county. There are economic entities and farmers that have forage for the whole winter period and reserves. Some of them stored silage the previous years and now sell it.