Simmentaler-Fleckvieh breeding in Namibia

FLECKVIEH
for Beef-Production

August Stauch –
the trigger for the
diamond rush
The granddad of Mike Krafft,
August Stauch, son of a farmer
from Ettenhausen/ Thuringia/
l Young bulls are kept on a separate pasture
and fed some extra feed to prepare them for the auction.
Living history
Simmentaler-Fleckvieh
breeding in Namibia
l Dr. Thomas Grupp, CEO of BAYERN-GENETIK GmbH
Namibia
The struggle with asthma was the reason for two families to start a new life in the southwest of
Africa at the beginning of the 19th century. The history of the families Stauch and Krafft is not
only connected with the positive economical development of this very dry country during the past
105 years, but it also shows how efficient agriculture and especially Fleckvieh breeding can be
under adverse climatic conditions, when hard work and pioneering sense come together.
Mike Krafft, a highly respected Fleckvieh expert from Namibia, who also has a profound knowledge
in hunting, sheep breeding, medical plants, history and municipal services, tells us the
history of these two families.
Germany, went to the former
colony Deutsch-Südwestafrika in
the year 1906, because he had a
lung disease and a lung specialist
told him, that the dry desert
climate would be good for him.
He signed up as headman in
railroad construction through the
Namib Desert for two years.
Living in one of the most godforsaken
corners of the world, August
Stauch only had two options:
get alcohol-addicted or find
a worthwhile activity. As he
always was interested in nature
and mineralogy, especially in
plants, insects, the starry sky and
diamonds, he asked his workers
to watch out for twinkling stones.
One day, one of his black workers,
Zacharias Lewala, brought
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Namibia
l Stompie, son of Hauk Edgar, who himself is a Hauk Erz son, Junior-Champion
2012, Senior-Champion 2011 in Windhoek–Type bull for Namibia.
him a stone, of which he was
intuitively convinced that it was
a diamond after he thoroughly
tested it: acid treatment, scraping
on a watchglass, hammer
blows. At that time, nobody
could imagine that diamonds
can be found that far from their
mother rock, Kimberlit, in the
middle of the desert. People
shook their heads and thought
that Augus Stauch might have
had too much sun. Obsessed
from the idea, August Strauch
quit his job with the railroad
construction company and prepared
an expedition together with
the geologist Dr. Paul Scheibe.
On horseback and camels they
rode south, following the vegetation
line. One night, when the
full moon lightened the desert,
they saw twinkling everywhere.
The desert ground was dotted
with diamonds lying bare due to
the constant desert wind! Stunned
by the sight, August Stauch
named the area „Märchental“
(Fairytale Valley). The discoverers
kept their find a secret and applied
for the mining rights for an
area of 33 ha at Kohlmannskuppe
and sent a rock sample to
Berlin/Germany. When the results
proved it was really diamonds
what they found in the
Namib Desert, the whole country
was caught by a diamond rush.
People stopped calling August
Stauch a weirdo immediately.
From 1910 to 1914, each year
1,3 Mio. carat were dug from the
Namib Desert.
After World War One, August
Stauch almost lost his whole
fortune to the South African
State. However, he negotiated
with Ernest Oppenheimer, the
founder of De Beers Company to
the good of the employees and
remained the company director
till 1924.
Development of farming
Being a son of a farmer, August
Stauch was very interested in the
development of agriculture in his
new home country and besides
the diamond business, established
an own farm.
1911
Purchase of the Farm Haribes
near Maltahöhe
1921
Purchase of the Farms Ibenstein
and Dordabis, Hochfels at the
Komashochland and Rietfonteinblock
near Grootfontein
l Fleckvieh heifers on extensive pasture on farm Ibenstein.
At Haribes karakuls were bred, a
sheep breed that was imported
already in 1907 to produce Persian
Lamb. At Dordabis, August
Stauch built up an abattoir for
cattle, sheep and pigs. In Rietfontein
he founded a dairy, which
was closed down in the year
2005, after a changeful history.
August Stauch aimed at creating
market opportunities for farmers
to boost the economy of the
country. On his initiative the
Land & Settlement Bank was
founded, which helped farmers
to get loans.
August Stauch was a man of
action, who financed his immense
investments by loans despite
of his big wealth earned in the
diamond business.
