LANDBOUKUNDIG
THE
PROFITABILITY
OF GAME FARMING
South Africans are meat lovers. Moreover, in any part
of South Africa, you will find that biltong is the snack of
choice for South Africans across the board.
Kefiloe Manthata
Senwes Journalist
Stand in line at any butchery or
supermarket counter and you will
likely be able to have your pick of
the much-loved biltong made from some
of the country’s iconic game — impala,
eland, kudu, wildebeest and ostrich.
South Africa has the world’s largest
game ranching industry for privately
owned game, and the money it generates
is not just from game viewing and trophy
hunting. It’s from venison, consumed
locally. Yet very little venison is being
exported.
South Africa has more than 10,000
wildlife farms covering more than 20
million hectares. This means three times
more conservation land is privately owned
than government owned. These private
game ranches are home to twice as many
animals as the public parks. South African
game farms produce about 120,000 to
150,000 tonnes of venison a year, but
exports less than 2,000 tonnes of venison
annually, Matchdeck reported in 2013.
Distributing venison in major
supermarkets could prove to be a viable
business opportunity for South African
game ranchers. The export potential
of the game industry is also showing
promise. With the right backing, there
is massive growth opportunities for the
South African game industry
Venison and biltong are the key
products derived from game hunting,
while trophy hunting is mostly enjoyed by
foreign travellers. So why hasn’t South
Africa, with its wealth of resources and
access to export markets, tapped the
venison export market?
Game hunting revenue in South Africa
has shown constant growth over the past
10 years, both from local South African
hunters and international.
The industry is said to generate a little
over R9 billion. This is just a small sliver
of South Africa’s total wildlife industry,
estimated to generate about R123 billion
(about $8 billion US annually).
Conventional farmers have been
integrating game ranching into their
operations or switching over to game
ranching completely since 1991. This is
more sustainable because game ranching
is so much more adaptable to severe
weather conditions. The profitability
and adaptability to drought conditions
is certainly a good enough reason for
producers to consider incorporating game
farming into their plans.
28 | Mikotoksiene
Mikotoksiene:
’n Nuwegenerasie-oplossing
In die praktyk
Mikotoksiene is ’n ernstige probleem in
die veebedryf. Daarom het Biomin belê
in ’n volledige, opgeknapte formulering
wat geoptimaliseer is om doeltreffendheid
in die veld te verhoog. Dit is bewys in ‘n
proef met braaikuikens op ’n plaas waar
die druk van E-coli hoog is. Meer as
600 000 dag-ou braaikuikens is in
twee groepe verdeel (Mycofix®- en
kontrolegroep) en tot op ouderdom
35 dae waargeneem. Die voer is op ’n
natuurlike wyse met trigoteseen, FUM
en ZEN besmet. By voltooiing van die
proef was dit duidelik dat Mycofix® die
finale gewig en voeromsetverhouding
(FCR) met onderskeidelik 24g en 0,05
punte verbeter het. Daarbenewens het
die kuikens wat met Mycofix® behandel
is, ’n beduidende afname in gastroendotoksieninhoud
getoon. ’n Ekonomiese
berekening gebaseer op die gewig- en
voerbenuttingsverskille tussen die
twee groepe, het die geoptimaliseerde
Mycofix® 5.0 se algehele voordeligheid
duidelik getoon, met ’n 4,34% opbrengs
op belegging (ROI). Die vyfdegenerasie
Mycofix® is wetenskaplik bewys om
volledige beskerming teen mikotoksiene
te bied.
Vir navrae en inligting, kontak Biomin
Suid-Afrika by 018 468 1455/6 of besoek
www.biomin.net. Volg ons op FB: Biomin
South Africa.
SENWES SCENARIO | WINTER 2020 33