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Braford: a superior yet affordable breed
Farmer's Weekly
|June 10, 2022
Braford cattle are fairly new to South Africa, yet already outperform some other breeds in terms of beef quality, feed conversion, maternal qualities and adaptability. Jan Meaker, president of the Braford Cattle Breeders' Society of South Africa, spoke to Glenneis Kriel about this breed's growing popularity.
How did you get involved with the Braford?
Flip de Jager from Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), and Naudé Bremer from Rosendal, Free State, were the first cattlemen to develop Braford cattle in South Africa, and they did so independently of one another.
My father, Dr Johan Meaker, is an animal scientist and was closely involved in the development of De Jager’s bloodline. After seeing the final outcome of the breeding programme, he bought a bull from one of the foundation herds in 1985 to start his own herd, which was registered as Meaker Brafords.
He is one of the founding members of the Braford Cattle Breeders’ Society of South Africa (SA Braford) and served as its president for many years.
I was appointed president of the association in 2019.
Where and how did the breed originate?
The Braford, a synthetic breed, was developed 50 to 60 years ago in Australia and the US by combining the best qualities of the Hereford (Bos taurus) and the Brahman (B. indicus) into a uniform, well-adapted new breed. The goal was to produce a breed with the fertility, growth and meat qualities of the Hereford and the maternal traits, calving ease and longevity of the Brahman.
The Braford comprises about five parts Hereford and three parts Brahman.
So is the Braford simply a crossing of Hereford and Brahman cattle to produce hybrid vigour?
No, it has been bred into a recognised breed in its own right, so breeders use registered purebred Brafords in their breeding programmes. SA Braford is nevertheless one of the few breed societies that still accepts new lines with the aim of growing the genetic pool of animals available in the country.
What would it entail to breed a new stud line?
यह कहानी Farmer's Weekly के June 10, 2022 संस्करण से ली गई है।
हजारों चुनिंदा प्रीमियम कहानियों और 10,000 से अधिक पत्रिकाओं और समाचार पत्रों तक पहुंचने के लिए मैगज़्टर गोल्ड की सदस्यता लें।
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