Tough times need tougher cattle

Cattle farmers in Southern Africa have had a difficult year, with on going drought and foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks. Louis Steyl, CEO of the Bonsmara Cattle Breeders’ Society of South Africa, says that the Bonsmara, with its adaptability and high functional efficiency, has proved itself the ideal breed to cope with, and thrive in, these challenging conditions.

-  Louis Steyl

This year will be remembered by many in Southern Africa as an extremely demanding year for the livestock industry. It started off with the perfect storm: an ongoing drought, a struggling economy, and an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). By the end of the year, some areas of the region had received marginal rainfall, while most of the western and southern parts were still experiencing one of the worst and most long-lived droughts in recorded history.

As if this were not enough, early November saw another outbreak of FMD in Limpopo, which has put the entire livestock industry at a crossroads.