UNCOMPROMISING STANDARDS PAY OFF FOR BONSMARA FARMER

Award-winning cattle farmer Tian Kruger does not believe in shortcuts or compromising on the principles that brought him success. This has earned him a solid reputation for his commercial Bonsmara cattle and above-average prices at auctions. He spoke to Lindi Botha about his approach.

- Lindi Botha

Tian Kruger, who won the Voermol 2019 National Cattle Farmer of the Year award, attributes his success to the strict selection process that he follows throughout the female animals’ lives, from birth until the cows are no longer productive.

Striving for excellence comes naturally; when the cattle component was added to Tian Kruger Boerdery in Marble Hall, Limpopo, it joined an already flourishing citrus, table grape, cotton, and tobacco operation.

The herd of around 1 700 head of Bonsmara cattle, of which some 1 200 are female, makes up 6% of total business income. The cattle are spread across farms in the Marble Hall and Roedtan areas of Limpopo.

When Kruger added the cattle enterprise in 2001, he bought a farm that already had a Simbra herd. But with a personal preference for Bonsmara, he sold the Simbras and started investing in his favourite breed.

“I attended Hoërskool Wagpos in Brits,” he recalls. “Prof Jan Bonsma, who developed the Bonsmara breed, kept a herd at the school. Many of my mentors also farm Bonsmaras, so I’ve always had a liking for the breed.

“It’s a hardy animal that’s very adaptable and fertile, and all the figures and records have been kept since the inception of the breed. This is important to me, because even though I have a commercial herd, my strict selection process follows that of a stud. The figures therefore play an integral role in breeding a good animal.”

SELECTION

Kruger begins his selection process when the heifer calves are weaned; he bases it on build, taking the dams’ weaning, milk production and inter-calving period (ICP) figures into consideration.