Stockfarm Magazine - October 2020

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In this issue

Soil health and nutritious food
The basics of low-stress cattle handling
Agricultural training • Regenerative farming • Grazing grass • Lick supplements
Summer grazing • Healthy pig feed • Clostridial diseases • Bush encroachment

Agricultural Training: Preparing The Next Generation Of Producers

Many students eager to enter the agricultural sector graduate from universities and agricultural colleges only to find that the professional skills they possess do not necessarily match industry requirements. This skills gap is not a reflection on the theoretical knowledge each graduate has, but rather points towards a lack of knowledge when it comes to implementing what they know.

6 mins

Emerging farmers in the Western Cape receive bull power

Seven emerging farmers from Genadendal recently received a Bonsmara bull each from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture. This is the first of 23 bulls from the department’s bull project that will be distributed to small-scale farmers this year.

2 mins

Born and raised to breed cattle

Cattle has been a part of his life for as long as he can remember. His grandfather and father were both cattle farmers on communal land in the vicinity of Kuruman in the Northern Cape. This is also where Christopher Melamu kept his first cattle before acquiring his own farm near Vryburg. Today he is one of the most prosperous emerging Bonsmara breeders in the region.

4 mins

Regenerative Farming For Naturally Produced Products

A regenerative farming system is used in North West to produce veld-reared beef, free-range chickens and eggs, and raw honey on a sustainable and profitable basis. These products are marketed under the farm’s own brand in order to add value to the farming enterprise.

4 mins

Good-Quality Grazing Grass Is Worth Its Weight In Gold

A livestock producer’s biggest task is to have enough grazing to feed his animals. Good-quality grazing should also be available throughout the year, when and where it suits the producer.

5 mins

Lick Supplements: Set Your Goals For Every Season

The annual transition from winter to summer, and from summer to winter, gives rise to changes in the lick requirements of livestock. The specific region of the country in which a producer farms will ultimately determine the fundamentals of this change, but broadly speaking it boils down to the fact that livestock require a protein supplement in winter and a mineral supplement in summer, with phosphorus at the forefront of each.

5 mins

Mitigating viruses in pig feed ingredients

While the world holds its breath every time a new virus breaks out, veterinary researchers in the United States (US) and Canada have become particularly interested in the role feed has to play. A team of leading experts dived into the question of how viruses might be shipped around the planet.

5 mins

Low-Stress Cattle Handling: The Basics

Reducing stress during handling not only improves productivity, but also prevents physiological changes that lower productivity. Handling stress lowers conception rates and reduces immune and rumen function in animals. It is therefore vital for handlers to have a good grasp of livestock behaviour in order to reduce stress and injury, which in turn will lead to increased profit.

5 mins

Poor Sucking Reflex In Newborn Calves

It all started with a conversation I had with a farmer who mentioned a friend who had trouble with newborn calves that were unable or unwilling to find the dam’s teats after birth. He referred to these newborns as ‘dummy calves’.

6 mins

Bush Thickening And Encroachment

Bush thickening (BT) and bush encroachment (BE) are caused by the densification of alien and indigenous woody shrub and tree species, such as Senegalia mellifera (blackthorn), Vachellia species (Senegalia and Vachellia were previously known as Acacia spp.) and Prosopis (mesquite). BE refers to instances where woody species (shrubs and trees) establish in areas where they did not previously occur, while BT is when woody species that already occur in an area become naturally denser.