Banking on Beefmasters

The Stapelberg family will be hosting their first Beefmaster production sale in Indwe, Eastern Cape, on 3 September. Marcel Stapelberg, co-owner of the Cornish Beefmasters stud, spoke to Mike Burgess to give him a better understanding of why and how the family established their stud in less than a decade.

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The Cornish Beefmasters stud is defined by 250 cows run on predominantly sourveld in the Indwe/Dordrecht regions of the Eastern Cape. The Stapelbergs’ first exposure to the Beefmaster breed was via a Karan Beef holding station they agreed to have established on their farm, Milford, near Indwe in 2008. It was here that, for years, they were able to witness how Beefmaster calves outperformed their counterparts from other breeds.

“The Beefmasters simply outgrew calves from other breeds,’’ says 28-year-old Marcel Stapelberg, who co-owns the stud with his father, Willem, and his uncle, Hennie. “The Beefmasters’ incredible growth potential made us really take notice.’’

By 2014, the Stapelbergs had started using Beefmaster bulls in their commercial cow herd, and the ensuing ‘genetic revolution’ convinced them to register a Beefmaster stud in 2017. “The fertility and weaner weights in the commercial herd improved significantly,’’ says Stapelberg. “We then committed to starting a Beefmaster stud.’’

TOP FOUNDATION GENETICS

Once the Stapelbergs made the decision to establish a stud, it was agreed that only topquality Beefmaster genetics would be sourced as a foundation. Stapelberg, his father and uncle all committed to pooling their financial resources and purchasing the very best Beefmaster genetics available from the Bos Blanco Beefmaster stud near Kroonstad and the WO Beefmaster stud near Vrede, both in the Free State.

A total of 70 individual animals were relocated to the Indwe/Dordrecht region, where soon the impact of certain carefully selected bulls became satisfyingly evident. “You simply need to invest in top bulls, as your herd is the sum of the quality of your bulls. In my opinion, a bull breeds back to his dam, so we have always tried to acquire bulls from the best dam lines.’’