Optimising in-calf cow nutrition before winter

A commercial beef producer’s primary income is derived from animals produced and sold. For this reason, it’s crucial to keep breeding female animals in optimal condition at all times. Mike Rennie, a KwaZulu-Natal beef cattle farmer, spoke to Lloyd Phillips about his multi-pronged strategy.

- Lloyd Phillips

Cost-conscious farmer Mike Rennie aims to produce as much beef as possible per hectare off the natural sourveld on his farm near Kokstad in Kwazulu-Natal.

Like much of the rest of South Africa’s beef production regions, the Kokstad area in southern KwaZulu-Natal is dominated by sourveld grasslands. In the warm and wet summer months, this natural grazing, if managed correctly, can be highly productive and nutritious for livestock. During the cooler and drier winter months, however, the quantity and quality of sourveld decrease substantially. As a result, inadequately prepared commercial beef producers often struggle to keep their cows in best possible condition for feeding a suckling calf, especially when also nurturing a foetus.

Mike Rennie, who owns Palmiet farm, about 20km from Kokstad, runs a 500-head Brafordtype breeding female animal herd divided into five sub-herds.

Two of these are mature cow herds comprising 125 to 150 cows each, with one herd made up of animals showing more Brahman-type characteristics and the other displaying Hereford-type characteristics. The other three herds comprise first-calvers that are run separately, as well as a heifer herd.

In addition, a herd of last calvers is separated after pregnancy testing and weaning; they do not go back to the bull after raising their last calf.

Rennie increasingly uses Stockman software, which is being developed by his son, to manage the rotational grazing on Palmiet farm.

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