62 SANTA GERTRUDIS | Joernaal 2016 Journal...SANTA GERTRUDIS | Joernaal 2016 Journal 63 Most of all – thank you for all our Australian hosts, friends and tour guides. We are looking

61SANTA GERTRUDIS | Joernaal 2016 Journal

BRIGALOW TOETSSTASIE

We visited this test station and were treated with good information with regards to selection of animals using EBV’s. Various private genetic breeding test were performed on this farm.

TRIPLE B BRANGUS

This farm impressed us with modern and efficient handling facilities and some beautiful Brangus animals. Here we also see the Australian “Cowboys” and girls and also learned from them that you can engage in a successful embryo programme with your commercial breeders.

62 SANTA GERTRUDIS | Joernaal 2016 Journal

JENNY MC CAMLEY

This impressive farm with their 5 000 Brahman cows and 6 00 ha of grain sorghum made a huge impact on each of us. They concentrate on producing organic products and sell this product in the USA.

WIRRUNA POLLED HEREFORDS

Ian Locke is the owner and also the chairman of the ABRI Council. He farms 60 km North of Albury with 1400 Hereford cows and 5 000 ewes. High focus is on selection of productive animals and he proves his progress with excellent figures and proven results.

Summary

Australia is a beautiful country with passionate and hardworking farmers. Their customers and the need of their customers are of utmost importance and they spend a lot of time and money to produce quality animals and even better products to their clients.

Marketing plays a major role in the success of the Australian famer and the are 100 % aware of the market demands and the processes to need their markets. Trust and integrity of the producer and the product was noticeable throughout our visit.

The balance between phenotype and genetic potential (EBV’s) was also noticeable to me. The breeders believe in the system and are part of the solution. They will challenge the system to ensure a final product that is acceptable to their customers – and they can compete internationally.

Many thanks to the LRF for the sponsorship and opportunity to go on this tour. Thanks for every tour member and your friendship during this trip.

RENNYLEA ANGUS

Rennylea farms with 1200 cows on this picturesome and beautiful farm. They are also engaged in an intensive embryo program and sell their bulls with a guarantee never heard of in South Africa – or elsewhere.


Most of all – thank you for all our Australian hosts, friends and tour guides. We are looking forward to see you in South Africa when visiting us some or other time in future.


Online trading of cattle futures and options

The cattle futures contracts which was initiated by the JSE and launched on the 28 January 2016 expressed the importance of a mechanism in the beef industry to manage price risk as well as to establish better marketing options for the producers as well as buyers of beef. The futures market create a new dimension throughout the beef value chain and enable the role players in this market to make better marketing decisions and manage their price risk to a large extend.

The contracts

The futures contracts that are available to trade on the SAFEX market is A2/A3 carcass contracts consisting of two sides per carcass and a body conformation of

Luan van dEr WaLT, uFS, department of agricultural Economicsunit in Livestock Economics

2 – 5. One contract equals 1 000kg with the prices quoted in rand per kilogram. There are four main hedging months for these contracts which are March, June, September and December. The price information will be received by the Red Meat Abattoir Association (RMAA) and the final settlement price will be a two weekly moving average of the A2/A3 selling prices. There are no physical delivery on this contracts and therefore the contracts are only financial instruments that can be used for price risk management purposes.

How it works

The carcass future contracts can be implemented by producers which want to sell carcasses as well as by buyers of carcasses. Since there are no physical delivery on the contracts the contracts can only be offset by means of a cash settlement. A cash settlement means that if one buys a contract you have to sell the same contract before a specific time, and if you sell a




minimum price fixed, while the call option is a buying option that will be used to set a maximum price to buy at. Currently the options aren’t available to trade on the market yet, but are expected to be listed in the nearby future.

For example a producer that want to sell animals will buy a Put option in order to set a minimum price fixed at which he are willing to sell his animals at. He pays a premium in order to obtain the Put option. If the prices decrease below the minimum price set by the Put option the producer will be assured to receive that minimum price, but if the price increased above the level at which the producer fixed the price at he can walk away from the option and will receive a higher price for his animals.

A buyer can use the Call option to lock in a maximum price that he is willing to pay for the carcasses. The buyer of the Call option also pays a premium in order to obtain the Call option and by doing that he locks in a maximum price at which he is willing to buy. If the prices increase above the maximum price he will be assured to pay only the maximum price and if the prices decreased below the price level he set fixed he can walk away fro the option and buy at a lower price.

Concluding remarks

The use and implementation of the futures market can be confusing for those who are not well informed with this type of trading. However this can act as a good step ahead in the beef industry which can lead to a more transparent market and create a chance for better marketing and price risk management for the role players in the beef value chain. It can be seen as a good time to learn more about the concepts and possibilities to trade with the futures market.

