Get rid of large-framed animals

IN recent weeks I have written extensively on resilience building for livestock farmers especially cattle ranchers and this week’s article is not going to be any different considering that the motivating factors are still with us, that is livestock loss due to the effects of drought. The drought being itself a product of climate change.

While most parts of the country have generally received some rainfall, it is important to note that not all parts of the country have received rains and in some areas the amount of rainfall received was very low and hence we are still not out of the woods at all.

One prays for more rains especially in the southern part of the country so as to guard against the decimation of the national herd which is reported to have claimed up to 20 000 animals according to last week’s Sunday News edition.

It is against this background that I begin to understand the importance and essence of a shift in breeding priorities from large-framed animals to medium-framed animals.

One will therefore, encourage cattle producers to consider getting rid of large-framed animals from their herds and produce medium-framed animals. I have no doubt that this is a difficult decision that many livestock farmers will resist at first but which they will adopt eventually either voluntarily or by virtue of being forced by circumstances.

I know it has always been the general aim for most livestock farmers to breed animals that are large-framed mainly driven by two factors, that is the appealing optics and aesthetics of such animals as well as the massive carcasses which invariably brought more income when the time for marketing comes.

It is, however, a no-brainer that large-framed animals consume more from your veld than the medium-framed ones and such feed requirements are proving to be a serious burden for farmers because of the constantly deteriorating graze as a result of recurrent droughts.

It is therefore, imperative that farmers should now make their cross breeding choice carefully searching for animals that will bring meat into the offspring while trimming down the size of the animal. All other production factors can be maintained but the frame of the animal has to go down.

We expect our breeders to lead in this breeding reconfiguring exercise to suit the harsh climatic conditions and I can already hear advocates of local genetics claiming vindication! With the way the climate is changing and the environment is getting tougher and harsher it is safe to conclude that not far from now the most attractive animal on the show ring will be the one that is of average weight but packs heavy parcels of meat around its frame!

Do I hear Beef Master and Simmental zealots shouting voila! It is that moment of adapt or perish situation for livestock farmers in the drier regions of the country. One cannot continue to bury their head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich and hope the problem will go away.

We have to adapt as farmers so that we can keep the industry that we like so much alive. So next time you buy a bull to infuse new and better genetics into your herd consider your grazing land. Do you have enough grazing to sustain large-framed animals? Do you have enough drinking water sources to water the animals?

If not please consider getting a bull that will give you the optics but cut down on the size. Talking about keeping the industry alive, how much passion for livestock farming are you passing to your kids? Does livestock farming have the glamour to lure the next generation?

I have said it before and I will say it now. We need to remove the retirement tag from cattle production where everyone retiring feels that he now has the energy to go into cattle ranching. How can we revolutionalise our livestock industry such that our techno-obsessed kids can actively participate in the industry and actually enjoy it? I long for a day when I will go to a livestock auction sale and find a significant youthful presence who are there as up-and-coming farmers, not cattle drovers.

It is this generation for which we should make a deliberate decision to save our livestock for, by making breeding adjustments that respond to the dictates of the environment.

Uyabonga umntakaMaKhumalo.

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