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Assessment of Production Practices of Emerging Cattle Farmers in the Selected Districts of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

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Assessment of Production Practices of Emerging Cattle Farmers in the Selected Districts of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa Assessment of production practices of emerging cattle farmers in the selected districts of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa by KATIKATI APHIWE Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree MAGISTER TECHNOLOGIAE: AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT in the Department of Agriculture Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences at the Central University of Technology, Free State Supervisor: Prof PJ Fourie (D. Tech. Agric.) BLOEMFONTEIN December 2017 © Central University of Technology, Free State DECLARATION I, Aphiwe Katikati, identity number and student number , do hereby declare that this research project submitted to the Central University of Technology, Free State for the Degree MAGISTER TECHNOLOGIAE: AGRICULTURE, is my own independent work; and complies with the Code of Academic Integrity, as well as other relevant policies, procedures, rules and regulations of the Central University of Technology, Free State; and has not been submitted before to any institution by myself or any other person in fulfilment of the requirements for the attainment of any qualification. Aphiwe Katikati Date Prof PJ Fourie Date (Supervisor) i © Central University of Technology, Free State LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AA Angus Advantage ARC Agricultural Research Council CSG Controlled Selective Grazing CSGWG Cattle Standards and Guidelines Writing Group DAFF Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries DC Directorate Communication DRDLR Department of Rural Development and Land Reform ECSER Eastern Cape State of the Environment Report EU European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations GRSA Government of the Republic of South Africa HPG High-Production Grazing HUG High-Utilization Grazing System ILRI International Livestock Research Institute LLM Landless Monogastric LLR Landless Ruminant Systems MI Irrigated Mixed Farming Systems MR Rain-fed Mixed Farming Systems NF Nguni Facts PD Pregnancy Diagnosis RSA Republic of South Africa SABMVC A profile of the South African beef market value chain SAFA South African Feedlot Association SAI South Africa.info SAS Statistical Analysis Software SAY South Africa Yearbook SRG Short Rotational Grazing USAID United States Agency for International Development ii © Central University of Technology, Free State ABSTRACT Assessment of production practices of emerging cattle farmers in the selected districts of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa A survey to assess the production management practises and challenges facing the developing cattle farmers was conducted by consulting with a total of 60 smallholder cattle producers in Amathole and Chris Hani districts situated in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The results of the current study are bringing evidence that our respondents are elderly people, with a lot of farming experience, sufficient land and being dominated by men. Extensive farming was the most (67%) recorded practised. A small proportion of the respondents were keeping farm records (n=21), as result they cannot really track the trend of their business. Most of them had infrastructures that were in poor condition such as fencing, farm houses and access roads, while handling facilities in most of the farms did not exist. Cows experiencing calving problems or failing to have a calf per year were culled and sold in most cases. Basic cattle management practices were followed by almost all the respondents with the exception of deworming that was practiced by only 33%. The findings show that developing farmers are aware of the importance of animal health management as there were very few individuals that were not vaccinating (11.7%) and controlling parasites in their herds. When farmers were experiencing grazing shortages they were supplementing, some were feeding animals with farm produced forage while others culled less productive animals. These results show that there are only a few emerging farmers (25%) that are conserving forage, which might be due to a lack of knowledge or resources for example shortages of infrastructures and implements. Lick supplementation was a common practise amongst farmers. In our study, many respondents had camp divisions regardless of their functionality and condition. There were no proper precautions in place for both bush encroachment and moribund grass. Breeding was done seasonally and throughout the year. Reproduction capability measuring (bull fertility and pregnancy testing) was an uncommon practise unlike parturition observation that was done by the majority of farmers. The respondents had good conception and calving rates. iii © Central University of Technology, Free State In many farms there were people that were permanently employed. Most sales of livestock were done through private buyers (53%), auctions (30%) and speculators (20%). The furthest marketing places from farms on average were butcheries, abattoirs and feedlots. Nevertheless, some farmers were not marketing their cattle. Over and above cattle sales, there were also other sources of income for the respondents. The farmers were spending significant amounts (R73861.67 on average) on fuel and labour payments. On average, respondents’ farming income was higher than their expenses. Thirty-seven percent of respondents reported an increase in cattle sales over the past three years while, 36% did not experience any improvement in their cattle enterprise. Poor fencing, stock theft and drought were challenges that were facing our respondents. Lastly, respondents were obtaining agricultural advises from DAFF, DRDLR and agricultural magazines. iv © Central University of Technology, Free State DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, my siblings, and my close friends. Their love, support and encouragement gave me the strength and ability to believe that anything is possible and to believe in myself. v © Central University of Technology, Free State ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank God for giving me the opportunity, strength and wisdom to go through the study, without his presence this couldn’t be possible. My sincere gratitude goes to my supervisor Prof. P.J. Fourie for his consistent invaluable advice, comments and follow-up, constructive critiques and patience right from the beginning to the completion of my work. My sincere gratitude goes to the Central University of Technology for the financial support and National Research Funding (NRF) for the funding. I would like to thank the agricultural officials from the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform of in Chris Hani and Amathole district for making arrangement the meetings with farmers, I am talking about Mrs N. Faku, Mr S. Moss, Mr Mgetyengana, Mr Sikhundla, Mr Kheka, Miss B. Pino, Miss Z Cewu, Mr Nzimande, Mrs Bunu, Mr Ndaba, Mr Mandlokazi, Mr Sabongo, Mr Maseti, Mr Macala and Mr M. Magengele. I would like to thank my brother A. Booi for allowing me to use his office when I was planning the farms visits in the Chis Hani district. I would like to thank Mr M. Toyise, Mr L. Lamane, Miss Y. Nape and Mr P. Mngqibisa for assisting in the completion of the questionnaires. Lastly but not least my sincere appreciation goes to Mr T. C. Mokoena, Mr A. Magoda and Mr S. Peacock for assisting during data capturing. vi © Central University of Technology, Free State TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION .......................................................................................................... i LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENT ............................................................................................. vii LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... xi LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................... xii LIST OF APPENDICES .......................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER ONE ......................................................................................................... 1 General introduction ................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Problem Statement ....................................................................................... 3 1.3 Rational/Motivation ........................................................................................ 4 1.4 Aims and Objectives ..................................................................................... 5 1.4.1 The aim ................................................................................................... 5 1.4.2 The objectives ........................................................................................ 5 1.5 Research question ........................................................................................ 5 1.6 Project Hypotheses ....................................................................................... 5 1.7 Limitation of the study ..................................................................................
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