In order to keep ‘economically efficient’ records, a fixed breeding and calving season is necessary. Livestock farmers outside the economy could become players. “It would mean going from 14 million head of cattle to perhaps 17 million on the same amount of grazing, because a cow without a calf still eats roughly the same amount of grass. Reducing this to 400 days would therefore make an immense difference. He points out that South Africa has about 14 million head of cattle, of which between five and six million are owned by smallholders, and the average intercalving period is 700 days. “Even if you have to employ someone to keep the records and push up the calving percentage, or pay a cattle consultant R4 000/ day, it remains profitable.” “If you have 1 000 commercial cattle, say, and, through record-keeping, manage to increase your calving rate from 80% to 90% (900 calves instead of 800 calves annually), you can earn an extra R450 000/year without additional costs.
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