WINDHOEK – The ‘Simply the Best,’ farming unit of Ernst and Hueston Groenewaldt will showcase some of the finest genetics available in Namibia on July 17 when this formidable father and son combo is to stage the third Simply the Best Brahman Auction at the Namboer pens in Windhoek.
This is after purchasing over 60 animals from the best White Brahman blood lines in South Africa for over N$2.5 million. A total of 130 top White and Red Brahmans, including 15 White Brahman and 12 Red Brahman bulls will be on sale together with ten White Brahman heifers (pregnant), ten White Brahman heifers (open) and 30 White commercial Brahman heifers. Fifteen red Brahman cows (pregnant), 15 Red Brahman heifers (pregnant) and ten Red Brahman heifers will also be up for grabs, as well as ten cows with calves and pregnant.
Despite the 2013 drought, the Groenewaldts made their presence felt at last year’s second ‘Simply the Best’ auction, and now they are working actively on establishing ‘Simply the Best’ Brahman stud in the country within the next five years. “We have big plans for the future and we will use July 17 auction as a launching pad for some of these plans after I invested heavily in the 60 Red and mainly White Brahman animals from the renowned stud of Bernie Staal from the well known Bos Blanco Brahmans of the farm Kalkfontein in the Orange Free State. I made the decision to go big with White Brahmans for various reasons, the most important being to support my father’s already excellent stud and to improve on the quality of genetics all the time,” says Hueston.
Hueston adds all his future plans are coming together and he recently purchased his first own farm in the Hochfeld area where his father and mother Amanda also farms with White Brahman. “My new White Brahmans will enhance and improve on our existing genetic pools, and we want to grow really big in quality and numbers in the next five years. Our aim is to establish one of the best, if not the best, White Brahman studs in the country,” he says.
The energetic Hueston (33) is also about to embark on an ambitious programme by crossing White and Red Brahman with the Boran cattle that originates from Kenya to produce a brand new race in Namibia’ following the huge success with this new breed in South Africa, aptly named the BORMAN.
“I have already purchased over 20 Red and White Boran cattle from Bernie Staal who will act as my advisor when the programme starts. Staal has just been elected chairperson of the first Borman Club in South Africa after very successful cross-breeding of Brahmans and Borans. With his expertise, we want to establish the Borman in Namibia as it could be the ideal breed for our conditions. The Brahman was chosen for its stronger legs and bigger frame structure to compensate for the slightly smaller Boran and the Borman has turned out to be as close as possible to being the ideal breed. The Borman is very hardy with excellent constitution, and we are extremely excited about the breeding programme. We will showcase the first off-springs of the cross-breeding programme within the next 5 years at all shows as it could be a winner amongst all farmers,” explains Hueston.
Father Ernst (56), mother Amanda (53) and eldest son Hueston (33) relate how the family started farming commercially in 1984 when Hueston was just three years old. Hueston`s wife Celeste(28) is a qualified radiographer and are taking care of the administration sector of the stud. Younger brother, Freygang (27) and sister Ludmilla (25) are also farmers in their own right. Although Ludmilla is qualified as an accountant and Freygang as an Electricain, both chose to be part-time farmers. Freygang’s first love is Simbra cattle, while Ludmilla favours the Brahman/Switzer cross-breed.
Ernst says he and his wife, who is also the headmaster of the school on their farm Otjosondu in the Hochfeld district, started their farming career with Brahman Crossbreed animals on communal land in the Rehoboth district. “Both of us realised soon that we were farmers at heart, and before long, we had enough money to buy our first White and Red Brahman bulls and cows. It has been a long and mostly tough road from thereon, but today we are reaping the benefits of our work and dedication, and we as parents are blessed with three children who show the same passion for farming as we have done most of our lives,” he said.
The trio has been guest sellers at many auctions over the years, but the auction of July 17 will go down as a highlight. Mother Amanda does not oversee proceedings at her school on the farm which boasts some 600 students.
Hueston the board member representing the whole of Africa for the South African Boerboel Breeders Association (SABBA) is also the owner of Hue-Waldt Boerboels that competes every year in South Africa at the National Boerboel Championships and walked away with champion dogs.
Caption: Ernst, Amanda, Hueston and Celeste Groenewaldt with one of the outstanding White and Red Brahman bulls that were purchased in South Africa this year to widened the genetic pool.
By Deon Schlechter