Breeding a resistant and resilient Sussex stud herd
May 04, 2020
4 minutes
PHOTOS: WAYNE SOUTHWOOD
John Viedge of the Lehana’s Pass Sussex Stud run his animals on the farm Highfield, 10km south of Maclear in the Eastern Cape. The property consists of 2 200ha of very hilly terrain, at an altitude of 1 500m; average rainfall is 700mm with the occasional snowfall.
Viedge is the second generation of the family on the farm. His father, Robert, started farming here in 1931, and launched a Sussex enterprise when he bought four Sussex heifers from Bruce Evans of the Shackleton Stud in Viljoenskroon in 1962. Viedge joined the family business in 1964 after having studied at Cedara Agricultural College.
The family was intially predominantly sheep farmers,
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