M.Comm. / A new and more free marketing orientation followed since the deregulation process was implemented in the red meat industry. From this follows consequential structural changes. After the new Marketing Act on Agricultural Products was accepted, all marketing boards had to be phased out, including the Meat Board. The doors for international trade were also opened. Changes in the economic, politicial, social and legal environment, local and abroad, lead to new opportunities, horizons and limitations, to which the beef production and beef marketing system had to adapt. Beef producers were therefore forced to become more involved in the marketing of their products. New questions about the current marketing channels and the different marketing options in the beef industry also developed. With the abovementioned as background and the uncertainty of beef producers about marketing, the objective of this study is to identify the marketing implications for beef producers in a deregulated market and to use this to formulate marketing guidelines which beef producers could use.

The study was conducted in four rural communities of the Chief Albert Luthuli Municipality in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The objective of the study was to determine the contribution of beef cattle farming to the income of communal households in Chief Luthuli Municipality. Data were analysed descriptively. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify the factors that affect the contribution of beef cattle to income in the study area. It was found that beef cattle farming in the communal areas studied were practiced equally by women (50%) and men (50%). Over 50.5% of respondents were over 51 years old and 9.5% of youth participated in beef cattle farming. The literacy rate among respondents in the study area was 55%, including Grade 11 or below, Grade 12 and post matric education. Approximately 48% of the respondents relied on pension income, while 28.5% reported that the main source of income in their households came from a combination of beef cattle production and pension. 60.5% of the respondents were found to have more than 20 years of beef cattle farming experience, while 36.5% have between one and twelve years’ experience. The majority of the respondents (80%) grazed their cattle on the mountainside, 14.5% said they used communal grazing and 5.5% grazed their animals in their backyard. It was also found that 50% of respondents maintained up to ten head of cattle and the other 50% had more than ten cattle in their herds. Of the households that sold their beef cattle, 77% earned R 10,000 or less per annum while 23% earned between R 11,000 and R 60,000 per annum. Beef cattle farming were therefore found to constitute 19% of household income in the communal areas in Chief Albert Luthuli Municipality. The independent variables which collectively have a statistically significant influence on the income from beef cattle production at 5% level of significance were: number of beef cattle (t = 16.8, P < 0.000) and age at mortality (t = -2.59, P< 0.010). The number of beef cattle has a positive and statistically significant effect and mortality age a negative effect. It was concluded that the 19% contribution to household income coming from beef cattle farming in the study area was to be expected in light of the fact more than half (50.5%) of the respondents were older than 51 years old and 48% of respondents relied on pensions as a source of income. The danger is that because beef cattle farming in the study area have been marginalised as an agricultural activity, the rural poor are decreasingly engaging in beef cattle production as a source of income. / Agriculture / M. Sc. (Agriculture)

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Text in English / Cow size influences biological efficiency of individual animals, which influences herd composition and stock flow. This in turn influences the economic efficiency of the herd. This research followed the thread from animal size, to biological efficiency, to economic efficiency for beef cattle production under a typical production system in semi-arid South Africa. Cattle were grouped into three groups namely small, medium and large cattle, with mature weights of 300kg, 450kg and 600kg respectively. The net energy requirements of individual cattle were calculated for maintenance, growth, lactation and foetal production, for each of the three sizes. Growth rates, milk yield, reproduction rates, and management practices were assumed from existing research. Next the stock flow for a herd of small, medium and large cattle were calculated from the above. Income and expenses as commonly used in the research area were calculated from the stock flow. Gross profit above allocated costs were subsequently calculated for the three herds under the above-mentioned conditions. When assuming similar reproduction and growth rates for small, medium and large mature cattle, the following results were obtained: more heads of small cattle could be held on a set resource base, but the total live weight of a herd of large cattle that could be held on the same resource base was greater. This was mostly due to proportionately lower maintenance energy requirements in the herd of large cattle. In the simulation in this study, maintenance energy requirements for the herd of large cattle was 71.2%, compared to 72.0% for the herd of medium cattle and 73.1% for the herd of small cattle. Income from the herd of small cattle was the lowest, as less kilograms of beef were available to sell. Allocated costs for the herd of small cattle were the highest, due to a large number of expenses being charged per head of cattle. As a result, the herd of large cattle were more economically efficient than their smaller counterparts. Income above allocated costs for the herds of large, medium and small cattle were R1,182,865, R1,085,116 and R946,012 respectively. Larger cattle generally have a lower reproduction rate under similar conditions. No equation exists that directly links size to reproduction rates, especially considering the vast number of variables that influences reproduction rates. However, in the form of scenarios, it could be calculated that, given a reproduction rate of 80% for mature small cattle, when reproduction rates of large cattle were 24.7% lower than that of small cattle and the reproduction rates of medium cattle were 15.4% lower than that of small cattle, the large and medium herds became less profitable than the small herd. Smaller cattle mature faster than larger cattle which provides the opportunity for early breeding. When small cattle were bred early, at 15 months, at a calving rate of only 44.5% it was more profitable than when the same cows were bred at 24 months. When medium cattle were bred at 15 months, a calving rate of 37.0% was needed to be more profitable than when they were bred at 24 months. Even when the herd of small cattle were bred at 15 months with a reproduction rate of 100%, it could still not match the profitability of the herd of large cattle bred at 24 months given the reproduction rates of all other classes of animals were similar. When the herd of medium cattle were bred at 15 months, at a calving rate of 53.7%, it matched the profit of the herd of large cattle that were bred at 24 months, when the reproduction rates of other classes were equal. Scenarios were considered were feed intake was limited. When feed was limited to a specific amount, smaller cattle were more biologically efficient and cattle with potential for small mature sizes would grow to a larger size than cattle with potential for medium and large mature sizes. When feed was limited by a factor of the calculated energy requirements of small, medium and large cattle, large cattle were more effective. This is because large cattle use proportionately less energy for maintenance, which allows more energy to be allocated to growth, lactation and foetal production. When energy was limited to an amount per unit of metabolic weight, small cattle were more efficient than medium and larger cattle in the growth and production phases. Small, medium and large cattle were equally efficient (or inefficient) in the maintenance and lactation phases. Energy requirements of cattle in South Africa are commonly calculated using the Large Stock Unit (LSU). The LSU typically overestimates energy requirements for cattle, except in the lactation phase. When using the LSU to match small, medium or large cattle to a resource base, the LSU overestimates energy requirements of large cattle proportionately more than that of small and medium cattle. This is excluding the lactation phase, where energy requirements for all three sizes are underestimated and that of large cattle underestimated proportionately more. There are more considerations when matching cow size to managerial practices. A smaller body size is a natural adaptation to a semi-arid environment and this adaptation can be expressed in different ways. The number of animals on a resource base has implications on management practices. Having more heads of cattle on a resource base increases genetic variation of the herd, allowing for genetic progress to be made faster than in herd of fewer cattle. / Agriculture and  Animal Health / M.Sc. (Agriculture)