Indigenous Livestock Perfect For Small-scale Farmers

Ross Rayner and his father, Roger, farm 40 Nguni cows and 35 Bosvelder-type ewes on 250ha in the Mankazana Valley near Adelaide in the Eastern Cape. Their operation is an example of what value indigenous livestock holds for small-scale farmers. Mike Burgess reports.

- Mike Burgess

According to Ross Rayner, the value of his indigenous livestock lies in their ability to produce efficiently and effectively under often unpredictable natural conditions with minimal input costs. What’s more, he stresses, indigenous breeds not only offer emerging farmers hardy livestock, but give them the ability to access potentially lucrative niche markets.

“Indigenous livestock is the key to the successful entry of emerging farmers into the agriculture sector, while offering great potential for the cost effective production of grass-fed beef and mutton,” he says. In 2007, Rayner started farming Nguni cattle and Indigenous Veld Goats (IVGs) on the family farm, Walkersvale, near Adelaide in the Eastern Cape. Although his IVGs, which were dominated by the Xhosa Lob Ear and Mbuzi ecotypes, were hardy and very fertile, keeping them on the right side of the boundary fence became a major management headache. About six years ago he therefore began investigating the possibility of introducing indigenous sheep, which he believed would not creep through fences as easily as the IVGs. By 2013, he had found out about indigenous livestock enthusiasts Scott and Christopher Atherstone near Tzaneen in Limpopo, who farmed both IVGs and Pedi sheep. Then in December 2013, Rayner and fellow Eastern Cape indigenous livestock farmer Lionel Whittal made their way up to Tzaneen.