In the 1930ties he had to pay
dearly for the dependence on
credit capital. He did not see the
world economic crisis coming
and his whole property was
liquidated in 1932. In 1937 he
came back to Germany and
enrolled at the University of
Breslau where he studied mathematics
and physics. After the
invasion of the Red Army in
1945, August Stauch moved
back to his hometown Ettenhausen,
where he died on the 11th
of May 1947 as a poor man.
The Krafft family –
from Russia
to Südwestafrika
Mike Kraffts grandparents flew
from Moscow in 1918 and found
a new home in Freiburg/Breisgau/Germany.
His father Nicolai
studied engineering and worked
in Paris. Since he had a lung
disease, physicians sent him to a
sanatorium at Davos /Switzerland,
where he, as luck would
have it, met August Stauch, who
told him about the favourable
climate in Südwestafrika. Inspite
of the fact, that physicians gave
Nicolai Krafft only two more
years to live, he immediately
decided to emigrate to this dry
country, where he against all
expectations lived on for many
years.
After its liquidation in 1932,
Nicolai Krafft and his uncle
founded the Dordabis Farm
Cooperative and took over the
mortgage from the farms Ibenstein
and Dordabis. Already in
1936 this cooperative was disbanded
and the farms were
separated.
Mike Kraffts mother was a famous
artist, whose artworks were
exhibited in several galleries.
FLECKVIEHWORLD 2012/2013 47

Mikes granddad came from Russia,
where he was working in the
cotton business. He came as far
as Buchara, which at that time
was controlled by the Russians
and where he became acquainted
with carpet production from
karakul wool. This gave the impetus
for the foundation of the
karakul breeding and a weaving
mill at Ibenstein farm.
Mike Krafft –
an all-rounder
Inspite of the fact that he is
already 74 years old, Mike Krafft
is bursting with lust for life. He
still assists his son René, who
took over the farm in March
2012. The daily shores and his
hobbies swimming and cycling
keep him in shape.
Already since 1924 Simmental/
Fleckvieh is kept on the Ibenstein
farm. In that year August Stauch
imported his first animals, however
the first Fleckvieh animals
ever came off a ship in 1893 at
Swakopmund and then had to
walk the exhausting way to
l Mike Krafft, reading the Fleckvieh
Show catalogue at Windhoek.
Windhoek. In the year 1896 a
devastating Rinderpest epidemic
killed nearly all cattle in southern
Africa. Further cattle imports
again were threatened by the
Rinderpest Virus, however an
antiserum was developed in a
short time, which made it possible
to avoid severe damage. When
the farm was separated in 1936,
also the Fleckvieh cattle were
sold. Not until 1958, when Mike
had to quit his studies in South
Africa after the death of his
father, the Sussex-cattle were
culled in agreement with his
mother and Simmentaler came to
the farm again. Only who understands
nature and does not work
against it, will be a successful
farmer in Namibia. This is especially
true for European cattle
breeds, which have to be adapted
to the country and its realities.
The farms Ibenstein and Dordabis
together comprise 15.000 ha
of land. Two herds are kept on
the farmland, a commercial herd
with 180 Simbrah cows and a
registered breeding herd with
75 cows. In order to avoid overgrazing,
a benchmark figure of
12,5 ha per livestock unit,
(8 - 10 ha for younger animals) is
determined. This immense need
of land maybe is the biggest
problem in Southwestafrica. In
average, the annual precipitation
is 300 mm, however, during the
last two years there were exceptional
500 and 600 mm of rainfall.
Surprisingly this did not lead
to a better growth of the grassland,
instead weeds like Speikraut
and Nikorella got out of
control.
Up to the 80ties game was kept
on the same pastures like cattle.
However, game needs more
fencing than cattle and the game
always went to the pastures with
the better grass. Therefore 6.500
ha were enclosed with game-save
fences. Especially during the dry
periods an eye hast o be kept on
these areas to avoid overgrazing.
Already when he was very young,
Mike took his pilot’s license and
flew around in Africa. From the
bird’s eye view he was able to
watch good and poor pasture
management on different farms,
a very useful experience.
Cattle breeding
in Namibia – a challenge
The most important point for
successful cattle breeding in
Namibia is selection for fertility
– according to the principle that
a lean cow with a calf is better
than a round cow without a calf.
Heifers and cows that do not get
pregnant during mating season
(February – April) are slaughtered
without any exception. On the
farm of Mike Krafft mating is
only done by natural service,
which means that he has to have
a good eye when selecting breeding
bulls. During the 60ties
breeding cattle were imported
from Germany and Austria, however,
these animals did not meet
his expectations. The neighbour
country South Africa and the
Namibian breeding colleagues
had the better bulls. One of the
reasons was that these bulls
already were adapted to the
southern African climate.
