The highest price for a Boran bull was achieved over the weekend at Hurwitz Farming’s ninth production auction 📈
The bull BH 18 490 Jester was sold to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Ntaba Nyoni Boran stud near Badplaas for R3.5 million 💰
Full story here:
Today on African Farming, we meet the 2023 Sernick Farmer of the Year, Maria Tswayi. She farms with Bonsmara’s, sheep and goats in Hertzogville in the Free State.
Join us at 17:00 on Honey, DStv channel 173 for the episode premiere.
#AfricanFarming
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#NewSeason
During our visit to Maria Tswai two years ago, she had received 35 Bonsmara cows and a bull through the Sernick emerging farmers development programme. She now has a herd of more than 150 breeding cows & has repaid her loan three years ahead of schedule.
The path to Saudi Arabia and China is open for South African red meat exports after Riyadh lifted a ban on the import of South African red meat after 21 years and Beijing also gave the green light.
Read more here:
Catch the repeat of
#AfricanFarming
with farmer Thubelihle Mthombeni tonight at 9pm on Honey, DStv channel 173.
In the episode we also learn about
@AFGRI1
’s retail offering, and spray application technology.
Featured farmer Hlobisile Yende loves Simmentalers because of their pleasant temperament. Madiba, her main bull was brought in last year and she reports good results so far 😍
Catch the repeat of episode 1⃣ on Honey, DStv channel 173 tonight at 9pm.
#AfricanFarming
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#NewSeason
New SA record! This Brangus bull, SB 19-219, was sold for a new SA record price of R1.1 million at
@BrangusSA
's national auction in the Afridome in Parys this morning. The bull was bred by JH Smith’s Smith Brangus Ranch in Douglas. Charl van Rooyen caught the action.
Ntsiki Biyela grew up herding cattle and milking cows in a rural village in KZN and went on to work as a domestic worker. Never could she have imagined that she would one day make history by becoming SA’s first black female winemaker.
Watch episode here:
Elvis Maremani grew up herding goats in the rural village of Mashamba. He followed a career path in the corporate world but found his way back to farming. He now farms Indigenous Veld Goats, Savanna goats & Bosvelder sheep on communal land.
Read here:
His father and grandfather gifted him 710ha of farmland on his 21st birthday. Eight years later, Nkosana Mtambo established ‘Mtambo Boerdery’, an operation consisting of 200 Bonsmara cattle, 400 Dohne merinos and a fleet of tractors over three farms.
You don't want to miss the final episode of African Farming season three with farmer
@ThaboDithakgwe
.
Tune in at 19:00 on
@MzansiWethu
, DStv channel 163!
The Vryburg auction arena was packed on June 28 when Duncan Serapelwane held his first production sale for Moalosi Bonsmaras.
Twenty bulls and 200 females went under the hammer, with the highest-rated bull fetching R170 000 👏🏿
Read more here:
You don’t have to start big to end up successful. Ask Palesa Moahlodi, an impressive gogo what made do with what she had when she started farming in 2010. Today, she and her husband own a 1300ha sweetveld farm in the Free State.
Watch her full episode:
From humble beginnings farming communal land in Theunissen, Maria Tswai has developed into a role model for her peers. In 2021, she was named farmer of the year by the Sernick Group’s development programme.
Watch the repeat of her episode on Honey, DStv channel 173 at 9pm.
During a flying lesson, Kobela Mokgohloa, a small aircraft pilot, was fascinated by the sight of vast tracts of land lying fallow while communities living there suffered high unemployment & crime. This experience inspired him to ditch flying for farming.
We couldn’t have asked for a better start to the new season than with third-generation farmer, Hlobisile Yende this Women’s Month 🩷
African Farming season 4️⃣ premieres in just 30 minutes on Honey, DStv channel 173 at 5pm.
Don’t miss it! ⏳
#AfricanFarming
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#NewSeason
In a historic sale, Kabelo Rametse of Pretoria bought a Boer goat ram named Komatsu from the Lukas Burger Boer Goat Stud for a record price of R500 000.
