Part-time cattle farmer George Potgieter of Pothou Stud in Vredefort combined his razor-sharp business acumen with meticulous record keeping, and some luck, to receive the award for this year’s Farmer’s Weekly Best Elite Sussex Cow. Chris Nel visited him.
JREL 00 30, the Farmer’s Weekly-ARC Best Elite Sussex Cow for 2007, comes from George Potgieter’s Pothou Stud on the farm Uithou near Vredefort in the Free State. She is a tribute to his good judgement in selecting cattle rather than to his developing breeding skills. George bought her on 7 September 2005. She was bred at the Huntersvlei Sussex stud from the sire Zenith 15th JRE H 0071 and the dam Amazon 16th JRE 0086. She has had nine calves – six bulls and three heifers – of which four bulls and two heifers have been registered.
The two calves born since she arrived on Uithou have both been retained in the Pothou herd, while the bull born in 2005 is for sale. T he stud herd is run on 825ha Bankenveld (Acocks Veld Type 61) grazing divided into 50 camps. The many camps make more efficient veld and herd management possible. Veld grazing is supplemented with planted pasture in the form of 10ha Digitaria eriantha, 10ha Eragrostis curvula and E. tef, 10ha Panicum maximum and 80ha sugargraze. The commercial herd is run on a further 1 600ha. he stud herd consists of 82 breeding cows, nine replacement heifers and five herd sires, of which four were bought in and one is self-bred.
Bulls run with the females in five single-sire breeding herds at not more than 25 females per bull. George is building up numbers in the stud herd to an eventual 100 breeding cows, with a planned annual replacement rate of 15%. Breeding the best All breeding is by natural service. George uses a single breeding season from 1 September to 15 November for heifers and two seasons – 1 November to 31 January and 1 April to 30 June – for cows. Heifers are first mated at 24 months. Conception rates are 90% for cows and 92% for heifers, calving rate as a percentage of females mated is 91% for cows and 89% for heifers and weaning rate as a percentage of females mated is 89% in both. herd’s average intercalving period for the last three seasons is 415 days. Average calving weights in the herd for last season were 36kg (heifers) and 39kg (bull calves), while average 207-day weaning weights were 194kg (heifers) 210kg (bull calves).
George, a businessman in Leeudoringstad, runs only beef cattle – a Sussex stud and a commercial herd. His wife and farming partner Daleen shares the load and relishes the day-to-day management and hands-on work, while George concentrates on record keeping, herd administration, breeding selection and higher-level management. he cattle are run on veld with a Nutritub phosphate lick in summer and Voermol Premix 450 in winter. Cows and calves receive a supplement of 50% Premix 450 and 50% maize.
Cattle diseases prevalent in area include quarter evil, anthrax and botulism which are managed by a fixed immunisation and herd health programme. Records and selection George keeps meticulous records on a BeefPro computer program: for bull calves the birth date and weight of the calf and dam, weaning weight of calf and dam, 12-month weight and 18-month weight. Phase D test weights are recorded every two weeks. For heifer calves the birth date and weight of calf and dam, weaning weight of calf and dam, 12-month weight and 18-month weight are recorded.
While in the process of growing the herd, George remains very strict on selection. Stud heifers with weaning indices below 90 are sent to the feedlot, while the rest are mated at 24 months. The top 30% remain in the stud herd, and the rest are used as replacement heifers in the commercial herd.
Bull calves with unsatisfactory weaning indices are also sent to the feedlot. Phase D and C bulls with sub-90 indices are slaughtered, as are bulls with sub-90 18-month indices. Breeding animals are sold at 24 months at the National Sussex Auction, other sales and directly from the farm.
Escape to the country
George is a chartered accountant by profession, but early on he decided against an auditing career and rather set out in the field of commerce and industry, with the last 12 years in agriculture. In 2003 he bought Uithou to get away from the modernity and pressure of work and started farming beef cattle part-time. On the way to the farm he always passed the famous Huntersvlei farm near Viljoenskroon and resolved that he would also one day breed cattle such as the ones he saw there. In June 2003 he bought two Sussex bulls from Jan van Biljon and in September 2003 his first females at Skietlaagte. On 1 January 2004 he joined the Sussex Cattle Breeders’ Society and bought more breeding stock from well-known herds and breeders such as Huntersvlei, Albert Whitfield and Jan van Biljon. “As a part-time farmer with limited time, I needed an easy-care breed with good temperament, which was hardy and adaptable and could perform year-round on sourveld and throughout bitterly cold winters,” George says.
A string of awards
I asked him what his greatest achievement in his farming career has been. “Some of my first bulls later became Sussex Breed Champions, Phase D Champions and BLUP Champions at the 2007 Vryburg Show. And now one of my Huntersvlei cows received the Farmer’s Weekly-ARC Best Elite Cow Award for 2007! My goal is that a cow of my breeding will also receive it in a few years’ time.” What advice would you give an aspiring young cattleman? “I’m still a beginner, so to whom am I going to give advice? However, I have learned that a premium paid for quality is money well spent, that should a cow’s health and nutrition needs be met she will give you a calf each year – if she does not, she is a passenger and must be culled. Know your animals and pay attention to detail. If you do not measure you will never know. Never fall behind in your administration. Use available technology, but remember that you can never know everything. Ask if you don’t know and don’t hesitate to consult a specialist when you need to.” Contact George Potgieter on (018) 581 2679 or 083 629 1187. |fw
