MASHONA CATTLE SOUTH AFRICA
Sustainable and Profitable
Long term research done over several years (Matopos trials 1974-1990) has shown that Mashona cattle produce more meat per hectare than any of the other cattle breeds used during the trials. With ever increasing pressure on production costs, cattlemen all over the world are searching for a genetic solution to help them become and stay profitable.
Modern agriculture remain focused on finding sustainable ways to produce more food with fewer inputs. In the cattle industry this has led to an accelerated move towards time controlled, ultra high density grazing (UHDG) methods. UHDG combined with a longer rest period aims to regenerate the soil and ultimately produce more and higher quality grass for our animals. Therefore, as cattle farmers we need to increase the grazing pressure in our herds without sacrificing too much reproduction. The only way this can be achieved in one cattle-generation is by using genetics that have been adapted and selected by nature over centuries and the Mashona is the ideal breed to help cattlemen get started on this path.
Mashona cattle are widely recognized as one of the worlds hardiest and most productive cattle breeds. It is therefore not surprising that the thought leaders of the cattle industry like Kit Pharo (www.pharocattle.com), Jaime Elizondo (www.rwranching.com) and Johann Zietsman (www.regenerativeag.info) all agree that Mashona genetics are imperative to building a low input and adapted cattle herd.
Low Maintenance
A Distinctive Breed
"My first experience of Mashona cattle was in the beginning of 1891 until the end of March 1897, when I left for Bulawayo in Matabeleland. I considered Mashona cattle a distinctive breed of their own."
"They were a very small breed, with very small and fine bone, very compact."
"The hair on the Mashona cattle was very short and simply shone, when in perfect condition, which in the early 1890s they generally were"
1890 ~ Mr Jack Curruthers-Smith