Liebenberg was speaking to delegates at the ‘Winds of Change’ Information Day, held in collaboration with Boran SA on Friday in Bloemfontein.
Earlier in the programme, Gerrit van Zyl of Hanzyl Bonsmaras, focused on how regenerative agriculture can help decrease the cost of beef production. Liebenberg, however, emphasised the importance of farming correctly with the right breed of cattle.
“South Africa is currently experiencing tough times, and it won’t get easier by itself. We will all have to adapt and adjust to make it work,” he said.
He pointed to statistics from the biggest meat-producing and exporting countries in the world. Brazil currently topped this list, and according to statistics provided by Liebenberg, currently produced meat at around R29,47/kg. This was in stark contrast to South African producers, who produced meat at an average of R55,50/kg.
Australia, another big producer and exporter, produced meat at around R22,47/kg, while the US produced meat at around R55,04/kg.
“Brazil and Australia receive state subsidies and produce on the veld; that is why they can produce meat so cheaply. The US and South Africa, on the other hand, produce meat in feedlots, and so the cost of production is dictated by maize prices,” he said.
Liebenberg added that beef production in South Africa had stagnated over the past 50 years, with the national herd only increasing from around 11 million head in 1975 to around 13 million head in 2025.
“Consumption has also stagnated. As red meat prices increase, consumers turn to chicken and pork,” he explained.
While the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks would likely see a spike in meat prices, he added that even if FMD completely “disappeared”, South Africa would still struggle to find more markets to which to export red meat.
“Nobody will want to buy our meat because it’s too expensive. We are producing meat at too high a cost,” Liebenberg said. “We need to farm differently.”
Farmers thus needed to make the necessary changes to their production systems to produce meat more profitably. This included choosing the right breed of cattle to produce.
He used the Boran as an example of an efficient beef breed. A study conducted by Intelact revealed that the company’s Boran breeders, whether farming in extensive, intensive or semi-intensive systems, showed an improvement on fertility compared to the average of the other breeds in the study.
The Boran breeders also needed fewer labourers for their animals, paid less in operating expenses, and generated more profit per hectare. They also spent less on average on veterinary and medicine costs.
“You can’t change where you farm, but you can make changes. Use effective farming methods wherever you are. You need the right breed of cattle to suit your farm. Don’t change your environment; change your genetics,” Liebenberg said.
