Lessons learnt on the journey to build a Nguni stud from scratch

When Cecilia Prinsloo-Van der Linde started exploring the idea of cattle farming, she was advised to farm animals that are suited to the land, so she decided on Nguni. Annelie Coleman spoke to her about the pros and cons of setting up and developing a stud in a relatively short period of time.

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Cecilia Prinsloo-Van der Linde runs her Nguni stud under extensive farming conditions in the Waterberg area of Limpopo.

“As we started as weekend farmers, we required animals with ease of calving, that are healthy, hardy and robust enough, with the ability to maintain themselves through both browsing and grazing on the mountainous terrain we farm on. The cows need to be fierce protectors of their calves against predators, as we have leopard, caracal, jackal, as well as stock thieves. Although we started with a composite breed, it soon became clear that purebred Ngunis were simply better adapted to the challenging farming conditions in the Waterberg,” she says.

According to her, the Nguni’s value lies in the fact that the breed has been selected by nature for eons, resulting in a highly adaptive, fertile, and even-tempered beef cattle breed.

BERGALLEEN BOERDERY

Prinsloo-Van der Linde’s BergAlleen Boerdery stud is near Marken, Limpopo, on portions of the farms Hottentots Holland and Marken.

“I am privileged that my husband Bennie decided four years ago to accommodate the herd and me, and was willing to sell his business to become involved with the farming enterprise on a full-time basis,” she adds.

The first BergAlleen Ngunis were acquired from Freddie Besselaar, owner of the Gariep Nguni stud, in 2018. The first purchase consisted of 10 in-calf polled heifers, followed by a second group of similar heifers, also from the Gariep stud, in 2019.

The first Nguni bull was purchased in 2021, named Witblits (FB15 162).

Currently, the stud includes Nguni genetics from studs far and wide: Makhanda, Harrismith, Hopetown, Coligny, Mooketsi, Louis Trichardt, Waterpoort and Piketberg.