For more information Luan can be reach through email at [email protected]

contract you have to buy a contract before a specific time. The contracts can be used to protect your price risk by either buying or selling contracts on the SAFEX market depending on what your needs in the market are. A producer that have the product to sell would sell future contracts in order to be protected against a declining price, while a buyer would buy contracts to protect himself against a increase in prices.

The selling of future contracts would lock in a price for the producer at which he sells the contract. From the point of time he sell the future contract he will be assured to receive the price at which he sold the contract at, when delivering his physical cattle. A buyer of carcasses would buy future contracts on the SAFEX market in order to protect himself against a price increase at the time he has to buy carcasses. By buying contracts he will lock in a price at which he is willing to buy the physical carcasses, and irrespective of the price movement in the market from the time he buy the contracts up to the time he buy the physical carcasses he will be assured of the price he is going to pay for the carcasses.

The use of future contracts set the price fixed for buyers and sellers and therefore the users of these contracts for marketing purposes can manage their price risk as well as their margins because they know what their price levels would be.

Option contracts

Another alternative to use as marketing and price risk management is option contracts. Options are derivative instruments that trade just like futures on the SAFEX market. The use of option contracts enable producers to lock in a minimum price to sell at, or a maximum price to buy at, but still with the convenience to benefit from favourable movements in prices. There are two options that can be used. One is a Put option, which is a selling option and will be used to set a


THE ZAMBIAN REPORTSantas on the upLwimba also sold a Boer Goat ram for a record price of R25 000.

Top priced bull on sale was a Brahman which changed hands for R100 000.

The Clubb family also topped the price for a Boran bull with their Suevan Boran offering all sold at above average prices.

Lwimba Santas also held their annual inspection in September, and Marius Barkhuizen and myself were put through our paces,inspecting some 400 females and bulls. The Clubb’s are certainly on the way up,and their Santas are improving every year.

Lwimba Santas are an asset to the cattle industry in Zambia,and may they continue to lead the way.

Santa Red in Zambia - The only way to go!.

Lwimba Ranch, home of Keith and Chris Clubb’s Santa Gertrudis Stud , is situated some 30km from Chongwe, a small town 45km east of Lusaka.

2015 was another difficult year in Zambia,with lower than normal rainfall,7 hours of load shedding every day, and a weakening Kwacha,but Lwimba Santas continued to improve in quality and demand, and showed an improvement in demand compared to 2014.

I once again had the privilege of conducting the Zambian National Bull and Ram sale held in Lusaka,and despite a difficult market, prices were better than expected.

Lwimba Santas once again led the way,and topped the sale averages, with Brahman and Boran bulls taking second place to the Santas.

The top priced Santa bull sold for R 80 000, with an average in excess of R40 000. All 6 bulls offered were sold, and underlined the increasing demand for Santas in Zambia and surrounding countries.

Judging on the hoof

Carcass Judging

Champion Carcass (on left ),Owner:Lwimba Santas

Barry Purdham




Lwimba RanchHome of tHe santa stud in Zambia

carcass again. The competition was again good,with over 60 animals on show from many different

breeds.Lwimba Santas have been victorious for the past 11 years.

Over the past year we have managed to buy genetics from Willie de Jager,Naude Pienaar,Andy Fyvie,Boertjie Steyn and Anton Muller. Many thanks to the Breeders for enabling this,and to Barry Purdham for facilitating it and identifying the bulls.

We attended a number of auctions in the RSA,and were fortunate enough to buy 10 bulls from a number of breeders,all from different bloodlines.

The bulls arrived safely in Zambia,and are currently in their first season with the

females.I am sure they will add significant value to our herd over the next few years.

Certainly the standard of the bulls on offer is improving year on year,and we were happy with the

selection on offer.

Many thanks to Johan Malan,the Society and the Breeders involved for enabling the bulls to get up here so smoothly.A special thanks to Herman Kleynhans for looking after a number of bulls on his farm,so well,for longer than initially anticipated,as well as Danie and Lydia Malan for chasing up the transporters which enabled the bulls to land in Zambia swiftly.

We are dedicated to the Santa Gertrudis Breed, and will continue to promote and advertise this breed in Zambia and surrounding countries,as well as to promote the breed to commercial cattle farmers here.

Best wishes to all Santa breeders in South Africa.

2015 was a difficult year in Zambia,with a 50% devaluation in the currency,and then overnight significant load shedding issues,where the farm was without power for between 6 and 12 hours a day. However, the Santas continued to do well.All 60 of our registered and inspected bulls for the season were sold.There was also a continued interest from our repeat buyers from Malawi and Kenya.We continue to register roughly 1800 Santas with SA Studbook,as well as the Zambian Herdbook.

