Keep Accurate Records for Maximum Economic Impact

Derick le Roux and his father, Carl, own the only 5-Star Breedplan accredited stud in South Africa. Derick explains to Gerhard Uys how record-keeping can optimise profit in any production environment.

- Gerhard Uys

Whereas South Africa’s crop farmers are among the most efficient in the world, there is certainly room for improvement in beef production. And at the heart of this lies better record-keeping.

This is according to stud breeder Derick le Roux (25), who, with his father, Carl, owns Xourel Limousins near Lichtenburg in North West, the country’s only 5-Star Breedplan Completeness of Performance Data stud.

Once a beef producer has defined his goals and his production system, he can use information about pedigree, health, feed and marketing to improve the system and increase profits, says Derick.

“If you have 1 000 commercial cattle, say, and, through recordkeeping, manage to increase your calving rate from 80% to 90% (900 calves instead of 800 calves annually), you can earn an extra R450 000/year without additional costs.

“Even if you have to employ someone to keep the records and push up the calving percentage, or pay a cattle consultant R4 000/ day, it remains profitable.”

He points out that South Africa has about 14 million head of cattle, of which between five and six million are owned by smallholders, and the average intercalving period is 700 days. Reducing this to 400 days would therefore make an immense difference.

“It would mean going from 14 million head of cattle to perhaps 17 million on the same amount of grazing, because a cow without a calf still eats roughly the same amount of grass. Livestock farmers outside the economy could become players. It all starts with keeping records.”

There is a proviso, he stresses. In order to keep ‘economically efficient’ records, a fixed breeding and calving season is necessary.

“Without a calving season, you cannot compare average weaning weights, as these will differ every three months or according to seasonal changes and nutritional state of the veld or pasture,” he explains.