ABSTRACT
Smallholder beef cattle farms in South Africa have had low reproductive performance, which has been associated with management practices. Considering current farm management practices, a multi-stage selection study was conducted to assess reproductive performance as defined by pregnancy rate, fetal and calf losses, calving interval and days open to benchmark reproductive performance. Data were collected twice, in autumn (March−May) for pregnancy diagnosis and in spring (September−November) for monitoring of confirmed pregnancies. Overall, 3694 cow records from 40 smallholder herds were collected during 2018 and 2019 breeding seasons from five provinces. The preferred 25th quartile described target performance and GLIMMIX procedure determined associations between management practices and performance. Smallholder farms on average recorded 50% pregnancy rate and 12% fetal and calf losses with 304 and 608 days open and calving interval, respectively. The derived target benchmarks for pregnancy rate, fetal and calf losses, days open and calving intervals in smallholder farms were 54%, 1.4%, 152 and 425 days, respectively. Reproductive performance was associated with no knowledge of body condition scoring before breeding, culling of old and non-productive cows, record keeping and low bull to cow ratio (p < 0.05). The performance benchmarks implied that industry averages may be improved if sustainable management services are provided through extension and advisory services.
ABSTRACT
This study address historical legacy of South Africa that has dual economies resembling low and high income beef sectors. Low-income herds are farmed mainly under communal village or land reform farms. The study focused on providing assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) to the low-income sector including finding challenges to its implementation and adoption. The study was conducted in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal provinces using mixed methods that looked at cows and sectors stakeholders. Data collected and evaluated on cows included breed type, frame size, body condition, age parity, and lactation status. Cows were exposed to ART through synchronisation, oestrus detection, fixed time artificial insemination and pregnancy diagnosis. Qualitative data was collected to study perception of key stakeholders on ART implementation and adoption. Chi-Square Test was computed to determine the association among cow factors. Qualitative data was collected, coded and managed into themes using Nvivo Version 11. Themes that emerged were interpreted using critical social and systems thinking. Conception rate was not independent of provinces (P < 0.05), cow body condition score (BCS) and body frame size. KwaZulu-Natal cows had the highest conception rate at 66% (P < 0.05) than Limpopo (44%) and Mpumalanga (60%) provinces. Cows with a BCS higher than 3.5 had higher conception rate (P < 0.05) than those with BCS of <2.5 and 3. Interestingly, large framed cow size had higher conception rate than medium and small framed (P < 0.05) cows. The study achieved a 100% calf survival rate. Calving rate was influenced by body BCS, province and district (P < 0.05). Calving rate of 58% in Mpumalanga and 54% in KwaZulu-Natal was higher than that recorded in Limpopo at 36% (P < 0.05). Interestingly, cows with BCS of <2.5 had a higher calving rate than those with a higher body condition score of 3 (P < 0.05). Perception study results revealed many factors that could affect the adoption and implementation of ART in the study areas. The high success rate and above average reproductive performance led to North West and KwaZulu-Natal provinces adopting ART as part of their low-income beef sector support.
