After being introduced to the Beefmaster in 2001, North West cattle farmer Connie van Vuuren developed a passion for this hardy, beefy breed. He established the Cona Beefmaster Stud in 2017, and selects for adaptability and good milk production, amongst other traits.
Connie van Vuuren of Cona Beefmasters near Wolmaransstad in North West was introduced to the breed in 2001 by the owners of Petana Beefmaster.
Connie says that ever since then, he has only been interested in the Beefmaster, and in March 2017, he finally demonstrated his passion for the breed when he established the Cona Beefmaster Stud.
Connie uses females from the Petana, Bos Blanco, PSB, WO, Oktavia Argen and Human Beefmaster studs for breeding in his stud.
“We do very strict selection for adaptability, because animals that can adapt well to their environment will be likely to wean calves that perform even better than their mothers. The heifers produced by these cows should then be able to calve every year, after being impregnated by a bull or via artificial insemination, as well as produce enough milk on natural grazing to raise a strong calf,” he says.
GRAZING
The Cona Beefmaster Stud is run on the farm Driefontein, between Wolmaransstad and Klerksdorp. The area receives an average annual rainfall of 425mm, and has natural red grass veld, as well as planted Smutsfinger grass that provides nutritious grazing.
This story is from the 5-12 January 2018 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
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This story is from the 5-12 January 2018 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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