Starting May 29, 2010 while moving around Baguio and Benguet, I was privileged to learn and understand about livestock farming particularly swine raising.
My travels are done mostly by hitch hiking due to the lack of public transportation and between a choice of spending for a private transportation and the risk of being stuck in any landslide in the mountains.
Farmers experience almost the same plight as any other business men or entrepreneurs in the country such as lack of capitalization that leads to risk of bankruptcy, hence raising the questions if the livestock raising that they ventured into is a livelihood activity or a hobby.
However I have learned three keys to success in livestock raising and they are the following:
1. M
2. A
3. N
And the three (3) basic principles in livestock raising are I think applicable to other businesses and other endeavors such as managing our lives...
1. Management ---- there is a time of everything, our houses should be properly built so that its occupants won't be sickly and others.
2. Animal (breeding) --- our future lies in us... Remembering my readings on the illnesses that came about such as schizophrenia. We have the power to alleviate the adverse effects of poor bred humans should we apply the principles we do with our live stocks. Supposed to be even at a higher level because we are humans. Instead we tend to become worse than the live stocks that we breed.
3. Nutrition - most often we take care more meticulously of the car and the live stocks and the houses and of our clothes, not minding of our nutrition... of our own health... by eating more often in fast foods or skipping meals for a task and others...
Livestock Farming is not easy task but the farmers engage in it because they enjoy it, though the pay is not that lucrative, it serves as a therapy besides being an additional venture from the vegetable farming, it also develops skills until they can manage a bigger one.
I envy those who are in the countryside because they have the space for livestock farming.
Ms. Rei Ann
