Cattle

For the second year running, the Farmer's Weekly-ARC Best Elite Charolais Cow is from the same Botswana herd.

Following in the footsteps of her dam, AVM 96 0039 has taken this year's title of Farmer's Weekly-ARC Best Elite Nguni Cow.

Defying the common misconception that Brahmans are wild, temperamental and a problem to farm with, Johan Prinsloo selects only calm animals to maintain a desirable temperament in his PRI Brahman Stud.

The best commercial cow at the Farmer's Weekly-ARC Best Elite Cow Awards was bred by veterinary scientist Dr RD Bigalke.

Ansoria Geldenhuys has won her second Farmer's Weekly-ARC Best Elite Gelbvieh Cow award with ANS 00 0016. Chris Nel reports.

Free State dairyman Riaan Reynders ascribes his success to a directed programme of cost-effective animal health, udder health monitoring and a consistent hygienic milking routine. This approach has significantly improved milk production and is keeping it at a sustainably high level. Annelie Coleman visited his farm Vaalhoek near Bethlehem.

The mother of the 2007 Vleissentraal-ARC Special Performance Test Class bull, NJB 01 0148 now has an Elite Cow title of her own. Chris Nel reports.

The WO Beefmaster Stud in Vrede took the award for the Farmer’s Weekly-ARC Best Elite Cow, writes Chris Nel.

Although beef farming abounds with technical information on how to maximise production and financial returns, successful beef farmer Neil Haines believes the benefit of using nature as an ally is often underestimated.

If we want our dairy cows to produce more and better milk, we need to understand how they synthesise milk in the first place.

Don't pussyfoot around with stud cattle - to be effective in the commercial market, they must be managed as commercial animals, with the ultimate test being performance. So says stud breeder John Burgers of the Victory Brangus Stud. Annelie Coleman visited him on his Wakkerstroom farm to find out more about his approach.

For 50 years sheepdogs have proven themselves indispensable workers on many livestock farms. But for KwaZulu-Natal farming sisters Ragni Pretorius and Ingrid Fricke, Border Collies are absolutely critical in managing their Dohne Merino flock.

Food proteins that can't be broken down by microbes are passed down to the duodenum and digested enzymatically. Malcolm Stewart-Burger examines these undegradable proteins and how they are absorbed.

By the time Riekert Erasmus could walk, he was picking up tips on how to break in horses from his father. At 16, he was taming and training wild horses for pocket money.

Sussex cattle perform so well in a feedlot that the Huntersvlei and Skietlaagte Feedlots in the Free State pay a premium for Sussex or Sussex-cross weaners.The feedlots belong to the Rhys Evans Group in Viljoenskroon. General manager Arno Cronje told Annelie Coleman about the growing interest in Sussex bulls for crossbreeding because of the breed's exceptional weaning weights.

Corridor disease isn't new to KZN, and respected KZN wildlife vet Dr Dave Cooper says the increasing appeal of stocking African buffalo on private game farms could be one of the factors contributing to the spread of this disease to the province's cattle.

Feeding sheep flocks during a bad drought can be like throwing money down a bottomless pit, because no one knows when it will rain again. Jan Hoon of the Grootfontein Agricultural Development Institute offers some tips to farmers willing to take the risk. Roelof Bezuidenhout reports.

Few people can claim to HAVE developed a recipe that's helped optimise rumen activity on low-protein, unpalatable, lignified sour veld. But Australia's Terry McCosker is one such person.

For Pip and Howard Hobson the success of a herd doesn't lie with the bull, but with the genetics of the cow. This point of view won them the Farmer's Weekly-ARC Best Elite Cow of the year award. Wayne Southwood spoke to them about their breeding tactics.

Kosie van Zyl hails from a long line of farm managers but 15 years ago he was given the opportunity to farm his own land.