Read more here:
Sithembele Malgas has run a successful vegetable and beef cattle farm in the Eastern Cape for 20 years. Although he moved out of agricultural extension services many years ago, he continues to mentor and inspire upcoming farmers.
Read more here:
“Everything is dead … it froze to death within three days,” says a potato farmer from Limpopo after black frost hit his farm at the weekend. He has lost more than 74 hectares of his crop.
Read more here:
Retail chains that engage in backward integration, such as Pick n Pay, which is acquiring Tomis Group with its Western Cape feedlot and abattoir, are a novelty in South Africa and can be advantageous for the red meat industry and the market in general.
A 25-year-old breeder has achieved a South African record price for a black Angus bull.
Several price records were set at the Midlands Angus Elite auction.
The highest price, R310 000, set a South African record for a black Angus bull 👏🏿
More here:
Hlobisile Yende met Duncan Serapelwane of Moalosi Bonsmaras at the African Farming livestock farmers’ day in Rustenburg. She asked him to be her mentor on the spot 🤝🏿
Watch the repeat of Hlobi's episode on Honey, DStv channel 173 tonight at 9pm.
#AfricanFarming
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#NewSeason
[IN PHOTOS] 📸
Female farmers are proving to be more successful than their male counterparts in the Sernick Emerging Farmers Programme. Tracy Marobobo, one of the top performers in the programme is living proof of this!
Read her full feature on the
#AfricanFarming
website.
A world record price of R270 000 was paid on Saturday for a Kalahari Red ram named Rocket, bred by Albie Horn of Kuruman and offered for sale at an auction of the SA Kalahari Red Club in Pretoria.
READ:
Did someone say Thursday? Start your
#AfricanFarming
Day by setting your reminders for the premiere of episode eight tonight at 18:30 on Mzansi Wethu! 💃🏾💃🏾
A tremendous growth opportunity lies ahead for the red meat industry after Saudi Arabia officially approved red meat imports from South Africa.
Read more here:
Cattle farmer Mmatlala “Noko” Seboni, from Limpopo, tells us about the Brahman breed, and how he approaches cattle management practices such as de-horning. We also hear about the accessibility of quality animal feeds.
WATCH EPISODE PROMO HERE:
Zinabos Bonsmaras, Fourie Scheepers’ auction held on August 4 at Hoogland farm in Fouriesburg, achieved excellent prices 👏🏿
As usual, good breeding material was available 😍
Read more here:
The Karan Beef Academy has launched an educational video series that provides essential training for cattle farmers giving them the knowledge and skills to become more profitable and successful in the ever-growing beef cattle market.
Read about it here:
While most buyers at the auction of Ankoles and Borans from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Ntaba Nyoni stud farm were South Africans, it was Collen Tafireyi of Sinyo Boran & Ankole in Zimbabwe who paid the highest price of R1,8 million.
Read more here:
A Simbra bull, Jacmar Buffel JM 18-22, was sold for a South African record price of R550 000 at the Simbra Spring Showcase auction at the Afridome in Parys.
The auction was part of the annual BKB-ALE show.
More here:
Noko Seboni’s love of farming almost died when he moved to Gauteng, but his father’s illness led him back to his true calling. Now, he is thriving as a farmer and has found success through crossbreeding.
Read the full story here:
A kasi boy, Wandile Khave and rural veterinarian Dr Johan van Rooyen became good friends and now they’re restoring hope in the village of eNdelane in the Eastern Cape.
Read more about their story here:
In the next episode, we meet TUT lecturer and farmer Dimpho Xaba, who farms with wheat, maize, soya, potatoes and bees in Pretoria North.
Don’t miss the episode on Tuesday, 12 September at 17:00 on Honey, DStv channel 173.
Watch promo here:
A pregnant Boran heifer, Caroline (HOT 20-25), from Yolandie Botha’s Iminathi Rance in the Waterberg district, was sold to the highest bidder at R650 000 at the Sale of the Bonts auction in Pretoria.
