Apart from bringing Ankole Cattle to South Africa, we also brought Boran cattle embryos and started a stud herd. Find out about our Boran Cattle in this news update.
Passionate about cattle
At Ntaba Nyoni we are passionate about cattle. We have been in the cattle business for 20 years. Our cattle farming endeavours have gone through a number of stages over this period.
Our Stud farming journey started after my attraction to the Ankole Cattle when I visited Uganda in 2004 Following my irresistible attraction to the Ankole, we then bought 40 cows and 3 bulls from President Museveni. The embryos of these cattle were finally brought to South Africa and they are the foundation of the Ankole stud cattle that are in South Africa today.
In the course of bringing Ankole to South Africa we also brought Boran embryos and started a Boran Stud herd. We have continued to see great value in stud farming focusing on acquiring the best genetics and breeding good quality cattle. Today Ntaba Nyoni Cattle has 5 stud cattle breeds
- Ankole Stud
- Boran Stud
- Bonsmara Stud
- Nguni Stud
- Wagyu Stud
Our Ankole, Boran and Bonsmara stud herds have grown to a point where we can hold production auctions annually.
The Ntaba Nyoni Boran Stud
Ntaba Nyoni Stud Sires
- Jameson
- BA 12-232 (Deffasa )
- GB 18-004
- NBOR 17-030 (MATAMELA)
- PRB 15-034 (STENSON)
- VST 16-092
- QT 14-29
- B04-001 ( Ramaphosa)
- NBOR 06-065 ( KIJIVU)
Rhamaphosa – B04-001
The famous bull named Ramaphosa by the breeders was bred by Simon Hodgson of Boran Genetics. The mating was done by Dr Morné de la Rey in Kenya. The sire was Ol Pejeta KPO1017 and dam Mogwooni Z7F2773. From a young age B04-001 looked like the perfect bull. It is therefore no wonder that he sold at the time on the Boran Genetics auction for R750 000. At the time this was a record price for any bull in South Africa.
KPO1017 was a young sire at the time he was used in the embryo centre, but he had a tight sheath, strong straight back and as wide as you could wish for. Z7F2773 was a long and deep cow with soft eyes true to a typical feminine Boran cow. Ramaphosa was blessed with the best phenotypical genetics from both his sire and dam. Along with a red brown colour, close to perfect. However, the best was yet to come. Not only did he look like a champion, he also bred calf-after-calf that any breeder would wish for. He had the ability to correct faults and strengthen good traits on female animals in their offspring. He has currently more than 500 registered and approved offspring with bulls with superior breeding values like FN10-786 and Zed DLV10-17 (combination with Winnie B96-615)
His breeding impressed throughout his life, even if only a few shares were sold. Hurwitz. Farming boasts his son KING SHAKA as their main breeding bull. Zelma, Frieda, Tanja, Alta, Jasmine are all well-known cows from the HOT brand. Combinations of B04-001Combinations of B04-001 x B96615. Bianca out of B04-001 also bred the famous bull, Boston.
The breeding of Ramaphosa is true to form and the influence he and his off-spring have on further generations is enormous.
Winnie – OTS 96-615
Arguably the best breeding cow with the greatest influence in the Boran breed to date. Winnie was born from the first ever flushes done in Kenya in 1994. Her sire was a strong, light brown, slightly mottled bull from the Mogwooni camp K6K1383. At that stage, Jacky Kenyon, rated him as a future sire for his herd. His grand sire was one of the old famous Kenya bulls, SIR IVOR, and bred calves like peas in a pod. On the dam side was a cow that caught the eye for years to come – Mutara ADC8828. A large frame, deep red cow with a long, wedge-shaped body. This combination by Tim Ralfe proved to be the best for the last 3 decades.
Simon Hodgson decided to put her on auction in 2003 as he had plenty of offspring from this prolific donor. We jumped to grab the opportunity and bought her for R250 000 on the Boran Genetics
auction. By then her calves showed a lot of promise and to buy the goose that lays the golden eggs (a lot of them) was a necessity for the future of the Ntaba Nyoni stud. Mr Ramaphosa instantly called her Winnie and when Dr Morné asked him, but why: He replied “It’s obvious: the mother of the nation”. And wasn’t he right. Winnie produced over 330 embryos and still today there are more than 115 offspring’s still alive, approved and registered.
More impressive is the quality of the offspring she produced. She just clicked with Ramaphosa B04-001 and produced the famous HOT cow Zelma, who in turn produced a great number of quality offspring. Other famous HOT cows: Tanya, Jasmine, Frieda, Alta all in combination with Ramaphosa did well. Probably her best bull that was known and sought after for many years HVT9901. Winnie not only build a herd, she build a breed. Her calves were all of great quality, a prolific donor of embryos, breeding red, white and mottled calves. On top of this she was flushed for 5 years and at the age of 13 was AI’ed with one straw and 9 months later gave birth to another heifer calf. We salute Winnie the mother of the Boran.q