High-performance dairy farming in the Eastern Cape: the Rufus Dreyer approach

Dairy farming is often described as one of the most technically demanding and strategically complex branches of agriculture.

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Success in this field requires not only dedication and hard work but also careful management of feed, water, pastures, herd health, milking systems and overall farm infrastructure.

For Rufus Dreyer, a dairy farmer near Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape, dairy farming represents both a challenge and a passion.

Since establishing his operation in 2004, Dreyer has built a farm that combines modern technology, innovative management practices and a deep understanding of animal and pasture science.

Today, his farm manages 2 000 milk cows across two dairies, with 364ha under irrigation and 487ha of dry land, demonstrating a scalable model for dairy production in the region.

TRANSITION FROM SHEEP AND CATTLE TO DAIRY FARMING

Dreyer tells Farmer’s Weekly he spent 11 years on his family’s four-generation cattle and sheep farm in Adelaide, Eastern Cape, gaining essential livestock experience. While that venture was successful, he sought a new challenge to diversify the family business.

“Dairy farming looked like a good diversification option,” he says. With the support of his neighbour, Richard Bennett, and friend Edgar Brotherton, he was able to form a partnership and relocate his family to Oyster Bay in 2004, where they purchased a dairy farm.

The transition from extensive sheep and cattle farming to a modern, high-input dairy system required learning new production systems, understanding intensive pasture management and establishing technological solutions for herd monitoring and milk production. This move also meant rethinking the farm’s water use, feed resources and staff training.

DAILY OPERATIONS AND HERD MANAGEMENT