This year’s Zambian National Bull and Ram sale was a success,with all the Santas selling well.We increased our top price in Kwacha although the devaluation in the currency a couple of weeks beforehand meant prices were down in dollar terms.The Santas had the highest bull average on the sale for all breeds,and Lwimba also sold the top priced Boer Goat.

Highlight of the year was the Annual National Fat Stock competition,which was again judged by Andrew Adams of Natal, with the SAMIC system continuing to be used.

The Santas won the group of 3,as well as the Champion

KEiTh and ChriS CLuBB

One of the imported bulls - DG 07-12


73

The effect of o n s t r e s s i n c at t l eENvIRONMENTAL fAcTORs LEon KrugEr, arC

during cold spells and this is one reason why stress related diseases are encountered more during season changes from autumn to winter. Recent research on the effect of normal routine animal handling on stress indicated that animals cannot maintain homeostasis when handled and as a result suffer severe stress. This stress does not present with obvious signs and therefor there is a perception that it does not exist. Such animals are however very susceptible to stress related diseases such as coccidiosis and pasteurellosis.

Hormonal response to stress

Corticotropin-releasing hormone(CRH)

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is produced in the hypothalamus in response to a stress stimulus. The main function of CRH is the stimulation of pituitary synthesis of Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).

Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)

ACTH is a polypeptide tropic hormone produced and secreted from the pituitary gland in response to stimulation from CRH. The primary physiological effect of ACTH, is the stimulation of the adrenal cortex to

secrete cortisol, corticosterone and aldosterone.

Glucocorticoid hormone (Cortisol)

Cortisol is a glucocorticoid, a class of steroid hormone. The name is

derived from its involvement in the regulation of the

metabolism of glucose, its synthesis in the adrenal cortex, and its steroidal structure. It is produced by the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex. Cortisol has the primary function of supplying energy in the form of glucose to those areas in the body that will benefit

What is stress? Stress have been

described already in 1929 by Canon.

he defined stress as: an external

influence on the homeostasis at any

specific moment has the potential to

elicit a stress reaction.

Homeostasis in turn can be defined as the property of a system in which variables are regulated so that internal conditions remain stable and relatively constant. In the body it is a process that maintains the stability of the body’s internal environment in response to changes in external conditions.

For example: On a very hot day the body would maintain stability by keeping in the shade, drink more water and eat less. In this instance the thermoregulation attempts of the animal maintain the homeostasis and as a consequence no stress is suffered. It is also easier for the body to thermoregulate during warm spells than


animal with high concentration of circulating cortisol will not mount an efficient immune response.

Disease susceptibility

The correlation between stress and immune suppression is a major cause of animals’ susceptibility to disease. Poor performance and mortalities are important causes of economic loss to the South African livestock industry. Although not extensively studied in

from it and enable the animal to escape from the stressor at that moment. It distributes this energy for instance to the heart and the brain and inhibits distribution of energy to the digestive and reproductive organs. The process that involves the secretion of cortisol from the interaction of the hypothalamus (H), the pituitary gland (P) and the adrenal gland (A) constitutes the HPA axis. Cortisol also acts in a negative feedback cycle to suppress any further release of ACTH.

Hypothalamus, Pituitary, Adrenal (HPA) axis

The cortisol that is released in response to stress is beneficial to the animal to escape from the stressor, but it also has major non-beneficial consequences. It can compromises successful reproduction, production and increases susceptibility to diseases due to compromised immunity.

The exact mechanism underlying the immuno-suppressive effects of stress is not yet clear, but stressed animals mount a less effective response to pathogen challenges than unstressed animals. It has been demonstrated that large, infrequent increases in circulating cortisol can modify the cell mediated immune response in such a way that the response to a specific antigen challenge is compromised. This has particular relevance to the livestock industry that relies to a large extent on vaccines for disease prevention. One hears too often that a vaccine is not working efficiently. Vaccines are quality tested. Fact is an

South Africa, stress is considered as a predisposing factor to poor performance and mortalities for various diseases.

Diseases typically associated with stress are pasteurellosis, Mannheimia haemolytica and coccidiosis. Most of the causative organisms are opportunistic organisms and occur under natural circumstances in livestock, but is kept under control by the immune system. Immunity against these organisms develops either through vaccination or through continuous exposure to non-fatal doses. It is only when this immunity is compromised due to stress (high cortisol levels) that the resistance to infection decreases to such an extent that the animal succumbs to the disease.

Mannheimia haemolytica lung infection

One of the most prevalent and important diseases




Differential diagnosis: Contagious bovine pleuro-pneumonia; Enzootic pneumonia of calves; Haemophilus pleuropneumonia of feedlot cattle; Infectious bovine rhino-tracheitis; Aspiration pneumonia (foreign body pneumonia)

Coccidiosis

Coccidiosis in cattle is caused by Eimeria organisms and is characterised by diarrhoea, with or without blood and mucous. Dehydration, emaciation, malaise and anorexia are typical clinical signs observed in affected animals. Affected animals usually presents with a high morbidity but low fatality rate. Poor production often occur in recovering animals. Stress plays without doubt a part in the susceptibility of animals to coccidiosis and it is common in young animals moved from pasture to feedlots. Important to realise that factors such as bad weather may precipitate an outbreak of coccidia.

Symptoms: Diarrhoea with or without blood and mucous. Inappetence or normal appetite. Poor production and weight loss due to diarrhoea.

Diagnosis: Based on the history of the case. Diagnosis can be confirmed by identification of unsporulated oocysts in the faces.

Treatment: The disease is transmitted by means of the faecal-oral route and therefore all animals in the group need to be treated with coccidiostats (Sulphanomides; Sulphadimidines; Diclazurils). This is particularly important under unhygienic conditions. Affected animals must also receive supportive fluid therapy to prevent dehydration and to replace minerals and electrolytes.

Differential diagnosis: Rotavirus and coronavirus diarrhoea; Colibacillosis; rumen disorders due to nutritional imbalances.

that develops secondary to stress is Mannheimia haemolytica or Pasteurella multocida (pasteurellosis) lung infection. Pasteurellosis is an important cause of economic loss in the whole of the ruminant industry. This type infection is often encountered in feedlots and bull testing centres around the country after season changes from warm temperatures to cold temperatures. Itoccurs especially in young growing cattle, especially weaned calves placed in feedlots. M. haemolytica causes a fulminating fibrinous lobar pneumonia. P. multocida causes a fibrinopurulent bronchopneumonia.

Symptoms: Morbidity and anorexia due to fever. Nasal discharge. Coughing is readily heard and often confused with asphyxiation on food. Abnormal lung sounds can be identified with auscultation. Animals also tend to breathe faster than healthy animals due to compromised lung function.

Diagnosis: An initial diagnosis can be based on the history of the case and on the reaction on treatment. Diagnosis can be confirmed by culturing the causative organism from nasal swabs.

Treatment: Treatment relies on the use of narrow spectrum antibiotics. The sooner the treatment the better the prognosis.

Preventative control: Management is of utmost importance. Stress should be limited to the minimum. Adverse weather conditions cannot be controlled and therefore it is important that animals be vaccinated well in advance to expected stressor periods. Human-animal interaction on the other hand is entirely under human control and the quality of this interaction should ensure that handling stress in minimal. To achieve this, stock workers should be trained in animal ethology and proper handling.


skou/show

VROULIKE DIERE / FEMALES KAMPIOEN RES KAMPIOEN

KALF KAMPIOEN / CALF CHAMPION LL150007 JH140105

VERS KAMPIOEN / HEIFER CHAMPION XX140018 JH140044

JUNIOR KAMPIOEN / JUNIOR CHAMPION LL130181 LL140010

SENIOR KAMPIOEN / SENIOR CHAMPION LL120128

SUPER KOEI / SUPER COW LL090087

RAS KAMPIOEN / BREED CHAMPION LL090087

MANLIKE DIERE / MALES KAMPIOEN RES KAMPIOEN

KALF KAMPIOEN / CALF CHAMPION JH140084 JH140078

JONG BUL KAMPIOEN / YOUNG BULL CHAMPION J140019 LL140062

JUNIOR KAMPIOEN / JUNIOR CHAMPION LL130180 LL130243

FASE C BULLE / PHASE C BULLS CR140053 JH140067

FASE D BULLE / PHASE D BULLS SS150014 SS150019

SENIOR KAMPIOEN / SENIOR CHAMPION LL1144

RAS KAMPIOEN / BREED CHAMPION LL1144

TELER MET MEESTE PUNTE KOOS LOCK

ALGEHEEL PUNTE WENNER - VRYBURG SKOU KOOS LOCK

VrY-


skou/show

XX140018

LL130180

LL090087

J140019

CR140053 LL1144


Documents

62 SANTA GERTRUDIS | Joernaal 2016 Journal...SANTA GERTRUDIS | Joernaal 2016 Journal 63 Most of all – thank you for all our Australian hosts, friends and tour guides. We are looking