Droughtmasters prove their worth in stud and commercial herds

It is a little bit disconcerting to assume that the plush, inexperienced valley on the foot of the Elandsberg, which rises to an elevation of 1 653m above sea degree, was as soon as the scene of in depth coal mining. Most traces of the Kempslust mining exercise have, whereas nonetheless not totally erased, been hidden underneath a inexperienced cowl of younger vegetation.

Situated between the cities of Paulpietersburg and Utrecht inside the Amajuba and Zululand district municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, the Elandsberg space is one among South Africa’s most vital water supply areas and the first catchment for the Tugela and Pongola river methods, which provide an important many downstream customers.

As a end result, the realm acquired formal environmental safety in 2021 with the declaration of the 25 000ha Elandsberg Protected Environment. It comes as no shock then that for Chris van Niekerk, Johan Kemp and Riaan Venter, who farm on the slopes of the Elandsberg, environmental safety is a major focus.

Van Niekerk and Kemp have been enterprise companions for 30 years, operating a 3 500ha farm. Venter joined the farming operation as a 3rd associate about 15 years in the past.

These days, their most important farming operation is beef cattle manufacturing. They additionally farm sheep, and are in the method of creating a kiwifruit orchard and hope to start out harvesting their first fruit inside the subsequent two to 3 years.

Getting began
About seven years in the past, the enterprise companions determined to start out breeding their personal bulls for their commercial beef cattle operation. This in the end steered the enterprise in a brand new route.

“Before we started breeding Droughtmasters, we would buy Grassfields Beef bulls from the late Hubert Shaw and his son Rustin to use on our commercial herd. At one of their sales, they had Droughtmaster bulls and female animals on offer, and we were impressed by their temperament, uniformity and conformation,” says Kemp.

In 2014, they began breeding Droughtmasters and purchased two teams of F1 and base cows, consisting of 14 in-calf cows from F4 Droughtmaster bulls, on the Shaws’ annual manufacturing sale.

“Right from the start we found them to be hardy and able to perform well in our extensive conditions,” says Van Niekerk.

They purchased their first Droughtmaster bull in 2014 from Underberg-based breeder Chippie Watson.

With the assist of Ian Currin, a technical adviser for the Africa Droughtmaster Cattle Breeders’ Society, the enterprise companions sourced prime genetics from well-known breeders to additional enhance the stud herd. The Shaws additionally assisted them by giving them entry to one among their Droughtmaster sires.

“We later acquired shares in two of the Shaws’ stud sires and used their semen to artificially inseminate some of the female animals in our herd. This helped us make faster progress in improving the genetics in our stud,” Van Niekerk says.

In 2017, they purchased a Droughtmaster stud sire from Hurwitz Farming and one other bull from Watson in 2020.

“We are now in the fortunate position where we are able to breed all the bulls that we need for our commercial herd ourselves, which means we no longer have to buy in any bulls for the commercial herd,” Van Niekerk says.

Their Elandsberg Droughtmaster stud has grown to incorporate about 100 registered breeding feminine animals, whereas the commercial herd consists of roughly 600 Droughtmaster-type feminine animals, that are mated with two-year previous stud bulls.

Grazing administration
The farm is in a sourveld space, and the primary grass sort is crimson grass (Themeda triandra). Summers are sizzling and humid with most temperatures in the excessive 30s, and winters are largely gentle, however the space can expertise very chilly days with temperatures dropping to day-time lows of 5°C. While a uncommon incidence, the realm does generally get snow in winter, particularly greater up in the mountains. Rainfall typically varies between 850mm and
1 000mm every year.

“In our beef farming operation, we focus on preserving the natural veld; overstocking is not an option. We strictly abide by the carrying capacity of 3ha/LSU,” says Van Niekerk, who’s the stud grasp for Elandsberg Droughtmasters.

Camps are grazed on a rotational foundation and are left for lengthy sufficient intervals between grazing to permit the veld to relaxation and reseed. The farm is split into 12 summer season camps, masking an space of about 1 700ha, and 19 winter camps. They additionally make use of planted pastures, together with 25ha of Smutsfinger grass and 14ha of Eragrostis that get harvested as soon as for haymaking, after which the lands are fertilised in order that grass can be utilized as standing hay.

There are additionally 28ha of ryegrass planted underneath irrigation, which will get rotated with silage maize. The silage maize is used as a finisher feed for cull cows which can be offered from the on-farm feedlot for slaughter.

Because the farm is in a sourveld area, it’s important that animals are supplied with licks throughout winter and summer season, which the companions supply from Lamprecht Feeds in Amersfoort.

Breeding and choice
“We only have one breeding season. Heifers are paired with two-year-old bulls from mid-September and the breeding season for cows starts on 1 November,” Van Niekerk says.
He says trichomoniasis is without doubt one of the largest challenges they face as state veterinary providers are missing in the testing, monitoring and therapy of trichomoniasis in communal cattle.

Other animal illnesses that pose a menace embrace African and Asiatic redwater, black quarter, lumpy pores and skin illness, gallsickness and bovine ephemeral fever (BEF). Animals are vaccinated for BEF, black quarter and lumpy pores and skin illness yearly. Animals are solely dipped as vital.

Heifers and cows in the stud breeding herd that fail to conceive after one breeding season are moved to the commercial herd the place they’re given one other alternative. If they fail once more to conceive, they’re culled from the herd.

The common birthweight is between 30kg and 33kg. Calves are weaned at eight to 9 months weighing in at roughly 235kg.

Currin visits the farm yearly to carry out a cautious choice to find out which animals born in the stud between the ages of 18 months and two years are to be retained in the stud herd.

“We select for temperament, fertility and body conformation. Bulls need to have strong, masculine heads, strong legs for walking, good length and depth, well-developed scrotums and good sheaths,” says Van Niekerk.

One of crucial checks that they’re operating in the intervening time is to find out whether or not or not the Droughtmaster has the next dressing proportion than the typical beef cattle animal in South Africa.

To measure this, they’re monitoring the each day feed consumption of 150 long-yearlings that they’ve provided to Heiner Hinze’s feedlot in Commondale. After three-and-a-half months, these animals might be slaughtered at Allen’s Butchery in Hluhluwe, the place the dressing proportion might be recorded.

“We try to maintain a good balance between the stud and commercial herds. In order to make optimal use of the veld, we cannot grow the stud much larger than 100 to 120 female animals; instead, we focus on improving quality,” says Kemp.

He says the Droughtmaster has turn out to be such a preferred breed in South Africa inside a brief time period due to its distinctive temperament and its skill to adapt to numerous weather conditions. Experience has additionally proven that Droughtmasters have robust prepotency.

“Breeding with Droughtmasters has been an extremely rewarding and enjoyable experience for us, and we are very proud of the animals we have bred so far and the quality of our stud herd,” says Kemp. They haven’t but held their personal manufacturing public sale, however hope to have the ability to accomplish that in about two to 3 years’ time. They have, nonetheless, been promoting bulls instantly from the farm, after they’ve been efficiently used on their personal heifers. These bulls are offered as commercial bulls.

“Commercial beef producers are of the utmost importance to us, as they represent our primary market for quality bulls. It is our responsibility to supply them with breeding stock that will improve the genetic potential of their herds, and earn them better market prices for their animals,” says Van Niekerk.

Phone Chris van Niekerk on 082 306 8784. Visit the Africa Droughtmaster Cattle Breeders’ Society at droughtmasterafrica.co.za.