FARMERS’ DIARIES

GOATS

Molefe Mahape, Sanddrift near Brits, North West

We farm 130 breeding Boer goat ewes on 33ha and grow lucerne under irrigation. Because of the farm’s size, the goat operation is intensive and we produce feed to supplement their diet. There is 10ha of bush and planted kikuyu for grazing.

At the moment we’re preparing for our breeding season, which is about to start. We’ve just weaned the ewes that kidded in September and October last year. The norm for most goat farmers is to have two production cycles in one year, but I prefer a single breeding season. We breed the goats in March to start kidding in September or October. We aim to sync our breeding season with the natural cycles. October is when animals give birth after the first rains, when trees are in leaf. In the Tswana language it is called diphalane (diphala di simolola go tsala), the time impalas start giving birth.