Regenerative Farming | Farm Buffelhoek

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Farm Facts

DESCRIPTION

Central Thornveld.

ENTERPRISE

Well-adapted cattle and sheep in bush-encroached
areas.

PROPERTY SIZE

5011 hectares.

FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF AREA

Moderate to severe
bush encroachment; frost and medium rainfall.

AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL AND VARIABILITY

Since 1980: Average: 428 mm; lowest: 150 mm; highest: 864 mm.

ELEVATION

1390 meters above sea level.

OWNED OR RENTED

Owned; full-time management.

MOTIVATION FOR CHANGE AND APPROACH

If the impenetrable bush that had established itself on the farm was not dealt with, the farm faced bankruptcy. At fi rst, chemical spraying with arbori- cide was tried, but this had harmful eff ects on valuable grass and browse species and the results were unrewarding. With time, the bush-rolling technique was developed. This is an innovative way of regaining biodiversity, production and profi ts.

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MAIN INNOVATION

Bush-rolling, to bring the bush to a high-quality,
usable height; high density, selective grazing with cattle and sheep. moves during the dry season.

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Certain parts of the farm (with 87 kg/ha herbaceous material) were not treated with the roller (left). An adjacent area that was rolled three years ago produced 1000 kg/ha of herbaceous forage (right).

Forage for animals: The average amount of available grass and browse in kilograms per hectare is 824 and 364, respectively, giving a total of 1188 kg/ha of available forage to the livestock.

Tree density: The average woody tree density is 874 TE/ha. However, when using the bush-rolling approach with high density sheep, aftercare is required.

Biodiversity: The grass and bush component is made up of 19 and 13 perennial species, respectively. The Biodiversity Index of the farm is a good value (0.7), which indicates little dominance of the grasses and shrubs growing on the farm.

Key Results

Increased animal numbers from 344 cattle and 285 sheep in 2016 to 491 cattle and 1423 sheep in 2021.
Increased stocking rate, from 33 kg/ha to 60 kg/ha (excluding game and un-weaned calves).
Open areas and more intensive management has reduced small stock losses due to theft and predators from 18% to less than 5%.
Very good animal fertility has been achieved: Since 2016, average calf weaning of 71%; since 2019, sheep weaning percentage of 163% (of mated ewes and cows).
Throughout the year, animal condition remains good and at low cost.
Very good resilience during the 2019/20 drought, where all the livestock were successfully brought through, even though bush-rolling was only practiced at scale in 2016 and the sheep only increased in 2018.
Improved biodiversity of species (grass, herbs, shrubs and creepers).
Reduced input costs (lick consumption has reduced since the onset of bush-rolling).
Less labour and time required to move animals from camp to camp.

Farm Buffelhoek

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Koos and Timo Briedenhann have shifted from farming with grass to
farming with both bush and grass. On this farm, good browse bush is worth
its weight in gold. If good quality browse is made available, the cattle and
sheep will utilise it and perform very well at low costs.

Key Tips

Instead of fighting the bush to get rid of it completely, rather bring it to a usable height through bush-rolling.
Stock well-adapted sheep and cattle together, all year round. Engage in high density but selective grazing, which enables the livestock to utilise the high-quality regrowth to increase biodiversity and to build ecological and fi nancial resilience.
Build in the cost of re-rolling the bush every 3-5 years, depending on the severity of regrowth.
When bush-rolling, do not forget to maintain biodiversity in the landscape. For example, leave clusters of trees for shade (ruminating cattle) and windbreaks, and leave growth on contours to reduce runoff .
Avoid using chemicals to control bush encroachment to prevent severe biodiversity imbalances and the death of valuable browse species (Grewia spp. and others). Instead, use mechanical control techniques.
The initial bush-rolling can be paid for with a charcoal production enterprise. However, remember that by doing this you remove some minerals from your land.
Use well-adapted female breeding stock that are bred on your farm. Support them with supplements whenever necessary.
Combine sheep and cattle in herds all year round. Keep the bulls with the herd all year round.
Keep your lambs secure for two months and assist them with a creep-feeding system to ensure they are strong upon joining the herd.

Approaches

RESILIENCE OF THE FARM

Ecological and fi nancial resilience was achieved during and after the 2019 drought. No destocking of the core cattle and sheep herds occurred and a 50 kg/ ha stocking rate was maintained during the drought in 2019.

MONEY-MAKING POTENTIAL OF THE FARM

An average of 71% calf weaning and 163% lamb weaning was maintained since 2018. It is planned to increase sheep numbers to 2500 and reduce cattle numbers to utilise the high-quality bush regrowth. This shows a healthy, viable business.

CHOICE OF ANIMAL/S

For the cow-calf-ox production system, only Nguni and Braunvieh bulls are used. A three- breeding rotation (crisscross) system was implemented in 2020 with Brahman, Nguni and Braunvieh bulls (three herds), with careful selection and monitoring of cow fertility. Well-adapted, bush-browsing sheep are bred on the farm.