I have been thinking about buying a few cows but I was not sure what breed to consider until I read your article. Now, I will buy Nguni cattle. However, my knowledge of livestock farming is very limited and I emailed Dr Meulenbeld for advice. He was very helpful. I was concerned about Ngunis being able to adapt to the Transkei. He said they could, but I must select smaller-framed Nguni animals (less than 340kg live weight) due to the acidic nature of Transkei soil.
I graze my cattle on communal land and wanted to know what the risks to my stock are and how to mitigate this. Dr Meulenbeld said these risks would be diseases transmitted by other cattle like vibriosis, trichmonioasis, black quarter, TB and other reproductive diseases. He advised me to carry out vaccination with support from the state veterinarian. He also told me to herd my animals separately, which is better for bio-security and keeping the breed/genes pure (otherwise the value of the cattle will drop by cross-breeding).
I am most grateful to Farmer’s Weekly and to Dr Meulenbeld for the invaluable advice.
Read Dr Paul Meulenbeld’s artilce on ‘The milk trait in the Nguni: a lost value?’
