Desert cattle operation reaps rewards of regenerative agriculture

Kalahari farmer Willie Storm has used regenerative agriculture practices to improve his cattle stocking capacity from the area norm of around 21ha per large stock unit (LSU) to 5ha/LSU. He spoke to Sabrina Dean.

- Sabrina Dean

The farm Elliesrust is located near Olifantshoek in the Kalahari and was purchased by Willie Storm from his father in 2003. Storm's son Michiel joined him in 2019 and will be the fourth generation to work the family farm.

It is a dry, arid region, with average rainfall measurement of about 250mm. The Langeberg mountain range runs through it, creating terrain that is a 50/50 mix of plains and mountainous areas.

"We live in a semi-desert area. Rainfall is low and there are times when we get no rain at all. The Kalahari is a world of extremes," says Storm.

In light of this, he has been implementing a regenerative agriculture approach at his farm for nearly two decades. In this time, he has grown his initial cow herd from 175 head to about 475 head. He was this year also named the fourth Veeplaas Climate-Smart Ambassador after having previously been a runner-up.

It has not been an easy journey, and has required significant financial investment and mental shifts across a variety of farming and management practices.

This has included his approach to veld management and bush clearing, stocking rates and grazing systems, and also suitability of the animals he is farming with.

DROUGHT RESISTANCE

When Storm began farming there in 1995, he leased 4 000ha of land from his father. Storm says his father and grandfather left a legacy of good infrastructure, including fences, handling facilities, watering points and large earth dams constructed as far back as the 1930s to capture rainfall runoff.

Unfortunately, the legacy did not extend to the grass, the soil and the biodiversity of the land. "What I do is to measure the grazing on the land and that is something they never did," he says.