{"id":490,"date":"2017-08-30T15:38:21","date_gmt":"2017-08-30T13:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/?p=490"},"modified":"2017-09-05T09:27:47","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T07:27:47","slug":"safe-launches-sheep-stud-farming-enterprise-with-arrival-of-first-ewes-and-rams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/?p=490","title":{"rendered":"SAFE launches sheep stud farming enterprise with arrival of first ewes and rams"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SAFECape Town-based producer and exporter, SAFE (South African Fruit Exporters) has launched its brand new sheep stud farming enterprise with the arrival, last week,of the first 26 ewes and rams at its Vanrhynsdorp farm, Nuwepos.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve decided to start with 100 ewes and six rams, and increase them to 1 000,\u201d says Dries van Rooyen, General Manager of Farming Operations at SAFE. \u201cWe bought the first 26 sheep, and will be supplementing them by adding a substantial number from the current commercial flock at Nuwepos.\u201d<\/p>\n

In sheep stud farming, stud animals (of both sexes) are used in breeding programmes to achieve specific breeding objectives. At the same time the aim is to ensure the maximisation of the flock\u2019s genetic potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first project of SAFE\u2019s newly founded Enterprise Development unit,\u201d explains Quentin Scott, Chief Financial Officer at SAFE, that specialises in growing, packing and exporting citrus and table grapes to overseas markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs it is early days, we\u2019re still exploring whether the final focus will be enterprise development, the diversification of SAFE\u2019s operations, or whether sheep stud farming will grow into an auxiliary income stream for SAFE,\u201d says Scott.<\/p>\n

According to Van Rooyen, SAFE selected Nuwepos for the sheep stud farming enterprise, because the farm is already home to a commercial flock of approximately 2 000. In addition, its workforce boasts years of experience in sheep farming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re now creating infrastructure such as lambing pens and established pastures. We\u2019ve already registered our stud at the Dorper Sheep Breeders\u2019 Society of South Africa, and our farmworkers will attend Dorper courses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheep stud farming is much more intensive than commercial sheep farming, he explains. \u201cThe route we\u2019ve decided to follow, is allowing the sheep to roam pastures freely. SAFE will also retain our own rams for breeding purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Rooyen says it will take SAFE\u2019s new sheep stud farming enterprise three years to develop its own gene. \u201cOur long-term objective is to be able to sell stud sheep of an outstanding quality, as well as an improved meat carcass.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cape Town-based producer and exporter, SAFE (South African Fruit Exporters) has launched its brand new sheep stud farming enterprise with the arrival, last week,of the first 26 ewes and rams …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[20,59],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=490"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":492,"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions\/492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/safe.co.za\/SAFENews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}