Pretoria - A Bonsmara and Nguni breeder, from Lykso in Greater Taung, North West, Matshidiso Molale-Mooketsi, will on Sunday jet off to the United States to attend the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) Annual Meeting and Research Symposium.
Molale-Mooketsi, who is the 2012 winner of the ABSA-Agricultural Research Council (ARC) national emerging beef farmer of the year, will attend the four-day symposium at the Cornhusker Marriot in Lincoln, Nebraska.
When she scooped the 2012 award, part of her prize was a ticket to attend the BIF Annual Meeting and Research Symposium.
The meeting will discuss issues surrounding the genetic improvement of beef cattle and for attendees to learn about technologies and management practices that can aid in the profitability of their operations.
Some of the topics to be covered include economic considerations for profitable cow herds, heifer intake and feed efficiency, heifer development strategies, selection for novel traits, genetics of disease susceptibility, genetically changing the nutrient profile of beef, nutritionally changing the fatty acid profile of beef, improving feed efficiency in the feedlot, and the relationship between selection for feed efficiency and methane production.
Mooketsi of Barui Farming Co-operative vowed to impart the information she will acquire at this symposium to other beef farmers in her province.
“I have the responsibility to selflessly contribute towards improved livestock production in the province, and what a better way to do it than empowering my peers with information,” said the farmer who will be accompanied by her husband to the USA.
North West MEC of Rural, Environmental and Agricultural Development, Manketsi Tlhape, said the department is confident that among the benefits Molale-Mooketsi will gain from the symposium, is new knowledge on the management of cattle welfare, which will help farmers to realise their quest for increased productivity and profitability. - SAnews.gov.za
