Beef Cattle Production, Management and Its Constraints in and Around Waliso, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

A cross sectional study was conducted from November, 2016 to April, 2017 to assess beef cattle production, management practices and its constraints in and around Waliso Oromia regional state. In this study, 120 smallholder farmers engaged in beef cattle fattening business were selected purposively. Then, data were collected by interview using pretested structured and semi-structured questionnaire survey, personal observation and group focused discussion with key informants, and analyzed using a Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 software. Based on the results of this study, mixed crop livestock production was the main source of income for 70% of the farmers, and 47.5% of them were having over two years of beef cattle fattening experience. Moreover, 60.8% of the farmers prefer animals over four years of age for fattening, and 91.7% of them use a combination of multiple selection criteria. It is also found that, 90.8% of the farmers were having a separate fattening area while the rest were keeping their animals within the family residence compound. Regarding feeding management, the farmers were using concentrate and roughage feeds to feed their animals. However, 82.5% of them do not know the daily amount of concentrate feeds given per animal. The farmers level of education and farming experience were statistically significantly associated (p<0.05) with their knowledge on the daily amount of concentrate feeds given per animal. Shortage of feed (85%), animal disease (69%) and lack of credit services were among the major constraints for beef cattle fattening business in the study district. Therefore, providing training and extension services should be given due attention to solve the existing constraints in the study district.