Calves are weaned with 8 months
during the dry period, when it is
winter in southern Africa. It is
essential to offer the young animals
an appropriate mineral feed
(concentrate with phosphate and
micronutrients), in order to avoid
that they lose weight during
rain-season. The phosphor con-
Namibia
tent of the Namibian soil is too
low and when you don’t offer
phosphoric mineral feed to the
animals they will lick bones lying
around on the pastures, which
might cause botulism.
The cheapest and most important
source of feed are pastures,
therefore Mike pays great attention
to pasture management. He
keeps an eye on the growth of
weeds and bushes, which reduce
the quality and the yield of the
pastures a lot. Bushes are eradicated
mechanically and chemically.
Game automatically attracts wild
animals like cheetahs and leopards.
Each year the farm loses
about 15 calves to these big cats.
Poisonous snakes (Puffadder,
Cobra, Mamba, Tigersnake) are
numerous, however they are less
risky than one would think.
The weaners are marketed on
local auctions at Windhoek and
Rehoboth. The cattle are sold to
South African feedlots. Normally
male weaners are castrated, if
they are not needed for breeding.
The steers are kept on special
pastures and brought to the coop
abattoir Meatco together with
the slaughter cows and the bulls
that are not needed for breeding
purposes. The best meat cuts are
exported to Europe, the forequarters
are marketed in Namibia or
South Africa. Currently, the
slaughter price for steers is
K 2,30 per kg, for slaughter cows
it is about K 1,80 – 2,00 per kg,
young animals are sold for
K 2,40 and 2,50 per kg.
An excellent Fleckvieh bull for
natural mating costs about
K 4.000 and K 5.000, in times
when the demand is high, prices
might double. 95 % of the bulls
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Namibia
l Mike Brooke/Breedplan hands over a certificate to Mike Krafft for the bull with
the highest Blup Breeding Values at Windhoek-Show 2011.
are sold to extensive farms, only
5 % to selected breeding farms.
The breeding bulls have to be
structural sound and have to
have excellent feet and legs as
they have to move around and
do their job on the large pastures.
The best breeding values do
not help, if an animal has bad
feet and legs! In Mike’s opinion
the index for birth weight can be
slightly higher, because the trait
birth weight is connected to
growth. If you focus on calves
with a low birth weight, the
whole herd gets smaller. If you
then decide your cows are too
small and want to use bulls with
higher birth weights again, you
will get dystocias, which should
be absolutely avoided with extensive
farming.
The Breedplan-System used in
southern Africa gives you a good
overview. If you feed the system
regularly with your breeding
data, it helps you to figure out
important tendencies in advance.
In the past two years Mike Krafft
had an enormous success with
his Simmentaler herd of on vari-
ous cattle shows. The „Super cow
2011“ for the trait fertility and
the „Senior-Champion Cow
2011“came from his herd. His
bulls were awarded Junior-Champion
and Calf-Champion. 10 out
of 12 animals he presented at
the Windhoek Show, won a price.
A polled grandson of BFG Eisenherz
PP performed excellently on
his farm and a major part of
Mike’s success on shows goes
back to this sire.
Mike Krafft – a farmer
with social responsibility
Michael is a social man who still
works for his store at Dobabis
and on his farm, despite of the
fact, that he already is retired. He
is highly respected from his employees
as he helps them whenever
he can. Also his neighbours
like him a lot and ask him for
help before contacting the „official
authorities“. Last but not
least, also the ladies living on the
farms Ibenstein and Dordabis,
Ida Stauch and Marianne and
Sabine Krafft, the wife of Mike,
had a big influence on the positive
development of the farm, in
l Hauk Erz at the show in Windhoek. His progeny did well on Mike Kraffts farm.
spite of big strokes of fate. Some
years ago, Sabine and Mike were
attacked and abused by six
gangsters from Windhoek. The
neighbours from a wild settlement
thereupon organized a
public protest against this barbarism,
an action which was really
remarkable for Namibia and
South Africa.
We take our hats off to Mike and
his big family for their lifework
and wish them all the best for
their future. Fleckvieh breeders
from all over the world should
visit this extraordinary farm,
especially if they are interested in
hunting and cattle farming respectively.
Namibia is worth a
visit! (www.ibenstein.com).
FLECKVIEHWORLD 2012/2013 49
l