UNCOMPROMISING STANDARDS PAY OFF FOR BONSMARA FARMER

Tian Kruger, who won the Voermol 2019 National Cattle Farmer of the Year award, attributes his success to the strict selection process that he follows throughout the female animals’ lives, from birth until the cows are no longer productive.

Striving for excellence comes naturally; when the cattle component was added to Tian Kruger Boerdery in Marble Hall, Limpopo, it joined an already flourishing citrus, table grape, cotton and tobacco operation.

The herd of around 1 700 head of Bonsmara cattle, of which some 1 200 are female, makes up 6% of total business income. The cattle are spread across farms in the Marble Hall and Roedtan areas of Limpopo.

When Kruger added the cattle enterprise in 2001, he bought a farm that already had a Simbra herd. But with a personal preference for Bonsmara, he sold the Simbras and started investing in his favourite breed.

“I attended Hoërskool Wagpos in Brits,” he recalls. “Prof Jan Bonsma, who developed the Bonsmara breed, kept a herd