Luvo Kiyane is not just on the helm of a winning cattle initiative on a shared state land reform farm within the Elliot district of the Jap Cape, but in addition owns a colourful wool products and services industry. Mike Burgess writes about his a hit adventure into the South African agriculture sector.
Picture: Luvo Kiyane
Luvo Kiyane (34) used to be raised via his grandparents, David and Nowinara Kiyane, in uLahlangubo, close to Cala, within the Jap Cape.
Right here, as a boy, he spent many days tending to the circle of relatives’s cattle within the huge communal grazing spaces of the area.
In 2004, when Kiyane used to be 17, his grandfather received get entry to to a 530ha farm, Shuna, within the close by Elliot district by means of the state Land Redistribution for Agricultural Construction (LRAD) programme.
Shuna used to be first of all shared via 10 different beneficiaries (nowadays six), making it tough for the grandfather-grandson workforce to make ends meet; a truth that all the time compelled Kiyane to search out choice source of revenue streams.
In mid-2023 his grandfather died, and Kiyane now farms 130 Merino sheep and 50 crossbred breeding cows on Shuna by myself whilst guidance Kiyane Shearing Contractors in Cala.
Kiyane’s grandfather used to be relieved to switch his cattle from uLahlangubo location to Shuna in 2004.
“It used to be tough to farm within the communal spaces, since the land used to be shared via everybody,’’ says Kiyane. “You can’t, as an example, have breeding seasons and set up illness like sheep scab.’’
After Kiyane and his grandparents had settled on Shuna, it used to be made up our minds that he would whole his training on the Ida Prime Faculty which the major, Ruben Gouws, had was a neighborhood farm college that was recognised nationally for educational excellence.
After finishing his training, Kiyane studied for a countrywide degree in agriculture on the Grootfontein Faculty of Agriculture in Middelburg within the Jap Cape.
He graduated in 2012 and the very subsequent 12 months authorized an internship on the Nationwide Wool Growers Affiliation (NWGA) to be educated as a wool manufacturing adviser within the former Transkei.
The stint at NWGA helped Kiyane nurture a zeal for wool and he even visited New Zeeland and Eire to compete at the world degree along with his wool classing and sorting talents a couple of years later.
Facet hustles
Through the years he discovered it crucial to reinforce his source of revenue from Shuna with facet hustles together with involvement within the cattle auctioning in 2014, a role as a wool manufacturing adviser within the Unfastened State in 2015, a place as an OVK wool manufacturing adviser in Elliot from 2015 to 2021 and his personal sheering contractors industry, Kiyane Shearing, established 2014.
Sheep and Wool
Kiyane’s grandfather had controlled to deal with a flock of natural Merinos when nonetheless farming in uLahlangubo location.
He sourced high quality rams throughout the NWGA/ Jap Cape Division of Rural Construction and Agrarian Reform genetic development programme.
Nowadays Kiyane’s flock of 100 breeding ewes is outlined via a substitute price of about 20% with younger ewes put to rams (purchased from native stud and industrial Merino breeders) for the primary time on the age of three hundred and sixty five days in a mating season from October and November.
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A lambing price of 120% is accomplished and lambs are weaned at an age of 100 days. After the number of substitute ewes, the remainder of the lamb crop is offered into the communal spaces of the previous Transkei.
About 3 to 4 bales of wool, outlined via a median micron of between 18 and 19, is produced every year on Shuna. Kiyane’s sheep obtain a normal inoculation and dosing routine whilst the oats (15ha) and maize (30ha) planted for all cattle at the farm every year has proved necessary in boosting manufacturing within the flock.
The lower within the wool worth over the previous couple of years has satisfied Kiyane to introduce a mutton breed within the type of Dormers and he has already bought 20 ewes and a ram this 12 months.
On the other hand, his largest involvement with sheep is thru Kiyane Shearing Contractors which used to be established along with his spouse Vuyiseka virtually a decade in the past.
Purchasers come with rising, communal, and industrial wool manufacturers which might be presented products and services together with wool shearing, classing, advertising and marketing, and shipping of wool.
Kiyane has groups that perform around the Jap Cape and come with two three-man electrical shearing groups and a five-man hand shearing workforce supported via educated wool handlers that procedure wool harvested from 30 000 sheep every year.
Livestock
Even supposing Brahman bulls had been used widely within the crossbred cow herd on Shuna bulls from different breeds together with Simmentaler, Nguni, Beefmaster and Simbra have additionally been put to breeding women.
Bulls are put to cows in a mating season from November to January at a price of 25 cows/1 bull in a multi-sire gadget. Heifers are offered to the herd at a price of about 15% annually when at an age of between 18 and 24 months.
Cows are afforded just one alternative to “skip” (now not calve) and then they’re culled.
“You can’t stay a passenger who isn’t going to pay,’’ Kiyane says. “It is sort of a taxi industry; if any individual is sitting there now not paying, they should get out. It’s no other with a herd of red meat livestock.’’
Kiyane markets weaners on the age of six months that on reasonable weigh between 180kg and 200kg.
Livestock obtain a normal inoculation programme with particular emphasis at the de-worming of calves beginning on the age of 1 month.
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Livestock obtain a protein lick in iciness and a phosphate lick in summer time and are dipped each and every 14 days in summer time and handiest when tick quite a bit are visual in iciness.
Even supposing Kiyane sells maximum of his livestock via formal markets, he additionally markets animals at colourful casual communal markets.
The maize and oats produced on Shuna every year is beneficial within the red meat undertaking from making sure additional feed in iciness to rounding off animals for the marketplace.
Demanding situations
Kiyane says the truth that Shuna has more than one beneficiaries is a big complication. “Everyone has an animal right here,’’ he says.
“It is vitally tough getting keep watch over over grazing and breeding.’’ On the other hand, after contemporary discussions with beneficiaries it’s been agreed that Kiyane will have the ability to farm independently on 300ha.
He hopes to sooner or later personal his personal industrial farm, a truth now not but made imaginable via the state land reform procedure regardless of his training, revel in, and relative formative years.
“A farm of my very own is my dream,’’ he says.
“The issue [with the state land reform programme] is politics and corruption, as a result of on the finish of the day it isn’t what you recognize, however moderately who you recognize.’’
In step with Kiyane what in point of fact helps to keep him up at evening is the more and more unpredictable climate patterns. “Final 12 months used to be too rainy and this 12 months it’s too dry,’’ he says. “You can’t are expecting anything else weatherwise any further because it has develop into excessive.’’
Even supposing, since Farmer’s Weekly’s interview with Kiyane, welcome rains have arrived on Shuna, at the day of the interview it used to be transparent he used to be a deeply involved concerning the loss of rain that had now not handiest hampered his talent to plant maize in 2023, however had additionally seriously impacted at the availability of ingesting water for his cattle.
Some other severe constraint, says Kiyane, is the loss of legislation and order. “There is not any safety in South Africa and in case you don’t take motion your self not anything will occur.’’
His recommendation for younger farmers is to show off tenacity whilst embracing adaptation.
“Kids should know farming isn’t kid’s play. You should be professional and affected person.
“There may be certainly a long run in agriculture, as a result of people wish to consume, however make no mistake farming is a combat.’’