Uzair bin Farid

Industrial scale feedlot fattening facilities will enable beef exporters to increase their exportable produce up to $3 billion per annum. According to data available with WealthPK, the current volume of beef export will be increased from $500 million to $3 billion per annum after the establishment of feedlot fattening facilities at industrial scale. The primary purpose of establishing such facilities is to prevent the waste of 3 million male buffalo calves annually which are not utilised into productive economic output due to quality issues. The project will be undertaken with help from Chinese companies. The Chinese partners have already helped the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR) in the establishment of a laboratory testing facility that will now make way for joint ventures between Pakistani and Chinese companies. The main market for such beef products will be China. According to government projections, the total value of exportable beef to China in the medium-to-long term could reach $3 billion per annum.

Feedlot fattening facilities are used around the world to produce healthy cattle for the beef market. It is divided into two phases namely growing (backgrounding) and finishing (fattening) phases. In standard cases, the backgrounding phase usually lasts 90 days with a focus on providing the calves with high-forage and low grain rations. The goal of the backgrounding phase is to maximise the growth of the calf with minimal of fat deposition. The finishing phase comes after the backgrounding phase and continues for the next 100 days after backgrounding. It involves the feeding of high-grain and low-forage rations to the calves until they reach a certain prescribed cover of fat deposition which makes them ready for slaughter. The project of feedlot fattening facilities is in line with the government’s efforts to increase the exports of beef and meat products.

Credit: INP-WealthPk