Breeding Cattle That Thrive In Namibia's Arid Regions

The Afrikaner, once the most popular breed in Southern African, is ideally suited to today’s uncertain climatic conditions, says Namibia-based breeder Jan Blaauw, co-owner of the Salztal Afrikaner stud.

- Annelie Coleman

The Blaauw family’s Salztal Afrikaner stud has over decades proved the breed’s worth as a truly African beef cattle breed. The herd is run on the vast and remote semiarid sandy savanna area of Aroab in the Karas region of southern Namibia, on the edge of the Kalahari Desert, and the animals have shown their ability to perform under these extremely challenging production conditions.

Jan Blaauw says their animals have demonstrated the breed’s efficiency even during regular periods of drought. The objective of their stud is to exploit the breed’s competitive advantage of being hardy and superbly adapted to Africa’s farming conditions.

Blaauw, who owns and manages the stud with his sons Manie and Jan Jr, is the fifth generation to farm on the 13 523ha family farm, Salztal, and has been on the farm for the past 40 years. He bred Afrikaners commercially until 2012, when he decided to embark on stud breeding.

“My father, Manie Sr, also bred Afrikaners for many years. I decided to go into stud breeding to add value to our farming business,” Blaauw says.

MAKING A COMEBACK

In the early days of commercial cattle farming in Southern Africa, the Afrikaner was the most popular and important breed, and contributed its genetics to many synthetic breeds. But its supremacy did not last forever.

“The introduction of cattle breeds from other parts of the world and the development of synthetic breeds subsequently led to a steady decline in its popularity,” says Blaauw.

However, given the challenges facing farmers these days, he is convinced that the breed could again play a central role in the beef industry, due to a shift in focus in beef cattle production towards adaptability and productivity.