Heroncliff Nguni Stud



Heroncliff Nguni Stud

We are the fifth generation farming on De Werf, 15 kilometres outside Patensie, bordering the Baviaanskloof in the Eastern Cape.

Starting with Nguni breeding was the result of mainly two factors:
- After farming with various European breeds in our mountainous sour veld with every tick-borne disease imaginable, the input cost and management time just to keep them alive made no economic sense. I do believe that every breed has its place, but Nguni farming turned our ‘struggle to survive’ into an absolute pleasure.
- We also have one of the world’s largest privately owned citrus cultivar development schemes, with a genetic collection competing with some of the world’s largest role-players, such as universities and state-owned breeding schemes. The love of genetics made the Nguni a breed, with its broad spectrum of genetic characters, the ideal breed to capture our imagination and a challenge to get the combinations right. To make a significant change within a breed or cultivar takes a few generations of selections and working in isolation will make the task almost impossible. Being part of the Amathole breeders group is not only a platform to sell from, but also gives us access to knowledge and excellent genetics. We will not finish all breeding projects in my life time – evident of how small we are in the bigger picture. We give credit and honour to our Lord and Creator for all the accomplishments we have reached so far: thank you for letting us play in Your garden.

Our Cattle