Livestock

The Karoo consists of a bewildering variety of physiographic landscape types, each of which contains a great diversity of habitats. This habitat variability is the ...

All dairy farmers are breeders although breeding aims may differ among herds. Some farmers breed show cows while others produce sires for the artificial insemination ...

Livestock farming within urban areas is a highly contentious topic. However, rapid urbanization has increased peri-urban and urban farming in South Africa. This is because ...

Soil is a living system and the foundation of crop production. Soil health is defined as the capacity of soil to function as a vital ...

South Africa’s informal farming sector is contributing far more to the economy and food security than is officially being recognised. More should be done to ...

For decades, indigenous people have observed biophysical animate and inanimate beings for weather forecast and climate predictions about current and future weather variables that cannot ...

The impact of fluctuating weather conditions has been evident throughout agricultural markets over the past decades. Dairy production in South Africa is responsive to the ...

Sadly, there are times when a vet will make a mistake. After all, vets are human beings. There may come a time when they make ...

There seems to be a common perception among some local dairy farmers that cows may be culled earlier than their expected production lifespan when using ...

The essence of dairy farming is the ongoing process of cows calving down once every year. Cows must calve down to start a new lactation ...

Die jaarlikse Landbou Navorsingsraad (LNR) se Nasionale Meester Suiwelboer toekenningsgeleentheid is op Woensdag 21 Oktober 2020 as ‘n virtuele geleentheid aangebied deur Agri-Expo, namens die ...

Few years ago, I watched a documentary called “Cowspiracy” that was a big punch on my face. “Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret” is a 2014 documentary film which explores ...

There are numerous factors that influence the recommended pollination tariff which are bound to differ in terms of importance as well as relevance depending on ...

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an acute, fever-causing viral disease most observed in domesticated animals (such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, and camels), with the ...

Dairy breeds in South Africa originated in the British Isles and Western Europe. These countries have a cool to cold climate. In comparison, in South ...

Genetic progress in dairy herds is affected by sire selection. However, despite careful selection procedures, female progeny of selected sires produce at higher, similar or ...

The variable and changing climate Climate conditions were in general unfavourable for agricultural production in the recent past seasons. Severe drought over most of South ...

Recently, on social media, the size of dairy cows was discussed among dairy farmers. Most held the opinion that there are advantages to cows being ...

Daardie bottel op die rak met die goue, stroperige vloeistof is uiters gesog by alle mense alhoewel dit ‘n plaas se prys is. Sedert oertye ...

Om die regte koeie te koop is moeiliker as wat baie mense dink. Die aankoopplek, finansiële vermoë van die koper en redes waarom koeie verkoop ...

Dairy farmers are always looking at ways to increase the value of their herds. The management style has a major effect on the value of ...

Dairy farmers always aim to reduce the production cost of milk to increase profit margins. Heifer rearing is a direct cost and produces no immediate ...

The genetic merit of a dairy herd depends on the average breeding value of the group of bulls selected annually to service cows and heifers. ...

Good news for dairy industry: SA Dairy Championships attracts 882 entries The biggest dairy competition in Africa, the judging of the South African Diary Championships, ...

Consider the live weight when selecting dairy bulls. The genetic improvement of a dairy herd depends on the group of bulls selected every year to ...

The Predation Management Forum (PMF) held a workshop on 21 February at NMU to develop a framework that will give direction to research and training ...

Why it’s time to act Pangolins, a group of unique African and Asian scaly mammals, are one of the most heavily trafficked wild mammals in ...

A dairy herd consist of cows and heifers. Cows are either in milk (lactating) or dry (not producing milk). As cows are the production units ...

It’s not that simple in South Africa There’s widespread concern about the global decline of honey bees and the associated loss of pollination services. Should ...

  Figure 1. Flower of Echium plantagineum. Source: www.internatura.org One of the most prominent sights in the landscape over the spring and summer season, and ...

The milk yield of dairy cows varies because of individual genetic merit, age, lactation stage (days in milk), daily feed intake, feed quality and body ...

Due management and nutrition of bulls are essential to the cow-calf producer to ensure maximum reproduction and genetic efficacy of his herd. Various factors affect ...

In the light of the resent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in South Africa, we look at the signs and symptoms. Foot-and-mouth disease or ...

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries provides update on Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in Limpopo. Subsequent to Minister Zokwana’ s meeting with industry, ...

Emphasis on the word illegal The illegal use of pesticides killing of bees in the Constantia area of the Western Cape has received widespread media ...

Case study on a degraded soil in the North West Province Following an introduction to some theoretical principles and practices of Conservation Agriculture  and integrated ...

Milk prices for dairy farmers are affected by supply and demand. Farmers have, for except, the volume and quality of milk being produced, generally little ...

Farmers, beekeepers, Croplife South Africa and researchers take hands The Western Cape Bee Industry Association (WCBA) organised a workshop at the Buitenverwachting wine estate in ...

“New research advocates use of pastures with shrubs and trees as it is more sustainable, improving animal welfare and increasing biodiversity.” Consumers are increasingly demanding ...

Milk production systems in the Western Cape Province vary from fully or partially pasture-based to zero-grazing total mixed ration (TMR) systems. The rainfall in many ...

Theoretical principles and practices In South Africa, crop production systems based on intensive and continuous soil tillage have led to excessively high soil degradation rates ...

When starting a new dairy farm, some management actions must be undertaken correctly from the start ensuring the future milk yields of dairy cows. Although ...