March 31, 2020 will forever be etched into our minds, as the President of Uganda announced a 14 day lockdown with no movement of private cars, only motorcyles, lorries and pickups allowed.

At first glance I can say that we were very fortuate, as our most senior staff at the farm had left the day before to see his wife through childbirth for their second child who was due April 9th, but came April 2nd. He would definitely have missed the birth and first days had he stayed a day longer.

This was the test of the processes and tools that we had put in place since we started this joruney in January 2013:

1. Feed preparation
   • This is fully outsourced although we control the formulation process, and fully mixed, packed food is delivered to the farm in 100kg bags. We weigh on delivery and cross check with the order made. This proved to be the right call as the trust relation with the feed mixing provider meant we did not have to be present at all times, and transactions could be completed remotely.
   • During this process due to stockout of the 10% concentrate formulation we successfully moved to a 5% concentrate formulation
   • The feed is prepared once a week, which reduces the need for adding preservatives to keep it for longer, and provides an opportunity to make quick changes based on feedback from the birds – always measured by productivity
2. Farm Records Management
   • On a daily basis we track the total feed and water consumption, production (number of trays per house) which provided remote visibility into how the farm was running
   • In addition we track finer details such how many eggs were picked per hour, how much feed and water is given in the morning and afternoon. This helps spot trends and changes in behavior based on weather and other factors
3. Production and Sales Management
   • Previously we delivered to our customers which removed visitors from the farm, helping us manage biosecurity and good old security since no visitors are allowed to come in and eggs to leave. However with the lockdown this changed due to transport constraints
   • All deliveries were pre-paid before pickup as no credit was allowed, intially payments were made to the bank (via agent banking) however now this had to change to mobile money due to movement restrictions
   • Stock management – we agressively manage our stock having order levels at 120% of production, and carefully managing our customer deliveries to keep them happy. This was put to the test with a double punch of 3-week lockdown extension and start of Ramadhan, which pushed prices to below cost and at one time we had 800 trays (over 2 weeks of production)
   • Price management – we track and manage egg sales price based on the cost of feeds
4. Farm Operations – we have regular activities at the farm to maintain the health of the birds which include
   • Monthly deworming followed by Newcastle vaccination
   • Scheduled pre-emptive veterinary service visits to check on the stool, and look for any signs of sickness as well as assess overall biosecurity controls. Additional visits would be triggered by changes in feed & water consumption plus productivity
   • Movement Sticker – we got this one through application to the Ministry of Works, as the farm is a registered legal entity that also files taxes with URA, so proof of need was not difficult to provide
   • The two staff who were at the farm during this period did a tremendous job earning themselve a 50% monthly salary bonus, for holding the fort.
   • The production manager had 2 daily checkin calls (or more)

The lockdown has now been eased with a partial re-opening started, which has pushed up demand and has provided a window for us to complete renovations and prepare for a new flock coming in on June 9, 2020.

What have been your lessons for running your farm operations during this lockdown? What will you change and improve for the future?