WINDHOEK – Regulations for goat farmers have been relaxed for the Windhoek Industrial and Agricultural Show, which starts this weekend with the only requirement being that an exhibitor must be a member of a goat society and does not have to be a member of a Namibian show society or a specific association.
Chairperson of the Windhoek Show Society’s small stock sector, Dederick Jankowitz, has confirmed the change and also pointed out that goats do not have to be registered to be able to be at the show.
He says at the weigh-in, goats must be supplied with an ID number whereafter the show list for the various goat classes will be finalised. This means that a goat that was on a verifying list can be replaced with another animal before the weigh-in or final verification. The new rules will also apply for the first time for sheep. Another first in the small stock arena will be the participation of the recently established Windhoek Boer Goat Club members.
Some cattle breeders reacted to this new development saying maybe it is also time for the Windhoek Show Society’s Cattle Committee to adopt new rules and regulations as cattle entries have declined over the years. It was pointed out that associations regulate registered breeders and their animals in accordance with their own constitutions while show facilities belong to organisations with their own management, rules and regulations. The general feeling is that show participation should be conducted without influences from the show societies and associations.
As an example, it is pointed out that currently slaughter oxen participating in the Windhoek Show are not registered animals and in some cases, these animals also do not belong to associations but are allowed to compete. The question arises why commercial producers cannot be accommodated under the same rules and regulations. A chorus also wants the accommodation of communal and subsistence farmers as well as resettlement farmers who are by law prohibited from fencing off their pieces of land. Some of them are currently farming with stud quality livestock but in many cases they cannot proof parenthood, as their animals have to share grazing with many other animals from different breeders. These communal breeders need reward for their efforts and top genetics and they deserve to also be accommodated at these shows countrywide. Currently, the Windhoek Show only accommodates registered cattle but that is not the case with small stock.
Many breeders believe that the show grounds should also be available to any commercial breeders whether they are registered with a society or not. These breeders reminded the industry in no uncertain terms that the commercial breeder is the bread and butter of all stud breeders.