See more here:
FREE! Have you read the new edition of
#AfricanFarming
magazine with Piet Mothepu and his son, Bandile, on the cover? Read all about farmers building their businesses and get valuable farming advice. Click to download your copy and SHARE:
When you farm with 10 000 cattle and six stud farms, you can’t leave anything to chance. On Rudi and Hugo Lemcke’s Kalahari farms in Botswana, each cow’s performance is measured against her annual cost – and no mercy is shown. Read more:
It’s one of the most prestigious awards in farming and in 2016 history was made when Klein Gasekoma from Reivilo, North West became the first black farmer to win the coveted award of commercial cattle farmer of the year.
Watch his full episode here:
Brothers Mandla and Johnson Mandlendoda run a successful farming operation that includes angora goats, cattle and sheep.
Lindiwe Sithole makes her way to the Eastern Cape to gain farming knowledge from this dynamic brotherly duo.
Don’t miss the episode this Thursday!
The agricultural sector is the backbone of the South African economy. However, the sector faces a constant challenge – ensuring it has a skilled workforce equipped to handle the complexities of modern agriculture, writes Ziyanda Sibeko.
READ:
𝘼𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙁𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠! 👏🏿👏🏿
In the first episode of season 3, host Tony Ndoro heads to the Vaal to spend time with maize and soya farmer, Amos Njoro.
Tune in to
#AfricanFarming
in its new timeslot of 19:00 on Thursday on Mzansi Wethu, DStv channel 163.
Karoo-Ochse Vryburg held its annual weaner calf auction at Amalia on 19 June. This year’s auction was the largest in the auctioneer’s 38-year history. Read more:
Episode six of African Farming is on its way! Are you as excited as we are? In half an hour, host
@AngieKhumalo
explores hydroponics with successful farmer Kobela Mokgohlwa.
A Beefmaster breeder set two South African price records during the national Beefmaster auction on 4 July at the Afridome in Parys. Shortly afterwards, another breeder also set a South African record. All three records involved female animals. Read more:
A stud bull with the fitting name Perfect (JHR 1928) achieved the highest price of R320 000 at Richter Simbras’ production auction on Leeukop outside Bloemfontein on Thursday, 11 July. Read more:
In the next episode of
#AfricanFarming
, we visit Kenny Mocwiri in North-West, to learn about pig production, where biosecurity, good genetics, and quality animal feed are critical issues. We also hear more about Farmer Development from AFGRI and SAPPO.
Tuli bulls and heifers with excellent breeding values attracted buyers from far and wide to the Alpha & Omega stud’s production auction.
Read more here:
NFS22-71 was one of three two-year-old bulls presented at Sernick’s 46th production auction, causing a major surprise when he was auctioned for R2,2 million.
Read more here:
The political climate of the early 80s made it impossible for Thubelihle Mthombeni’s dad, David Mthombeni, to pursue his dream of becoming a commercial farmer. Today, however, David works alongside Thubelihle in a mixed farming enterprise.
Read here:
Dimpho Xaba, an agricultural lecturer at Tshwane University of Technology developed a love for farming at a young age as he grew up in the farming town of Brits, North West. Today, he farms wheat, maize, beans, potatoes & bees in Pretoria North.
Read here:
FREE! Have you read the new edition of
#AfricanFarming
magazine with Tiro Mongwaketsi, winner of the ARC's National Beef Producer of the Year, on the cover? Read about farmers building their businesses and get valuable farming advice. Click to download:
The R375 000 for a heifer at the annual National Boran Heifer Extravaganza in Parys is one of the highest prices paid for a Boran heifer and may be a South African record.
Read more here:
Farming is tough, but farming in Africa is really tough. STIHL has specially developed the 230 range of products – also known as the Farmers’ Range – to cope with the challenges and demands of farming in Africa.
