Diethelm Metzger Built Southern Africa's Second-Largest Simbra Herd on 350 mm of Rain

Who is Diethelm Metzger?

Diethelm Metzger breeds Simbra cattle, the Simmentaler and Brahman cross, in one of Namibia's driest cattle districts. With his wife Katja he runs Kamab Simbra Stud along the Black Nossob, a river valley with little groundwater and an average annual rainfall of 350 mm. He founded the Metsibra Simbra Stud in 1985 with his parents, and he and Katja started the Kamab herd in 1995. As a living person, this profile covers only his public farming record.

Nearly all the detail comes from a January 2014 report, Kamab Simbra's performance off the veld, so numbers describe the operation at that time. Because the sources are limited to that one report, this entry is marked thin and fills out context from other Farmer's Weekly pieces.

The land and the water problem

The Metzgers farm 25,000 ha, 10,000 ha owned and 15,000 ha leased. There are 68 camps ranging from 270 to 800 ha and 21 watering points. Because of the dry country, water comes mainly from surface run-off stored in two large earthen dams and small quarry dams, and the dams dry up in drought years. Water supply is called the farm's biggest challenge.

Predators include black-backed jackal, caracal, cheetah and leopard. The wider business also includes wildlife ranching, trophy hunting under the name Makadi Safaris, and a guest farm.

Why Simbra? The cross explained

The Simbra combines two breeds with complementary strengths. As Farmer's Weekly puts it, Simmentaler cows provide milk for fast-growing calves and good growth and conformation, while Brahmans adapt well to the environment and produce earlier-maturing carcasses. Namibia has a long Simmentaler history, with the first animals landing at Swakopmund as early as 1893, as the Farmer's Weekly account of Namibian Simmentalers records.

The Brahman arrived in southern Africa in 1954 when Jürgen Krantz imported cattle from Texas to Namibia. The Farmer's Weekly history of the Brahman lists Simbra among the synthetic breeds the Brahman helped create.

Herd management on low stocking rates

The official stocking rate for the area is 10 ha per large stock unit, but the Metzgers stock at 18 ha. They moved from rotational grazing to permanent grazing at low stocking rates. Bull to female ratios range from 1:18 to 1:35 depending on camp size, and most cows are naturally serviced, though Metzger planned to expand artificial insemination using South African genetics. Semen is imported from the USA and Australia.

There are two breeding seasons, and a cow gets one second chance. If she fails to conceive, she is culled. Cows that lost calves to predators were also culled, which reduced losses over time.

Performance and selection

The herd's average birth weights are 34 kg for heifers and 36 kg for bulls, and birth weight has stayed the same since 2006 while weaning weight has risen. Weaning weights range from 240 to 280 kg in an average year. About 370 weaners are produced annually. Selection priorities are fertility, adaptability and hardiness.

Vaccinations are limited to anthrax, botulism, black quarter and brucellosis, as required in Namibia, though sale and show animals are also treated for lice and ticks. The cattle are reported to be resistant to anaplasmosis, which is endemic in the Seeis region.

How the stud sells

Most animals sell directly off the farm. The best go to two annual auctions: Simbras Blazing Ahead in March near Klerksdorp, and Central Select in September in Windhoek. Culls go to Meatco. The stud's motto is Your profit is our concern.

Metzger says the breeder's job is to produce efficient cattle that help commercial farmers earn more, a statement that explains why the stud emphasizes working traits over show-ring polish.

Learn more

For more on ranching in dry country, visit farm.FM's ranching section or read a farm.FM story about Simbra cattle.