I Left Corporate Job & Now Richest Dorper Sheep Farmer

In this video, I am in one of the most amazing farms in Kenya. It's called Kantafu. We are just about 50 kilometers from the CBD. I've seen some of the some sheep that I've never seen, especially the rams. They're called the T5s. Yes, those are T5 and T4 rams that we use especially for breeding. Those are breeding rams. It reached a point you had to leave formal employment. There's been a journey of self-reflection. Not wanting to look like, you know, quit your job and go into your hustle. What I would say is plan it out. Take time. The farm was not going to grow to the levels that I had wanted it to grow to if I was still going to be in formal employment. There are four critical success factors that you need to work on. You need to work hard. Ensure your sheep are eating the very best that you can be able to get for them. Ensure you have the most competent management you can be able to get. It's important that you build on ensuring that you're using technology in your farm. Tony, you have a breed or species of Nepia called Super Nepia. Correct. So what's interesting about Super Nepia? Super Nepia in Marseille has been a wonder crop for us. We've planted it for the last, now going to the second year now. And it's an amazing, it's an amazing, amazing fodder. Why I say it's amazing? One, it's crude protein. We're talking about 17% crude protein. The other thing is its ability to replenish over time. Because we harvest it every 120 days and it ratoons back. And currently we are doing about, in a year we do about 90, close to 90 tons per acre. I know the book talks of and the theory and those posts on social media talk of 200. We've not been able to get that. But still at 90, it's fantastic. It's fantastic. And remember with the Super Nepia Pangchon, we are able to feed to the sheep direct. Or we are able to sell it. So it has been a game changer for us. And especially reducing costs. And this is what I would encourage farmers to find creative ways of reducing costs. Without affecting the quality that you're giving it to your sheep. For us, it has been able to reduce the quality, the costs, in terms of the materials we use, from a protein perspective. Now with that, we've reduced a bit. If you are going to buy soya, we've gone down even more with what we have. And I've noticed you cut your feed into really fine grits, if I may call it. Why so? Why do you cut it into really fine grits? We do it that way because you find the sheep unlike the cattle. If you're going to feed them in bales, there's a lot of wastage. And at the end of the day, you're feeding them for them to eat. So the most important thing is to make it as easy as possible. So what we do is that we grind it. Either with this machine, the chaff cutter, or we use the tractor propelled grinder there. And what we use is that we ensure that you cut it in a way that it's easier for the sheep to eat. And also ensuring that even when you're coming to mix, because at a certain point in time, we need to mix it with other feeds. Be it the maize jam, be it a bit of the lucerne, a bit of the napier there. It's easier to mix when it's cut into fine pieces. Pieces, yes. And I noticed also, I noticed you putting molasses. Correct. So molasses is one of the end products of sugar cane, right? Yes, it's a by-product. So why do you put molasses? Just like we put sugar in tea. With molasses, what it does for you is that molasses provides you with energy. For your animals. The other important thing is that it increases the palatability. What is palatability? Palatability is the taste. It's the ease of feeding, ease of eating. So it comes down again to us, sugar and tea. Correct, correct. Or like as a kid would say, tomato sauce with chips. So it's that sort of thing. So you need to ensure that. Amazing. Yes. Now, we have the best of the best. You can't beat the cats, okay? Yeah, yeah. Tell us now about them. Now here we have some of our breeding rams. Wow. Here at the farm. Yeah. Now these are what we refer to as T5 rams. T5. T5 rams means these rams have been inspected by three independent judges or inspectors. Yeah. And they have been graded as T5. T5 is the highest grade that a doper sheep can get to. Meaning they are the third specimen that can be used for breeding. Yeah. In any breeding flock. Yeah. So this is what we use to breed with our ewes. Yeah. So what you'll also notice is that we have another gentleman there. Yeah. That's an Ildi France ram that we've brought along to bring us because we want to see we're doing some tests on Nyama. Yeah. We want to see how we can build more into a commercial meat line. Into more, produce the masses. Yes. But they're already big. Look at these bad boys. Look at how big he is. Wow. All this is meat, right? So this, yeah. Wow. This is incredible. And one ram takes how many ewes? One ram like this boy, he is a two-year-old boy. Yeah. He's two and a half years old. Yeah. He's called Mickey. Mickey. Now Mickey at two and a half years, he breeds with about 45 ewes. Wow. Okay. Per season. And our season is 35 days. Why 35 days? It's because an ewe goes into estrous every 17 days. Yeah. So if you give this boy two estrous cycle, two chances with the ewe. Yeah. He should be able to cover them. Wow. Yeah. Now Mandela is much younger. Mandela is one year, okay? So Mandela, his ratio of ram to ewe is one ram to 35 ewes. One ram, 35 ewes. 35 ewes. You