Questions about terminal crosses

This week we feature a letter from Malamulele farmer Noel Mathonsi to our Communal Farming writer, Shane Brody.

DEAR SHANE,

I am farming on communal land with Nguni-Brahman and NguniBoran crosses (Nguni cows have been crossed with Brahman and Boran bulls). The reason why I use two different bull breeds is that I wanted to see and decide which cross would work the best in my operation.

In terms of carcasses, I love the NguniBrahman cross, but I love the look of the Nguni-Boran cross. In my area, we do not have feedlots to which I can supply my cattle, and as such, most of my clients buy cattle for funerals, wedding parties and other events (hence the focus on appearance).

A friend mentioned the term ‘terminal cross’ to me. What is your take on this? Should I continue breeding with the two bull breeds or stick to one bull breed?

My plan at the moment is to cross the Nguni-Boran heifers with Brahman bulls, and the Nguni-Brahman heifers with Boran bulls while growing my herd. Kind regards,

Noel

DEAR NOEL,

The concept of ‘terminal’ crosses or breeding basically means that you plan to breed outcrosses as you are presently doing and that you sell all offspring without using the female animals that you have bred to breed further. If you do use your own bred female animals, then you are essentially moving away from your original two breeds of Brahman and Nguni and Boran and Nguni, as the female animals you breed will be crosses of these breeds. So, in a terminal breeding programme, your cows will be kept as pure Ngunis, and your bulls will be pure Boran or Brahman.

While these are good and hardy crosses, they may unfortunately not be favoured by feedlots as they will not be considered beef breeds, and the feedlot system may discriminate against them because of this. This said, if your market (traditional slaughter, funerals, customary practices) is happy with what you are producing, I wouldn’t change a winning recipe. The breeds you are using are indeed resilient against heat and many livestock diseases, amongst other positive traits.

Breeding and planning should always be about what your market requires and it seems you are breeding cattle that are popular on the informal market.

After years of experience in this market, I have noticed that horned cattle are popular, and particularly those with some colour, as the Nguni produces. Kind regards, Shane

‘IN A TERMINAL BREEDING PROGRAMME, YOUR COWS AND BULLS REMAIN PUREBRED CATTLE’

FW ARCHIVE A terminal cross means that the breeding cow and bull are purebred, and are then mated to produce 50/50 crossbred offspring.