Cattle

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.

Johan Rautenbach has won the Farmer's Weekly-ARC Best Elite Drankensberger cow award for the third time, and lets Wayne Southwood in on his secret.

Pesticide resistance in ticks is becoming a major problem. Eastern Cape farmer Denys Wells told Roelof Bezuidenhout how Pierre van Niekerk's scientific tick management strategy saved him from ruin.
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Cornelis Rautenbach of the Nonnie Tuli Stud is the owner of the 2010 Farmer’s Weekly-ARC Best Elite Tuli Cow, CR 98 0048. This is the fourth year his cows have taken part in the competition, making his Tulis one of the top performing herds of all breeds in the country. Wayne Southwood visited him on his Free State farm in Reitz.

Winners of the Royal Show's carcass competition hold the prestigious title of producer of the best beef carcass in KwaZulu-Natal for a year. Lloyd Phillips visited Weston Agricultural College to hear how they did it in 2010.

The Fodderbank Grazing Management System allows an entire farm to be grazed annually, but only one third is grazed during the active growing season. Jorrie Jordaan of the Towoomba Research Station says this system can be applied almost anywhere in the world.

Frans van den Berg is the 2010 recipient of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa’s (GSSA) Peter Edwards Award for Best Conservation Farmer in South Africa. A Controlled Fodder Flow Pasture Management strategy implemented in 2002 has enabled him to increase the carrying capacity on his land by 45%. Annelie Coleman spoke to him and Riaan Dames, the rangeland scientist who developed the strategy,during a GSSA tour to Frans’s farm Op die aarde near Reivilo in the North West.