A new answer to SA's high demand for red cattle

The demand for red cattle has always been high in South Africa. To enter this market and offer breeders an alternative to the traditional options, the Du Plessis family, who owns the Brandwater farming business, managed to establish one of the country’s most successful Droughtmaster studs. Chris du Plessis spoke to Denene Erasmus.

- Denene Erasmus

Brandwater is a family farming business based in the Free State. The business is headed by third-generation farmer Linde du Plessis, who has been farming in the Fouriesburg region for more than 40 years. He was joined on the farm in 2003 by his son Chris. His other son, Koos, joined the business in 2008, and the team was complete when Linde’s son-in-law Francois Hamman, who is married to his daughter Adele, joined them a couple of years ago. The Brandwater farming business is well diversified and includes livestock, crops, and apples. The business is operated from properties around Fouriesburg, Clarens, and Bethlehem in the Free State. The cattle component, which includes a Brahman and Droughmaster stud, as well as a Merino sheep stud, is predominantly based in the Fouriesburg region. The business’s commercial livestock branch produces weaners for the weaner and feedlot markets. From time to time, they also use some of the maize they produce to round off cattle for slaughter on the farm. The crop component comprises sugar beans, maize, and wheat.

The livestock farm is situated in a sour veld region, and it experiences very cold winters with night temperatures dropping to -12°C, and averaging -6°C.

Even in summer, the nights are cold with temperatures dropping to around 6°C overnight. Daytime temperatures are mild, rising to a maximum of about 15°C in winter and 28°C in summer.

“It is a tough environment for the livestock to live in and grow,” says Chris du Plessis.

GRAZING MANAGEMENT

The area experiences high rainfall of around 650mm per year, and the sour veld grazing consists of grasses such as red grass (