Regenerative Farming | Farm Donkerbos

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Farm Facts

DESCRIPTION

Eastern Sandveld.

ENTERPRISE

Weaner production.

PROPERTY SIZE

4190 hectares.

FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF AREA

Deep sandy Camelthorn savannah with palatable bush; heavy frost.

AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL AND VARIABILITY

Average: 380 mm; lowest: 206 mm; highest: 673 mm.

ELEVATION

1280 metres above sea level.

OWNED OR RENTED

Owned; part-time management (full-time job in Windhoek; separate farm enterprise on rented farmland in the Rehoboth area to fatten weaners).

MOTIVATION FOR CHANGE AND APPROACH

After buying the farm in October 2013, a practical, productive and profi table rangeland management approach that can be managed while engaged in full-time employment in Windhoek needed to be implemented. In order to repay loans and to survive, the stocking rate needed to be sustainably increased.

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MAIN INNOVATION

The Mara Grazing Approach.

Table 3: Summary of the grazing plan showing grazing frequency over three years (green boxes).

Forage for animals: The average amount of available grass and browse in kilograms per hectare is 849 and 351, respectively, giving a total of 1200 kg/ha of available forage to the livestock.

Tree density: The average woody tree density is 1268 TE/ha.

Biodiversity: The grass and bush component is made up of 14 and 9 species, respectively. The Biodiversity Index of the farm is a medium value (0.5), which indicates that some species are starting to dominate the grasses and shrubs growing on the farm.

Key Results

No additional infrastructure required to apply the Mara grazing approach.
Easy and effective part-time management with good staff and very good results.
Good fodder-flow management, with early warning if stocking is not correct.
Good animal performance (80% cow calving) and good animal production (12.4 kg/ha) since 2019.
Selection for fertility resulted in a reduction in mature cow weight over the first few years and markedly better condition, especially the new breeding heifers that were put to the bull.
Beneficial improvement of the resource base over a short period of time, showing the return of Brachiaria and perennial Finger grasses.
The area that was selectively bush-thinned (treat one problem species and leave the next one) with arboricide during 2019 currently has four times more biomass than the average of all other investigated sites. The total cost (the chemical and labour) was less than N$300/ha during 2019-2021.

Farm Donkerbos

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Mara Approach: rest two-thirds of the farm every year during the main rainy season
(February to April) with maximum root growth during early winter (May to June)

Roelie Venter applies
the Mara Grazing
Approach, which is
being demonstrated
during an information
day on his farm.

Key Tips

The cattle herd must adapt to the rangeland management system and potential of the farm – not the other way around.
Rest can only take place in the rainfall season. Root development is negatively correlated with vegetative plant growth. Maximum root growth occurs during early winter.
If you are engaged in full-time employment elsewhere, sufficient management time on the farm is the biggest limiting factor. Therefore, employee management, motivation and sufficient control measures are critical, and good relations with your neighbours is paramount.
Change in rangeland condition takes time as does selecting for a more adapted herd.
A mind shift is needed to stay focused on applying the key principles of rangeland management to improve the rangeland and to make the cow herd more profitable.
Select for medium-framed, early- maturing animals with high fertility rates that gain weight fast and maintain condition in tough winters.
Only give non-pregnant fi rst-calving cows a second chance; all other non-pregnant animals will be moved to rented land for fattening and slaughtering.
Cow condition at calving is an important factor as it determines re-conception three months later. Pregnant cows must be provided with enough time to recoup their condition after weaning the previous calf.
Focus on animal performance and support the animals with supplementation when needed.
Less camps available for every herd puts more grazing pressure on the cow herd. Expect cow condition to deteriorate initially and conception fi gures to worsen initially. Bigger-framed cows are often the fi rst to fall out of the system.
Stick to the set grazing plan, count animals every two weeks when you are on the farm and then decide if you need to re-allocate priority herds to better camps. This simple plan means that no animals change camps when you are not there.
In the Mara Grazing Approach, the group of camps that are utilised from July-September in this year will be utilised again in next year from February-June. These camps need to recover fully by the end of January next year after being grazed until September. Therefore, care should be taken to avoid over-utilisation of the group of camps from July-September for the respective year and adjustments must be made if needed.

Approaches

RESILIENCE OF THE FARM

Ecological and fi nancial resilience during and after the 2019 drought. The stocking rate was maintained at 36 kg/ha throughout the drought in 2019.

MONEY-MAKING POTENTIAL OF THE FARM

An average of 80% calving for cows from 2020 to date. The average live weight produced on the farm since 2019 was 12.4 kg/ha per year. Both of these factors indicate a healthy, viable business.

CHOICE OF ANIMAL/S

Selection is for early- maturing animals with high fertility rates that are suitable for the farm’s conditions. All selected breeding bulls must be medium- framed, early-maturing animals that gain weight fast and maintain condition during the tough winters. Mating season has been adapted to the best available forage and is from March to May and October to December. This gives two calving seasons from December to February and July to September.