The conundrum most farmers struggle with is what comes first – veld, livestock or finances? The answer is simple. All three should be restored simultaneously as they are interdependent. However, implementing a recovery plan at all three levels is not that simple.
Precision farming and sustainability
The key guidelines in the process of recovery and regeneration, are precision farming and sustainability. The process should be carried out against the backdrop of the following recommendations:
• The ‘patient’ is in ‘intensive care’ and requires action that produces results from the onset. There is no time for playing games, experimenting or making the wrong decisions. Although sometimes bitter, the medicine is essential.
• Seek the advice of a multidisciplinary team consisting of a grazing expert, livestock expert and agricultural economist. Their first task should be determining the farm’s ‘morbidity’, followed by a treatment plan or turnaround strategy. Having a plan is crucial. It is all well and good to hope for the best, but without a strategy it remains a gamble.
• Decisions must be based on facts. It requires proper planning, level-headedness, good judgment and self-discipline. There is no room for outdated, flawed farming habits, sentiment, emotion or impulsiveness.
• It is a time-consuming process. There are no quick fixes.
• The turnaround strategy during the recovery and regeneration process requires a farmer’s full attention. Adjustments must be made timeously, when needed.
The deficiencies of poor veld
Esta historia es de la edición May 2020 de Stockfarm.
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Esta historia es de la edición May 2020 de Stockfarm.
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Shongololo Boer Goat Stud: Only The Best Will Do
South African Boer goats have proven popular worldwide for their ability to improve indigenous goat breeds. In addition, Covid-19 restrictions necessitated the establishment of electronic auctions, making it easier for foreigners to acquire outstanding genetic material exported by agents via established channels.
Feed Additives: A Veterinary Perspective
In an already volatile environment, dairy profit margins vary as milk prices and feed costs shift annually. Feed costs represent the largest input cost (an estimated 35 to 70% of the variable cost) in the production of milk. As a group of feed ingredients, feed additives can cause a desired physiological response in a non-nutrient way, such as pH shift, growth or metabolic modifier, and will usually be cost-beneficial.
Guard Against Lumpy Skin Disease
Most parts of the country received good rains during the rain season and producers are generally very optimistic. Wet seasons unfortunately come with their own set of challenges and veterinarians have cautioned livestock producers to keep an eye out for elevated biting insect loads, which may lead to conditions such as lumpy skin disease (LSD).
Climate-Related Hazards: How Smallholders Can Mitigate Its Consequences
Rainfed crop production remains the main source of food security and livelihoods for rural communities in South Africa but presents the challenge of climate variability due to its high dependence on weather variables such as rainfall and temperature.
Tips for a successful AI programme
The success of an artificial insemination (AI) programme depends on several factors that are largely within the control of the producer. It is interesting that those producers who take a hands-on approach to their cattle and inspect them regularly are also the ones who achieve the greatest success. Before his passing, Stockfarm spoke to Koot Louw, a well-known reproduction technologist from Brandfort in the Free State, about his insights into and advice regarding the AI process.
Pay Attention To Orf In Your Flocks
Some of our readers may have treated or heard of sheep or goats that have been infected with orf (vuilbek).
Sanele Mbele: Where Passion And Skill Meet
Passion for farming runs strong in the Mbele family’s veins. Sanele Mbele, from the farm Rietspruit in the De Jagersdrift area near Dundee, has inherited this passion in huge dollops.
Land Reform: Case Studies In Kwazulu-Natal
Land reform in South Africa is complex. Land reform solutions are equally complex and within partnership and development models, this is no different – but there is hope. KwaZulu-Natal has several types of partnership models and the wide variation in farming systems, as well as their different needs, set each model up for different strengths and weaknesses.
Brahman Breeders In Limpopo Have A Winning Plan
Several breeders from the Bosveld Brahman Club in Limpopo are applying genetic excellence and genotypic correctness to stimulate the demand for their bulls. At several of the last auctions, the minimum standard of bulls was raised to achieve this goal.
A Brahman Dream Comes True
For as long as he can remember, JP Mlangeni wanted to be a farmer. It might have taken a few years, from being a teacher and later a businessman, but his dream finally took shape and today he runs a fully-fledged breeding and commercial Brahman farming enterprise in Mpumalanga.
