From the devastating loss of her entire cattle herd to battling theft and sabotage on her farm, Selina Hlabedi’s journey as the queen of Bonsmara in Gauteng is one of resilience and triumph. She shares her story in this episode of our Farmer Mentor podcast on Farmer’s Inside Track.
Known as the queen of Bonsmara cattle in Gauteng, Hlabedi, the founder of Ba Kwa-Hlabedi farm, is a multi-award-winning cattle farmer with an interesting story to share.
Hlabebi, or “Mam Pienkie” as she is known to some, farms on 489 hectares of which 260 hectares are arable land and in the process of being developed. She cultivates maize and soya on 200 hectares, while 10 hectares are for vegetables. The remaining hectares are used for grazing purposes.
Farming on 489 hectares with cattle and sheep, maize, soya, and vegetables is no easy task. But getting to this point was not easy either.
Losing everything
In 2014, Hlabedi acquired the land from the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development. She started off with a 15 Brahman and 15 Simbra cow herd, running with one Brahman bull, one Simmentaler bull, and one Simbra bull, which she got along with the farm.
However, the animals weren’t tested before they were handed over by the department. When she had the cattle tested, it came to light that the entire herd was infected with brucellosis.
After numerous meetings with veterinarians, it was established that they could not take the animals to auction, and all the animals had to be slaughtered.
“It was a major blow. I got high blood pressure after that,” Hlabedi shares.
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Rising to the top
Her struggles in farming were far from over. The family suffered of two major stock theft incidents. In the first incident, 200 pregnant ewes were stolen, and then 78 pregnant ewes.
“I heard the cutting in the structure but we thought it’s a gate. We went out midnight; we looked around and never saw anything. We went back into the house until i heard this sound again and by then the dogs were barking. I had 15 dogs. Only three dogs remained. They poisoned my dogs,” she says.
Despite these challenges, Hlabedi has managed to build her farm back up again and has earned the title “queen of Bonsmara cattle” due to her remarkable achievements with her Bonsmara cattle herd. The breed was selected based on its adaptability to the tough conditions, affordability of the breeding bulls, docile calves, and desired weaning weight of the calves.
In 2022, Hlabedi was named as the national emerging beef farmer of the year by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC). This award category acknowledges new era beef farmers that have excelled in how they manage and improve their herds and enterprises.
In this podcast episode, she shares why she has opted for a mixed farming approach, and how she implements crop rotation. She also shares markets for both her livestock and crops, budget and managing finances, and more.
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