have how many rams here? There are eight. How many are they? You know, as a farmer, we don't count. But we know when one is missing. When you're selecting a ram, it's very important. Yeah. When you're selecting a ram, it's very important to look at the masculinity. First, you start with the head. The head needs to be muscular. You know, you cannot go for a ram that is feminine. Yeah. In structure. The other thing you're looking at is a strong neck. And very broad shoulders, as you see this boy has. Yeah. You know, and strong legs. Because remember, your dopa is supposed to be able to walk. You know, and carry his weight. Right now, he's 97 kilos. Wow. Okay? Wow. The other thing you're looking at, remember, your ram is half your flock. Yeah. So whatever genetics, you better spend more time and investment on your boy. Now you're looking at, here's what we call the ram, the backside. You need to ensure, if you can see, it is broad. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Why is it broad like this? So you need to be able to have a ram that can carry quite a bit of meat. Yeah. The other important thing I always state, if you don't know much to look at. Yeah. Please take time to look at the testicles. Wow. Big. The bigger the testicle, the higher the sign of fertility. Wow. Yes. For some odd reason, the ladies laugh when that happens. When we get to this in class. Yeah. But you need to have balanced testicles. Not one side that is bigger than the other. They need to be balanced. Okay? Yeah. Now once it's balanced, then you're sure it's going to be very good quality sperm quality that will be coming out of that boy. Incredible. Yeah. Incredible. So ensure you have a boy with a strong back. You know, it's a wide back. Yeah. Here you can even have your cup of tea. Exactly. And keep your plate. Yeah. And have some food on that. So ensure that happens. There's another myth that we need to demystify. Yeah. Normally they say that, you know, a dopa should not have horns. It has horns. Yeah. Why does it have horns? It's because, remember, the father of dopas was the Dorset horned ram from England. Yeah. Horned ram. They had horns. Yeah. So please don't disqualify that dopa just because it has horns. What you need to do is beehorn it. Beehorn it. Yes. Cut it. Yes. And because you have... As you can see, Mickey, we beehorned quite a while back. Wow. Yeah. And there's something special about this ram. Yes. His father was a champion. His father was a world champion. Wow. This is what is... His father was a ram called Bolt Jr. 2018 world champion ram. Best of the best. Yes. You can't beat the cat. Yes. And actually, I want to take this time to give a shout out to my good friend, Mickey Phillips. Wow. Because Mickey Phillips offered an eel to me as a present after visiting his farm. Yeah. And the eel came and gave birth to twins. Yeah. And he was one of the twins. Wow. Yeah, with his sister Vanessa. So here we go. Okay. How much does a ram like this go for? Millions of money. Should I mention? No, no, no, no. Wow. Okay, let me... Like everything else good in life. Remember, we as farmers always say a ram or a bull doesn't cost. Yeah. It pays. Pays. Yeah. So how much do you sell? Leave the tea, the best of the best. Yes. How much do you sell an eel here? Eel starts at about 30,000 baht. 30,000 shillings. Yes. Right? Yes, 30,000 shillings. And what about a ram now? A ram that is just also is best of best, but not as incredible as Mickey and the eight. What we do is that we try to cater to different target audiences. And farmers, as we're starting out. Yeah. So we have rams from an F1 perspective. The F1 goes at 45, F2 at 55, F3 at 65. Then we have the ones that father and mother in South Africa, they start at 100. Wow. You're in the dense... Where you're planting the fodder? In the dense plantation of super Napier fodder. Yeah. We're in a section where we grow most of our cuttings now. That's why you see some of it is overgrown. To ensure that we have more to expand. And also to have a bit to offer to farmers. Wow. This is... You have a lot. You're prepared. You have silage. You have... Already ready to harvest Napier, right? This is ready, right? Yeah. And it's so many... You almost think you're in the sugarcane plantations of Haiti or Dominican Republic. Correct. Wow. This is irrigation farming. Wow. And the ladies are... They harvest... This is Lucerne, right? Yes. Wow. Let's go see how they're harvesting it. Yes. Wow. This is incredible. How many acres do you have here? Quite a bit. Not too much. It's big. But you can see the ladies have done quite a good job. Yeah. They're almost done. In ensuring that we are actually harvesting it. Remember with Lucerne, here we harvest after every 45 days. Yeah. So that keeps us going from a protein perspective. Yeah. Especially for the lambs and for the lactating ewes. Yes. And then the Lucerne. I've noticed this is the drip irrigation. These are the pipes. Yes. And then I'm seeing you're leaving the Lucerne out. Why is it? They're drying. You cut it. Then you're leaving it. Yes. With Lucerne, it's very potent. This. So you don't want to... You have to ensure that it dries. It dries. It wilts. That is why. You have to ensure that it wilts because it can cause bloating. And to some extent, it can even cause death. To your animals. To the animals. So it's important that you ensure that it... Here we let it wilt for about three to four