Zimpapers Logo

Bongani Ndlovu, Chronicle Reporter 

ESIGODINI-BASED cattle breeder Mr Obert Chinhamo’s beasts won top accolades at the Pedigree Cattle Show held on Thursday at the ongoing Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF). 

Organised by the Bulawayo Agricultural Society (BAS), the Pedigree Cattle Show was held after a 12-year hiatus. 

The Pedigree Cattle Show was last held in 2012 and had been put on hold due to various challenges chief among them Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks around Zimbabwe. 

After the competition,  Second Secretary of the ruling party Zanu PF Cde Kembo Mohadi visited the pens and met the winners and other breeders. 

The Pedigree Cattle Show had animals from Camen Brahmans (6), Hlango Ranch – Brahman (5), Sifela Brahmans (4), Biano Farm – Simmental (6), Nala Brahman (4) and Khami Prison (3). 

Mr Chinhamo who owns Biano Farm, boasts of being the only farmer in the southern part of the country with the rare, yet precious Simmental breed, which is known for its high quality meat and milk. The breed is also crucial for cross-breeding. 

At the Pedigree Cattle Show, Mr Chinhamo won the Senior Champion Bull, Senior Champion Cow, Reserve Champion Junior Bull and Reserve Junior Champion Heifer. 

Following close behind was Mr Mcebisi Ndlovu who owns Camen Brahamns, who won the Junior Champion Bull category, Junior Champion Heifer and Reserve Champion Cow. 

Mr Chinhamo said he has been showing cattle off for the past 30 years and was confident that his animals would dominate. 

“We are always very confident about breeding Simmental Cattle and we are always ready to compete with anyone when it comes to showing off cattle. We have got huge experience in showing cattle and this isn’t our first time here.  We have been showing cattle for more than 30 years and we hope to continue to show our cattle so that people learn to know what we do,” said Mr Chinhano. 

He said more young farmers should take up breeding. 

“I would really love to encourage a lot of young farmers to join us in breeding because it is the way to go.

This is the seed stock of our country and when you look at it you can see where we are going and where we are right now. We can match any other breeder around the world. We have a polled bull and he can compete with any other animal in the world, he is a top bull,” said Mr Chinhano. 

Mr Ndlovu of Camen Brahmans from Esigodini who breeds red Brahmans said: 

“It has taken us two months to prepare our animals to come to the show. We were preparing with caution because last year Covid hit and the show was cancelled. 

“It’s a very big challenge to prepare show animals, the feed cost is expensive and it costs us close to US$1 200 to prepare these animals to come here. Over and above it is expensive to transport them, it costs us US$500,” said Mr Ndlovu. 

He challenged feed companies to advertise their feed by testing them on their animals. 

“We would like to see feed companies come into play. We’d like to see feed companies coming through to feed these animals at least to see how their feed performs. There are people coming to the show, and they will be seeing these animals and when they see them, the feed companies can say our feed does this. But they aren’t coming on board and some I believe are afraid that their feed won’t be good enough,” said Mr Ndlovu. 

The Pedigree Cattle Show judge Mr John Crawford said competition was stiff. 

“Judging today was good and there was a good representation of both cattle, Brahman and Simmental. They are quality cattle and there were some close classes that made it difficult, but it’s good when there are competitive animals that make the judging worthwhile,” said Mr Crawford. 

His advice to cattle farmers was their animals must make money for them. 

“Our main business is on the farm or the ranch and if your cattle dont make money for you, why are you in that business. You’ll be throwing money away into a hole, it needs to be economic. Hence my statement that my cows work for me, I don’t work for them, they must put money on my table. If I put food in their troughs they must make that back,” said Mr Crawford. 

Follow on Twitter @bonganinkunzi