Reliable, quality output: Afrikaner breeding success

Afrikaner cattle are known as a low-maintenance, high-output breed. Their adaptability and positive crossbreeding results give farmers assurance that they are making a safe investment decision. Pierre-André Cronjé, owner of the Grootkuil stud, told Henning Naudé why Afrikaners are his breed of choice.

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Pierre-André Cronjé is a third-generation farmer on the Grootkuil farm near Theunissen in the Free State, with his grandfather establishing it in the 1950s.

In addition to running an Afrikaner stud, he also plants crops like maize and soya, which he says is largely because of his choice of breed. “I can allow myself to continue planting crops along with managing the Afrikaners simply because there is little upkeep required for this breed,” he says. Afrikaners require fewer staff to manage and do not typically need to be constantly kept on watch. They are independent animals that can produce good-quality meat even on low-quality grazing, and protect their calves against predators, making them adaptable to their environment. Cronjé uses these characteristics to his advantage to breed in both the summer and winter seasons, even in the harsh, dry Free State winters. Choosing when to breed is important for a stud farmer like Cronjé, as his output needs to be as high and consistent as possible while maintaining optimal health among his animals.

The Grootkuil stud consists of 250 cows, 160 young heifers and 12 bulls, of which all the bulls are stud Afrikaners except for one, which is a Sussex bull that Cronjé uses to fill a market demand for Afrikaner-Sussex crossbred cows. He uses 60 of his cows for crossbreeds.

BREEDING

Cronjé mostly uses the winter breeding period as an opportunity for the cows who did not get impregnated in summer to be reintroduced to the bulls. The winter season typically shows lower conception rates than the summer due to the challenge of providing enough feed through the dry season for the heifers to reach an adequate growth point.