NEWS
Genetics was a major solution to the challenges Fyfer experienced . He explains that regenerative farming requires animals that can adapt quite easily , which led him to realise that he needed a hybrid animal .
“ The body condition score [ BCS ] is one of the most important indicators of our business . Genetics is the easiest way to address issues concerning BCS .”
Fyfer started farming with the Adaptor , a breed formed by combining the Beefmaster , Boran , Nguni and Mashona . This composite was bred according to Johann Zietsman ’ s Veldmaster principles and specifically developed for UHDG .
Fyfer also realised that farming entailed the entire ecosystem , not just cattle . He therefore decided to include chickens in his system , and have them feed on the same veld as the cattle .
The chickens are kept in moveable chicken coops , known as TrEGGers , which are moved regularly , allowing the chickens to contribute to improving the veld by spreading their own , as well as the cattle ’ s , manure and by combating pests .
Fyfer also farmed bees and planted pollination strips near watering points . The bees help pollinate all the plants in the ecosystem .
Measuring the impact
Grazing specialist Frits van Oudtshoorn has drawn similar conclusions over the few seasons he has helped and observed the results obtained on Reitzbased Danie Slabbert ’ s farm in the Free State .
Slabbert runs about 500 head of Drakensberg cattle on his farm and started using a UHDG system in December 2017 . He fenced rectangular cells within a 100m-wide electrified strip .
Depending on the biomass , the camp sizes vary from 100m x 7m to 100m x 15m .
During summer , the animals are moved hourly between 6am and 7pm , which equated to an average animal density of about 5 000 LSU / ha / hour , extrapolated to a carrying capacity of 6 LSU / ha / year . ( The official government recommendation for this farm is 4 LSU / ha / year .)
“ UHDG leads to non-selective grazing , a high degree of trampling and a high concentration of manure and urine ,” says Van Oudtshoorn .
The same system is used during winter , but the animals are moved to graze on maize and soya bean residue and cover crops specifically planted for them .
“ It ’ s important to realise that the sandy and loam soils these animals are grazing on are the farm ’ s marginal lands . The better soils are used for crop production ,” says Van Oudtshoorn .
To track the progress , he identified seven monitoring points in the area . Four of these were set on the main farm , where the UHDG ( or non-selective grazing ) was taking place , while the rest formed a control group . Two of the control group sites were based on a neighbouring farm , where animals were moved between the two camps on roughly a monthly basis .
This grazing approach led to a high degree of selective grazing , and the sites were collectively known as the “ selective grazing control sites ”. The third site of the control group was a portion of veld where no grazing took place ; it was called the “ zero-grazing control site ”. “ We determined the grass species composition by using the so-called line transect method ,” says Van Oudtshoorn .
“ With this data on hand , we looked at the grass species diversity , ecological status groups , veld condition score percentage and grazing capacity . Finally , the biomass production [ kg / ha ] was also an important factor to look at during this study .”
The grasses were categorised into four ecological status groups , namely decreasers , increaser 1 , increaser 2 and increaser 3 ( see Table 1 ).
“ In 2019 , the decreasers at the UHDG sites stood , on average , at 19,7 %. By 2021 , they had increased to 32,1 %, an increase of 12,4 % in two years . When looking at the selective grazing control sites , the decreasers had grown by 5,7 % from 8 % to 14,9 % over the same period . The decreaser grasses declined from 13,2 % to 0 % over the same period at the zero-grazing control sites .”
The increaser 1 grasses increase when veld is underutilised . At the UHDG sites , this group increased by 1,8 % from 17,6 % to 19,4 %. Interestingly , they did not increase at all in the selective grazing sites , while they increased by 20 % in the area where no grazing took place .
“ The increaser 2 species declined by 1,9 % from 23 % in 2019 to 21,2 % in 2021 at the UHDG sites , while it declined by 38,7 % from 82 % to 43,3 % in the selective grazing sites ,” says Van Oudtshoorn . “ At the zero-grazing sites , the figure declined by 1,5 % from 7,5 % to 6 %. The UHDG sites were the only sites where the grass species diversity increased during the two-year study period . “ It ’ s still too early to draw any definite conclusions , as we only have two years ’ worth of data . However , almost all veld condition assessment criteria used in this study indicate higher average values at the non-selective grazing [ UHDG ] sites compared with the control groups . We ’ ll continue monitoring the situation and even expand our ecological parameters further .”
E-mail DF Fyfer at df @ bhetjane . com , or Frits van Oudtshoorn at frits @ alut . co . za .
13 Grassroots Vol 22 No 2 July 2022