SA’s oldest family-owned Angora stud seeks a perfect balance

The town of Jansenville in the Eastern Cape is situated on the banks of the Sundays River on the southern border of the Camdeboo Plain. The area, known as the Noorsveld, is named after the succulent shrub Euphorbia coerulescens, known in Afrikaans as noor or noorsdoring.

Angoras are ideally suited to the Karoo and the Noorsveld in particular, and Jansenville is widely known as the prime production area for Angoras in South Africa. These goats form the main branch of farming in the district, and the economy of the town and region is largely dependent on mohair.

Martyrsford farm, between Pearston and Jansenville, was founded by William Carey Hobson a century-and-a-half ago, and its current sixth-generation