Farmer's Weekly

PROPER PLANNING: THE KEY INGREDIENT FOR QUALITY STORED FODDER

Stored fodder is essential winter nutrition for the BG Miles Partnership stud and commercial beef and sheep farming operation in the Eastern Cape’s Cedarville area.

The family business, run by Deal Miles, his father, Benny, and sister, Rown, includes about 2 200 Dohne Merino mutton and wool breeding ewes, and approximately 350 Bonsmara beef breeding cows and their followers.

The farm lies in an area that receives an average annual rainfall of only 650mm to 680mm, mainly in spring and summer. Winters are usually frosty, with the minimum daily temperature dropping to below freezing.

According to Miles, these tough winter conditions quickly and substantially reduce the palatability, quality and quantity of the farm’s’ sourveld natural grazing, making stored fodder a virtual

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