Assessing Reproductive Performance to Establish Benchmarks for Small-Holder Beef Cattle Herds in South Africa.

Smallholder beef cattle farms in South Africa have had low reproductive performance, which has been associated with management practices. Considering current farm management practices, a multi-stage selection study was conducted to assess reproductive performance as defined by pregnancy rate, fetal and calf losses, calving interval and days open to benchmark reproductive performance. Data were collected twice, in autumn (March−May) for pregnancy diagnosis and in spring (September−November) for monitoring of confirmed pregnancies.

Accessibility to Reproductive Technologies by Low-Income Beef Farmers in South Africa.

This study address historical legacy of South Africa that has dual economies resembling low and high income beef sectors. Low-income herds are farmed mainly under communal village or land reform farms. The study focused on providing assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) to the low-income sector including finding challenges to its implementation and adoption.