Droughtmaster: the ticket to breeding more uniform calves

Now semi-retired from farming, Adriaan Odendaal of Villiers in the Free State is able to devote most of his time to the improvement of his almost 10-year old Rocky Droughtmaster stud. With the use of a new breeding method, he is confident that he will achieve his goal of breeding a uniform herd that is true to type within a few short years. Denene Erasmus reports.

- Denene Erasmus

Just outside the small Free State town of Villiers, which lies on the border of Mpumalanga, is the land that has been farmed by three generations of Odendaals for over 80 years. Adriaan Odendaal and his three brothers started farming here with their father, also Adriaan, in the 1970s, but when he retired in 1996, each of the brothers went their separate ways. Odendaal continued farming on the farm Uithoek, and he has recently handed over the reins to his two sons, Riaan and Gerrie. Both his sons produce soya beans and maize. Riaan inherited the OdensimSimmentaler Stud. Gerrie and Odendaal’s granddaughter, Mariza van Niekerk, help manage the Rocky Droughtmaster stud.

“I started breeding Droughmasters in 2012. Ian Curren, who was the breed adviser for the Africa Droughtmaster Club at the time, invited me to attend a meeting with him in Parys about establishing the Droughtmaster in South Africa. At the time, I wasn’t even really aware that the breed existed, but my interest was piqued,” says Odendaal. Shortly after this, Johan van der Nest, who introduced the first Droughtmaster genetics to South Africa in the 1990s, invited Odendaal to his farm to examine his cattle.

“I was immediately impressed with what I saw,” says Odendaal.

He then decided to start breeding Droughtmasters, buying in his first group of cows towards the end of 2012.