Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
The last day of the 17th Livestock Registering Federation (LRF) Stockman School, held at the Aldam Holiday Resort and Conference Centre near Ventersburg in the Free State focused on key industry themes like enhancing production and performance and animal health.
Cow maternal performance
During session eight which as sponsored by Molatek, Prof Bob Weaber, head of the Eastern Kansas Research-Extension Centres at Kansas State University, shared valuable insights on enhancing cow maternal performance to support sustainable breeding and selection systems. He explained that a sustainable beef cow should require minimal maintenance while maintaining sufficient body condition to endure feed shortages. She must produce enough milk to raise a healthy calf, conceive on time every time, and exhibit strong maternal traits.
He emphasised that for commercial beef producers to remain competitive, it is essential to adopt technologies and breeding strategies that improve both the quality and quantity of production while reducing input costs. Crucially, producers must define clear breeding objectives. Selection strategies are especially important for commercial cow-calf operations. These producers should consider both additive and non-additive genetic effects, including using selection indexes and hybrid vigour (heterosis). In contrast, stud breeders should concentrate on additive genetic merit, packaging it in a way that allows their clients to benefit from non-additive effects.
Choosing the right selection index is also vital. This involves using appropriate tools, whether targeting terminal or maternal breeding objectives. He outlined key considerations when designing a breeding program, including the producer’s focus on profitability or premiums, herd size, the need to generate replacement heifers, calf marketing strategies, and environmental constraints.
Regarding heifer selection, he recommended following standard operating procedures such as selecting heifers born early in the calving season (within the first 30 days) and choosing animals from the middle 50% for adjusted weaning weight. This helps prevent excessive increases in mature cow size and milk production, which can lead to higher maintenance costs. He also noted that bull selection plays a crucial role in the success of any breeding programme.
An effective herd health plan
Dr Danie Odendaal, a herd veterinarian from Veterinarian Network, said the importance of a herd health plan cannot be overstated. It is developed once a year in collaboration with a veterinarian and provides a comprehensive overview for the entire year.
He explained that beef cattle production works in annual cycles, which is why the plan covers 12 months. The traditional herd health plan involves three key variables. This includes the four seasons, which align with the availability of grazing, different age groups, each with specific management and nutritional needs, and the stages of production. These variables all need to be included in the traditional herd health plan to provide a month-by-month overview of what needs to happen and when. An expansion of this traditional plan includes a monthly action list, in which more detailed tasks are added – for example, body condition scoring and testing for reproductive diseases.
According to Dr Odendaal, the new generation herd health plan (V-Plan) is based on a weekly schedule. Whereas the traditional plan focussed on age groups, the new plan shifts the focus to the actual physical herds on the farm. It provides detailed daily actions for each week. Weekly planning involves assigning specific days and dates to tasks for each herd on the farm. This level of management ensures that strategic plans are translated into daily operations. It focusses on cattle (divided by management groups), camps (grazing rotation and water availability), and labour (responsibilities of managers and herders).
Each herd is first listed on a spreadsheet, detailing the number of animals in each age group. A separate spreadsheet then maps out the weeks of the current month. The process is designed to be quick and efficient, requiring just five to ten minutes at the start of each week. Tasks are scheduled for each day and then shared with the entire team via WhatsApp, ensuring everyone is aligned and informed.
This real-time reporting confirms that tasks are executed as planned and allows for immediate adjustments if issues arise. It is also critical for tracking vaccinations and health treatments. By following this plan, beef producers can significantly improve operational efficiency, enhance animal welfare, and protect the long-term productivity of their herds.
Breeding cattle for the consumer
In Session 9 sponsored by Plaas Media, Dr Christian Duff, chief of operations at the Agricultural Business Research Institute (ABRI) in Australia looked at breeding beef cattle for the consumer.
The first question to ask, he said, is obviously what the consumer wants. Across Australia and South Africa consumers rate eating quality as a key preference when purchasing beef. This includes tenderness, flavour, and freshness. Also a high priority is ethical treatment of cattle, and the demand for environmentally responsible farming practices, traceability and convenience. Evolving priorities include nutritional density and transparency, and cultural diversity.
Key preferences in South Africa specifically, he pointed out, were quality attributes such as tenderness, freshness, taste and juiciness; low fat and bone content; and safety and hygiene. Especially the lower-income groups are also price sensitive, where affordability is crucial.
Can breeding programmes and genetic selection affect beef consumer traits?The answer to this, he said is “yes”. Direct carcass traits, such as high breeding values (EBVs) for intra-muscular fat (IMF), eye muscle area (EMA) and fat are generally highly heritable and can therefore be improved rapidly via strategic breeding programmes and genetic selection. There are, he concluded, other consumer related traits on the horizon relating to tenderness, nutritional attributes and direct consumer sensory testing.
Back to basics
Getting the basics right to succeed from a producers’ perspective was the topic of the last presentation of the school. Mornay Verster runs the Le Roc Brangus stud in the Tweespruit area of the Free State. Everything, he said, starts with a vision. He used a personal example to illustrate how a vision can be transformed into reality.
He started his Brangus stud in 2000 and over time realised that he wanted a little more of the Brahman influence in his Brangus herd. “To be able to do that, I started a polled Brahman stud in 2017 to be able to breed my own polled Brahman bulls that I could also use in my Brangus stud in order to be able to achieve my goal. There aren’t many polled Brahman genetics available but when a bull and a cow that were full siblings became available on the national Brahman sale, I decided to put my plan in action.”
Through meticulous planning of matings with other appropriate animals, he was able to produce animals that reflected his ideal. “The vision started in 2017 and the result was used in 2025. This just emphasises the essence of decision making. Making decisions without a vision can be detrimental to your business.”
The plan
The next step is to develop a PLAN to accomplish your goal. “What would have happened if I was not able to buy the animals that I needed to achieve my goal? Would I have bought the second best that was available, but with which I wasn’t hundred percent happy? NO.
“That is where you change your plan to still be able to accomplish your goal. I would then have visited the breeders that I think had the best genetics to suit my goal and then negotiate embryo flushing of the suited cows. If you get the right cow and she is in calf, wait five or six months until she is ready to flush. Six months is actually very little in an eight-year plan, when you know you have used the best available genetics.”
The product
When you have your product, it is very important to market it, he stressed. You may have the best animals in South Africa but if other people don’t know that you’re not going to get a premium for your hard work. The goal is financial gain with whatever product or service you deliver.
“We South Africans are humble and tend to have a mindset that other people’s genetics are better than our own. That is nonsense; we must look at our animals with an objective mindset and then look at what is available in the market. A lot of the time you will want to sell your bulls and replace them with same quality bulls, or even inferior animals.”
It is impossible to improve your product if you don’t know your product, he said. Product knowledge is even more important if you want to sell or market it. It is much easier to convince anyone to buy your product if you have confidence in your own product.
He concluded by stressing the importance of a support team to put plans into action. In his case, it is his family. – Christal-Lize Muller and Izak Hofmeyr, Plaas Media
For more information email Dr Robert Weaber at bweaber@ksu.edu, Dr Danie Odendaal at vnet@absamail.co.za, Dr Christian Duff at breedplan@abri.une.edu.au and Mornay Verster at lerocbrangus@gmail.com
