AGRICULTURAL
Cattle + grain =
Theme: Livestock
a wise choice
In addition to technical skills, risk management is the most important skill which a pro-
ducer should have. Cattle farming combined with grain production, addresses this risk
directly, which makes it a wise move.
By dr Kobus Swart
Animal Feed Expert
T
he combination of grain and cattle
farming has more than one bene-
fit, of which consistent and secure
feed production is the most
important. A cattle component with con-
comitant infrastructure and equipment is
a long-term investment and must be con-
sidered and planned with the necessary
care. The necessary expert advice and the
application thereof to herd management
6
SENWES SCENARIO | WINTER 2018
are the basis of any successful cattle pro-
duction enterprise.
The first choice to be made is the end
product which you want to produce with
the cattle component. This choice will
determine the nature of cattle manage-
ment, facilities and equipment which need
to be focused upon. A choice has to be
made from three types of production sys-
tems:
➊ Gene pool or reproduction capacity.
This is where animals with a higher
breeding value in a stud or commer-
cially bred animals are marketed at a
premium.
➋ Meat production capacity: Weaners are
produced in a cow-calf production sys-
tem and typically marketed to feedlots.
➌ Carcass production: Own and/or
bought weaners are rounded off in a
feedlot, slaughtered and carcasses or