Browsing by Author "Campher, Roelof Petrus"
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- ItemThe financial and management implications of integrating beef cattle into crop rotation systems in the middle Swartland(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Campher, Roelof Petrus; Hoffmann, Willem Hendrik; Strauss, Johann; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Agricultural Economics.ENGLISH SUMMARY: South Africa produced roughly R37 billion worth of beef in 2018. The Western Cape; however, contributed only five percent of this total with various factors playing a role to this effect. The environment and natural grazing opportunities of the northern summer rainfall areas lend itself towards beef production, with the largest consumer market, Gauteng, also being part of this geographical area. The Fynbos and Karoo veld types of the Western Cape are not quite suitable for the natural grazing of cattle. Traditionally sheep has been the predominant livestock component used in farm systems in the Western Cape’s Swartland. This area is mainly categorised as a wheat producing area. Since the 1990’s the implementation of Conservation agriculture (CA) and crop rotation has been relatively high. It leads to an increase in crop diversity as it is one of the managing strategies to achieve enhanced productivity and sustainability. Cover crops can be used to serve a variety of key functions simultaneously with the collective goal being to achieve sustainability in farming systems. The inclusion of cover crops in rotation systems creates grazing opportunities, leading to the evaluation of further livestock integration. Integrating livestock into a cereal production system is complex and multi-faceted. Soil health, disease build-up, weed management, marketing systems, labour requirements, mechanisation, and infrastructure need to be taken into consideration. These physical characteristics and relationships need to be balanced through knowledge, capital, diversification, sustainability, and profitability. Underlying factors should be considered when integrating livestock, which would in turn influence whole-farm aspects in CA production systems. A beef cattle component will likely differ from a sheep component in the same farm system. Specific crop rotation systems have the potential to financially benefit beef cattle rather than sheep. A combination of sheep and cattle as an option of integration is also likely. Unfortunately, a lack of knowledge exists regarding the financial viability and management developments of integrating a beef cattle component in CA systems in the Swartland. A whole-farm multi-period budget model was constructed for a typical farm in the Middle Swartland. The financial model incorporated numerous assumptions and parameters that were validated by experts and producers. Multidisciplinary group discussions were a critical part of this study. Incorporating members’ knowledge assured that the budget models were constructed with credible assumptions and parameters to simulate whole-farm systems that projects practical financial guidelines. According to the financial analysis the wheat - medic rotation system, with a sheep livestock component, is the most lucrative over a 20-year period. Among systems that include cover crops (and therefore cattle integration), the rotation of cover crop - medic - wheat, with a mixed livestock integration, financially performed the best. Beef cattle integration is the least profitable livestock integration strategy according to this study, whilst a mixed livestock integration of sheep and beef cattle showed the best financial performance.