Regenerative Farming | Farm Hessen

Farm Facts

DESCRIPTION

Central Sandveld/Kalk.

ENTERPRISE

Adapted cattle, sheep and goats.

PROPERTY SIZE

1400 hectares.

FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF AREA

Non-aggressive bush- thickening (no bush control required); severe frost at times.

AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL AND VARIABILITY

Average: 240 mm; lowest: 60 mm; highest: 900 mm.

ELEVATION

1380 meters above sea level.

OWNED OR RENTED

Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform: Resettlement; part-time management with three labour- ers and a family manager.

MOTIVATION FOR CHANGE AND APPROACH

This approach is ideal for a part-time farmer as it has low infrastructure and mainte- nance costs. It also grows a lot of forage for the livestock and gives good animal performance. Being a part-time farmer, I needed an approach that would be simple to oversee and manage remotely.

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MAIN INNOVATION

Split Ranch Management Approach since 2011.

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2010 (left) and 2021 (right) at the same site on the farm, showing impressive increases in
production and soil cover.

Forage for animals: After 11 years of applying the Split Ranch Approach, the average amount of available grass and browse in kilograms per hectare is 675 and 311, respectively, giving a total of 986 kg/ha of available forage to the livestock.

Tree density: The average woody density is 628 TE/ha.

Biodiversity: The grass and bush component is made up of 11 and 6 species, respectively. The Biodiversity Index of the farm is a medium value (0.5), which indicates that a few species are starting to dominate the grass and shrubs on the farm.

Key Results

The Split Ranch Management Approach is simple, practical and effective for part-time farmers.
The chequerboard grazing approach improves fi re management.
A ten-year average cattle calving percentage of 66%.
The resource base has improved, where perennial Finger grass is returning to many camps.
Before the drought in 2019, the farm was stocked at 1 livestock unit (LSU) on 6 ha.
The extended fi ve-year drought period from 2013 to 2019 resulted in early destocking of a 100 animals in May 2016. The ongoing drought resulted in more animals having to be moved to another farm during 2019 and 2020.
The rangeland has recovered since 2019.

Farm Agagia

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Richard Kamukuenjandje’s mantra is ‘be hard on facts but soft on people’.
Farming is a family venture. By farming, you are managing a living system, so
in order to succeed, you must be adaptive and learn what to do and when.

Key Tips

Trust the approach, collect data, observe the veld, and take decisions early on.
Keep your focus on the key aspects of the farm.
If you have to, move your animals out early during a drought. Do not worry about what others think of your approach – if it works, do what is best for you.
Keep transparent records of the other owners’ livestock; keep them informed of progress and any concerns or matters that need attention.
Have a day-to-day manager in place.
Have a clear, inclusive decision-making process in place that involves all livestock owners.
Do not glorify a grazing approach; it is a tool to achieve your objectives. If you need to destock, do it early.