Hi Max , great discussion with a lot of good sense ideas. Way better than some of your discussions with ex SA Nguni farmers with there outlandish claims of the Nguni traits. These awesome cattle but they certainly don't walk on water, in sour veldt conditions they certainly need protein supplementation in the winter months, there are areas where tick control is needed and internal parasite control is needed, agreeably less than other breeds. I'm speaking from experience as I farm with over a 1500 head of Ngunis extensively in high altitude sour veldt grazing in the Eastern Freestate in South Africa as well as being a Senior breed inspector in the Nguni Society . These things are after all only cattle! !
Great podcast guys - really interesting. I'm keen to hear what sort of average MSA index the Nguni achieves for, say, a 2 teeth Young Prime Steer that you might send to a processor?
There isn't any numbers on pure Nguni in Australia as to date the majority of the males were kept as bulls. The steers out there are crossbred (mainly Brahman) and hence won’t reflect accurately. If any your best results will be in South Africa where the breed has tested favourably for tenderness and marbling although I still believe that tender well flavoured meat can be greatly controlled with environment and handling. I know this doesn't help people selling into the yards as much as end consumers. Some of the farms up north are now getting feedlots requesting Nguni crosses because of their great performance.
Hi Max , great discussion with a lot of good sense ideas. Way better than some of your discussions with ex SA Nguni farmers with there outlandish claims of the Nguni traits. These awesome cattle but they certainly don't walk on water, in sour veldt conditions they certainly need protein supplementation in the winter months, there are areas where tick control is needed and internal parasite control is needed, agreeably less than other breeds. I'm speaking from experience as I farm with over a 1500 head of Ngunis extensively in high altitude sour veldt grazing in the Eastern Freestate in South Africa as well as being a Senior breed inspector in the Nguni Society . These things are after all only cattle! !
Great podcast guys - really interesting. I'm keen to hear what sort of average MSA index the Nguni achieves for, say, a 2 teeth Young Prime Steer that you might send to a processor?
There isn't any numbers on pure Nguni in Australia as to date the majority of the males were kept as bulls. The steers out there are crossbred (mainly Brahman) and hence won’t reflect accurately. If any your best results will be in South Africa where the breed has tested favourably for tenderness and marbling although I still believe that tender well flavoured meat can be greatly controlled with environment and handling. I know this doesn't help people selling into the yards as much as end consumers. Some of the farms up north are now getting feedlots requesting Nguni crosses because of their great performance.
Any update on carcass feedback for the Nguni Jake?