Who are we?
Gorba Bonsmaras Stud was started between the De Jager Family Trust & Dewald de Jager Investment Trust, represented by Isaiah de Jager & Johan de Jager in September 2000 with animals bought from Gavin Bristow, Johan Breugem, Adv. Thomas Langley, Dubbel N Bonsmaras and later animals from the old IVY Bonsmara herd were acquired.
Isaiah de Jager
Isaiah keeps himself busy as a businessman and investor in Botswana, where he stays for the last 21 years. He is married to Marina and they have two sons, Christiaan and André.
Johan de Jager
Johan worked as a technical officer for the ARC’s Animal Improvement Institute for 21 years in total and has experience in the private sector as well.
I am qualified as a researcher with a B Tech degree in Animal production and worked as a Animal Improvement technician. In 2009 I became a full time farmer after my Father was in a car accident. I have a son named Dewald who lives with his mother and are now married to Jolandi and have a daughter named Elizma. We are living on the farm Rietfontein in the Potchefstroom area where we run part of our Bonsmara herd. The rest of the herd are kept on the Farm Voorspoed between Reitz and Tweeling.
Breeding Policy
Medium birth weight & size. Retain good growth with good maternal & reproduction abilities.
In our breeding policy we follow a system where we have minimum and maximum values for each trait. It is basically one standard deviation from our aim. We try to exclude the extremes, as they are more often the animals that won’t perform consistent on the same level.
We set the aim for each trait, which could be the same, just below or higher than the herd average for this year. We might be happy with certain traits and need not to adjust our aim for those specific traits.
In the Mating program (Genus 2000) animals will be mated toward the aim for specific traits and will also keep other traits within our Min. and Max. Values. This is a holistic approach where correlations between traits are looked at and thus helping us in a balanced approach.
It is however very important to maintain a balance between performance, conformation and functional efficiency. No single aspect or trait can be over emphasized. That will only lead to extremes, which our region will not allow, or except. It is our believe that nature will still be the judge in all our attempts to change things.
Our Vision
Biologically efficient productive and adapted breeding herd which will comply with all market expectations for quality and consistency.
Our Mission
To provide the South African beef industry with approved, performance tested breeding stock recognised by the Bonsmara SA, SA Studbook and the Animal Improvement institute.
Our Herd
The herd consisted of animals bought in from mainly Mr. Gavin Bristow, Mr. Johan Breugem, adv. Thomas Landley and Dubble N Bonsmaras where we select a few old cows from the old Gerhard Bronn lines.
Some of our first Bonsmara type animals were also mated to Afrikaner Bulls from the herd of Mr. Williem Kooij, who is considered to have one of the best Afrikaner herds in South Africa. This was mainly done to ensure a hardy adapted herd of basic animals, in-line with the original Bonsmara policy of the late Professor Jan Bonsma. That is also why the first stud animals were bought in the northern regions of South Africa, for their hardiness and adaptability. Furthermore, we have the intention of using selected animals from the old Ivy Bonsmara herd, or animals with Ivy parentage.
Where are we?
The farm is situated just off the N12 highway, 12 km east of Potchefstroom in the North West Province of South Africa.
The grazing consist of mainly mixed veld types that varies from less palatable species to more palatable species in the Acacia tree lines. As Potchefstroom is a more cultivated area, proper grazing is not readily available. We are subsequently very reliant on planted pastures, which mainly consist of digitaria Smutsi and some Digitaria Eranthia species.
We also bought a farm in the Reitz area which consists of about 50/50 land and grazing. Some land are leased during 2011 and we look forward for our first winter with stower. In the past animals were only kept on the natural grazing and old lands with assortment of cattle licks throughout the year.
We plan to expand our farming operation to other areas in the proximity of Potchefstroom in the near future. At the present we’re hiring grazing from a few neighbours until we can buy more land.