days. Then we put it back in the barn. And there we grind it and ready to feed it. To feed our animals. Wow. Yes. Incredible. Yes. This is incredible. Yes. On this other side, we grow our maize. We've just harvested our maize. This is a new crop coming up. So that side, we're growing some maize. Which of course, we'll use it as fodder for our sheep to gather silage. And also growing maize into full term to ensure we have enough energy for the sheep. Wow. Yes. Wow. You're prepared. Oh, yes. So if I may ask. Yes. How, in terms of food, how prepared are you? How many months can you grow this food that is here right now? In the silos and this plantation? I would say about two, three years. Three years? Yes. Wow. We would comfortably do two years. It would be a stretch for three years. Wow. But God forbid, we don't want to get there. But remember, for farmers out there, it's all about the planning. That's what we are learning. It's all about the planning. Yeah. Always ensure that, remember the four critical success factors. Genetics. Feed. Management. And technology. These four need to be married together. I mean, you've seen the cases where one goes to a place down in central province and buys some of these quality dairy cows. Yeah. Doing 40 litres. Takes them to their home. And quickly the animal plummets back to seven litres a day. What is the challenge? The genetics is right. But the feed is not there. The management is missing. So you cannot only angle with one. You need to ensure all those four pillars are married together. Together. Yes. Wow. Ben. Yes. You're having... Because you want to enlighten the community and our society. Yes. Into keeping quality. Yes. Into keeping quality meat. Yes. And getting their farms to running. And you know we're improving food security. We're offering employment opportunities. So you're having conferences, right? You're having trainings, okay? Tell these guys about it. Also, there are many people watching us. Tell them something about farming. About sheep farming here in Africa. Okay. So in regards to the upcoming conference, we have our DOPA conference coming up this year. Yeah. In July. That's next month. July 18th to 19th. This is the second conference after the successful first conference last year in November. Yeah. We'll be having exciting facilitators. We'll be having Phil Rawlings who's a well-renowned DOPA inspector and judge. Yeah. Coming all the way from South Africa. Wow. We'll also be having facilitators and guest speakers speaking on nutrition. Speaking on animal management. Yeah. Speaking on markets in terms of a commercial side of the market. Yeah. Where many farmers will ask, where do I sell my meat? Who do I sell it to? Yeah. So we'll be having that side of the world speaking back to us farmers. Showing us where the markets are. Another important thing is that it will be a great opportunity for farmers to network with other farmers. Wow. Which is also very, very important. For you in Laikipia to know that you know someone else from Nakuru, from Narok, from Malindi. All these could be opportunities for you to look at. Wow. Yes. Amazing. Yes. Wow. Yes. I want you to tell us something about, is it keeping sheep? Is it a serious venture that you could really make good money out of it? That people should embrace? The short answer is yes. The long answer is this. Just like many other things in life, you need to put in the time. There is this famous theory now. Yeah. By Malcolm Gladwell. Yeah. That talks about 10,000 hours. So, I mean, put in the time. Put in the time. Yeah. Put in the time. I think what's important is be open. Yeah. Be a great learner. Dream big. Actualize your dreams. Take deliberate steps. And what I always say about farming, and this is what I'm learning every other day, a farmer has to be deliberate. Nothing happens without planning, you know? There's no way these boys would be here without planning. Yes. You can't bring these boys when you have not planned for the girls. Wow. Okay? You can't bring these boys and girls when it's not planned for the feed. For the feed. Yeah. So it's all about how you plan it out. Yeah. Yes. Amazing. So to the farmers out there, take your time. Ensure that you've ticked the box, especially when it comes to sheep farming. Yeah. No, do you want to keep them for meat? Or do I want to become a breeder? And then work yourself through that. Wow. Yes. Incredible. How much do you charge for trainings? For trainings, they will cost you including meals and accommodation, only $20,000 a month for the two days you'll be with us here. And we also have monthly trainings where you come in, which you are held on the last Saturday of every month. These ones will only cost you 5,000 shillings. It's from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Yes. Wow. Incredible. Yeah, we're always on our social media handles. We'll always let you know when the next training is available or any news about Amago Doppers is available. Yeah. We also have our YouTube channel, Amago Doppers Dad. Yeah. Please remember to subscribe. Yeah. And please keep the dream going and happy farming. Amazing. Yeah. So if you watched this video up until this point and you've liked it, remember to subscribe. Remember to give me a thumbs up. Also subscribe to his channel. Okay. Go find him amazing content. You'll learn a lot. So leave down your comments. Let me know what you're thinking. So until the next time, a peace.