Read all about it here:
We hope you enjoyed African Farming last night! Here are a few of our favourite moments from the episode with
@AngieKhumalo
and the inspiring Tshilidzi “Chilli” Matshidzula.
"Love what you do and give your all in whatever you do. Be able to learn at any time and from anyone" - this is the best advice Petrus Tsotetsi has ever received.
We get up close and personal with the farmer here:
𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚, 𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙮! 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
African Farming is proud to announce that Tony Ndoro will be joining the team!
He is a television icon synonymous with sports and news and will be taking over the reins from Lindiwe Sithole.
A brand new episode of African Farming with host
@Angiekhumalo
and young commercial farmer Sinelizwi Fakade will be hitting your screens tonight!
Tune in at 18:30 on Mzansi Wethu, DStv channel 163.
The East Transvaal bull auction in Ermelo achieved good prices.
The most expensive bull, from Peter and Lucille Abrahamse, was sold for R130 000.
Bulls achieved an average price of R60 000 at the auction.
See here:
Karan Beef, through The Karan Beef Academy, has published an excellent educational video series designed to provide essential cattle farmer training to the future commercial farmers of SA.
In this episode, we discuss grazing and its importance.
WATCH:
A new vaccine to combat pneumonia in sheep and goats has been developed by Design Biologix of Pretoria. It is the only registered vaccine that prevents viral and bacterial respiratory diseases, thus providing complete protection.
Read here:
Nearly 300 animals competed in a regional flock competition at the Mangolong shearing shed, situated in Maluti B, in the Matatiele district, Eastern Cape.
Read more here:
"I’ve learned most of what I know from days like these, belonging to study groups and having good mentors. My advice is for farmers to take advantage of info days and network with fellow farmers" - Duncan Serapelwane at his farmers’ day.
Read more here:
African Farming caught up with cattle farmer Ipeleng Kwadi from the North West to find out what she has been up to on her farm during the winter months. Read more here:
It’s the final countdown! In just 30 minutes, watch as
@AngieKhumalo
learns all about dairy farming from a former Young Farmer of the Year.
DStv channel 163 is the place to be at 18:30. 🐮🐄
Twelve cattle farmers from the Northern Cape are looking forward to growth in their farms after the Beefmaster group began supporting them with matters such as animal health. Read more:
With young people representing 11% of its loan book, Land Bank says Youth Month is an opportunity to reaffirm its support for South Africa’s future farmers. Read more:
Brazilian breeders of Zebu cattle and other experts will visit South Africa from 28 May to 5 June to establish and strengthen trade relations. They will then visit Angola to meet farmers there.
Read more here:
Tune in to a brand new episode of African Farming at 17:00 today on Honey, DStv channel 173! 🐝
We meet TUT lecturer and farmer
@dimpho4africa
, who farms with wheat, maize, soya, potatoes and bees in Pretoria North.
#AfricanFarming
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#NewSeason
The use of breeding material from South Africa’s top Bonsmara herds and strong competition resulted in high prices at the eighth production auction of Boeram Venter’s Disco Bonsmaras in Kirkwood, Eastern Cape. Read more:
Thoko Didiza, the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, signed an agreement with Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, for the export of avocados from South Africa to China.
Read all about it here:
Vaccination programmes and dipping of small stock aren't total solutions to keeping your flocks healthy and goats disease-free. Healthy animals are stronger and less susceptible to disease; so stockmen must manage and feed as a primary health care measure.
As the saying goes, a bull is 50% of the herd, so it’s crucial that it is well managed before, during and after the breeding season. Highly respected and experienced Bonsmara breeder, Arthur de Villiers, offers practical advice.
Read more:
Brigadier JZ Luvuno is a retired cop who farms with about 450 bonsmara, beefmaster and Brahmans in Vryheid. He says he retired from his responsibility of providing national security to take up a new responsibility of providing food security.
A bull from the Bonsmara stud Hanzyl fetched the highest price at the production auction of Gerrit van Zyl from the farm Struisfontein near Dewetsdorp. Read more: