3rd generation Red Brangus herd in Winterton KZN. This year we will be hosting our 16th annual production sale.
The herd has been developed from 1987 when I (Gary Green) inherited a Braham cross beef herd from my father. I started using Angus bulls on my cows eventually buying my own Angus stud cows from the Eastern Cape to try and breed the best bulls I could. (These 100 cows were put on the train in East London and railed to Ladysmith were I collected them).
From the next generation onwards I started using Brangus bulls travelling around the country to try and select the best bulls I could afford.The Brangus breed has suited the environment and adapted very well. The grazing lands vary from Sour veld up in the Drakensberg near Harrismith to the Tugela valleys of thick thornveld and sweetveld grazing near Winterton in KZN.This area has a particularly high tick population resulting in the incidence of Heartwater Redwater and Gallsickness. We (Gary and Wesley Green) only dip on site allowing the cattle to carry ticks at some time and build up resistance.
Brangus cattle are well suited to our farming operation as the cow herds graze extensively on veld throughout the year having to raise a calf under sometimes difficult conditions. Our pregnancy tests this year were some of the best we have ever had under very difficult drought conditions.The heifer calves over winter on kikuyu pastures before been moved up to the Freestate in the summer, are mated and then return to the thornveld to calve and spend the rest of their breeding lives here.
Management of the Brangus is so much easier as the cattle are polled. We breed a medium size animal well adapted to our environment.
