BEEF CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

Hartford’s Angus Cattle
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

HARTFORD ANGUS

For more than a decade now, diners at Hartford House’s legendary restaurant, where celebrity chef, Jackie Cameron, “wows” them with the best beef fillet on the planet, have proclaimed the virtues of our Angus beef.

But besides “Woolies”, who’s fussy customers only buy Angus, South Africa seems to have overlooked one of the world’s best kept secrets, in much the same way as we bypassed the “Danehill” phenomenon in the stallion business.

Fast forward nine hours to Melbourne, Australia, where Channel Nine was banging on this morning about their “big” discovery, almost as though they’ve struck oil. Angus beef has been proclaimed the best by a country mile, and there’s hardly a food outlet not offering it on their speciality menus.

It’s well known back home, that our Agriculture Manager, Barry Watson, presides over one of South Africa’s finest Angus commercial herds and they’ve won countless awards. Just a few years back, the President of the largest commercial beef farmers union in the world (Argentina) was a house guest at Hartford House. He left us after a week, conceding that the Hartford beef was up there with the very best he’d ever eaten.

But ours is no ordinary herd. They don’t just taste so good. They eat so good, as complementary grazers for the horses. They like the pastures long, while the horses like it short.

They pick up the horse parasites (it’s a symbiotic relationship, much like zebra and wildebeest in the wilds) they control the ticks (and facilitate the export status of our thoroughbreds in the process), and in general, they provide the variety so essential to the delight of the eyes on any proper farm property.

The grass is greener on our side...

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Please click numbers above
to view photos of our Composting Project
(Photos : Clint Teichman) 

Barry Watson Agriculture and Estate ManagementCompost… one of those magical things that we don’t fully understand. Uses include soil conditioning, fertilization and the addition of humus or humic acids; it is also used as a natural pesticide for soil.

Here at Summerhill we make compost from our stable bedding materials. It is not a complicated process but does require a little elbow grease.

The composting project here at Summerhill is actually about 15 years old but the production on a grand scale is now in its third year. From March this year until now, we have produced just over 2500 Tons of compost and have applied it to our pastures both for grazing and hay production in preparation for the forthcoming summer.

From soil test results, we can see that where we previously had imbalances, we now have soil improvement in line with the biological principles of eco-stalwart Dr Albrecht. The application of compost on this scale has also made our “Organic” fertilizer practices far more efficient. We no longer use highly acidic, and poisonous, fertilizers that sterilize the soil and in turn wipe out all beneficial life under the surface.

NATURE’S WAY (PART II)

Summerhill Barn Owl with fledgling
(Photo : Barry Watson) 

Barry Watson Agriculture and Estate ManagementEarlier this year I wrote about rodent control, or to qualify that statement, in the agricultural landscape, we call the problem a gerbil. These little critters have a habit of making large dens, much like rabbits and their warrens. Remember what happened in Australia after the introduction of rabbits? They caused such a problem that a fence was put up right across the continent in an attempt to control their invasion, prompting a return to Europe in search of a natural antidote. Myxomatosis is the disease that keeps the rabbit population under control in the British Isles.

Unbeknown though, to the settler folk of Australia, the existence of these warrens or dens had its benefits, as they act as aerators allowing oxygen into the soil,  and assisting the soil to breathe. 

The problem arises in the crops, remembering that gerbils are vegetarians and have a special affinity for your well planted grass pastures. They have been known to decimate large areas in the vicinity of their dens, evoking the short-sighted but effective response of poisoning.

Our biological farming consultant, John Fair, has been integral to our solution, instigating the erection of owl houses in strategic spots in the fields. A family of owls is reputed to “deal” with something approaching 12 gerbils daily, and while gerbils also have a role in the ecological balance, uncontrolled, they’re capable of tipping the scales themselves.

The success of our owl population is a feather in the cap, as it goes straight to our philosophy of sustainability, something most urbanized humans take for granted.

Reintroduction of an endemic species of prey bird into an area where they used to be in sensible proportions, makes for a win-win situation. The natural balance is restored, as is the environment, and the grazing by large animal species (horses and cattle in this case) as old as the earth itself, is remanifested.

Worth recounting though, that it was the exploitation of the environment with the use of synthetic fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides and the decimation of the soil through the constant pulverization of tractor power, that upset the balance in the first place!

As the revered conservationist, Dr. Ian Player, once said “Nature has her ways. If we don’t respect her, she will take care of it herself. Nature has time on her side, and sooner or later, she will intervene if we don’t play the game”. Just look at the Arctic, and you’ll know what he means.

Advisors to the King

Greig Muir and Barry Watson in the grounds of the Royal Palace, Maseru
(Summerhill)

Greig Muir and Barry Watson are at risk of ‘believing’ that they are indeed esteemed members of the Monarchy of the Basotho Nation, having just returned from what they describe as an “unbelievable” visit to the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho.

Greig tells us that the reception and hospitality shown by their host, His Majesty King Letsie III, was truly ‘out of this world’. (In fact, if rumours are to be believed, one of our intrepid travelers had the distinct honour of bunking in the self same suite that Her Majesty The Queen once occupied.)

Barry writes as follows,”We stayed at the Royal Palace in Maseru, and what a Palace. Everything was embroidered with the Royal Coat Of Arms, even the tea-cups and saucers were sealed with the Royal insignia. And on our departure, when questioned by His Majesty as to whether we enjoyed our stay, the reply was quite simple, “We have been fed and kept like Kings.” His Majesty had a good laugh at that.

The purpose of our visit was to assist His Majesty in converting the waste product produced by his poultry operation, ie. chicken litter, into an active ‘input’, or fertilizer, for his cropping operation. What a way to reduce pollution! For many years now, poultry producers in South Africa have capatilised on the idea of using chicken litter as a supplement in their cropping fertilizer programmes.

Although the idea of taking a waste output from one enterprise for use as a source input for another is not new, with ever escalating agricultural input costs this concept is gaining increased momentum. Dairy farmers are also now factoring in the value of their milking parlour slurry when calculating pasture fertilizer requirements.

Here at Summerhill, we have been following these principles for some time now. For the last fifteen years it has been common practice to put our winter bedding onto our summer pastures. After achieving positive results with this practice, and feeling quite clever about ourselves, we initiated a composting operation. Now this operation has not only helped in reducing our fertilizer bill, but for this year, has in part helped in eliminating it altogether.

So can we do the same for the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho? Well, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, but maybe we can assist in our own small way.”

Click here to view Greig’s photos from the trip.

Triumph for Summerhill's Agriman in the Cape of Good Hope Nursery Gr 3

Desert TeamDiana’s Choice, conqueror of the colts in Saturdays race was bred from a Stakes placed Summerhill-bred mare (Fly to the Stars by Desert Team). She in turn is a daughter of the Northern Guest mare Anouk Aimee. The latter was produced from a family made famous by two of Frances most distinguished breeders of the last century, the late Count Roland de Chambure and the legendary horseman Alec Head.

Agricultural Manager, Barry WatsonOf some satisfaction and joy to the team in Mooi River, is the fact that Anouk Aimee is the prize possession of our Agricultural Manager, Barry Watson and she is currently in foal to Cataloochee. This was Diana’s Choice second consecutive Graded Stakes victory and she looks set for much bigger things as we approach the Champions Day race meeting at the latter end of the KZN Season of Champions.