Mark Myatt-Taylor Moved a Boran Stud From Mount Kenya to Tanzania

Who is Mark Myatt-Taylor?

Mark Myatt-Taylor is a Boran breeder whose operation has crossed one international border at its own expense. He and his wife Nicky began the Woragus Boran Stud in 1995 on leased land on the slopes of Mount Kenya, and in 2005 they relocated the stud to Ifunda in Tanzania's Iringa Province. Most of the detail in this profile comes from two 2012 Farmer's Weekly reports, so the figures describe the farm as it was then, and some may have changed. As a living person, only his public professional record is covered here.

The Farmer's Weekly report on pioneer farming in Africa describes how, from 1992 to 2005, the couple managed a mixed farm on Mount Kenya while running a small Woragus stud alongside it.

Building Woragus on Mount Kenya

The stud started with 20 registered Boran heifers as its nucleus herd. Its first bull, Gianni 2812, came from Suguroi, a long-established Kenyan stud, and Farmer's Weekly says the Woragus stud is still based on that bull's traits. Over time the Kenyan herd grew to 160 breeding cows.

Conditions were hard. The farm sat in cold, windy country with about 625 mm of annual rainfall, cattle were kraaled at night against predators and thieves, and East Coast fever and redwater were constant threats. The Farmer's Weekly feature on the East African Boran reports that for about 10 years in Kenya, Woragus exported embryos through Embryo Plus to South African breeders, so its genetics sit in several local herds.

The move to Tanzania

In 2005, the Myatt-Taylors bought two Tanzanian properties with Mark's brother and a retired Tanzanian politician, Dr Ben Moshi, under the name Selous Farming Ltd. The first, Ifunda, was 1,481 ha of undeveloped bushveld in Iringa Province. The second, Ludodolelo, was 1,410 ha in the high-altitude Makete district, about 250 km away. The business plan included white maize, French bean seed, commercial wheat, Boran and Santa Gertrudis beef studs and a Dorper sheep stud.

They moved 300 registered Boran, 20 Santa Gertrudis and 100 Dorper from Kenya, about 1,500 km one way. A 30-tonne truck made 14 trips of about 60 hours each over three months, at a reported cost of hundreds of thousands of US dollars. On the farm itself a bulldozer cleared 330 ha in six months, two centre pivots covering 64 ha and 28 ha were installed, and 9 km of electric boundary fence and 10 km of internal fencing went up.

How the Ifunda herd is managed

By 2012, Ifunda ran three herds of about 50 females each. Heifers were bred at two years old. The average inter-calving period was 353 days against a 380-day maximum, and calves weaned at about 220 kg at 240 days. Cows weighed 380 to 400 kg and bulls 680 to 750 kg. About 5% of matings used imported Kenyan semen, and a top stud bull was bought every three years.

Annual output was reported at roughly 70 bull calves and 70 heifer calves. About 40 young bulls remained saleable after two years, about 20 heifers were sold a year, and about 35 were kept as replacements. About 20 ranch bulls a year went to Masai pastoralists in Tanzania. Bulls also sold to Zambia, Malawi, Uganda and Kenya, often to repeat buyers.

Records and trophies

Woragus 317, a 30-month-old bull out of Suguroi bloodline, sold at a Boran Cattle Breeders' Society auction in Kenya for KES 400,000, a Kenyan record for a Boran bull, to Aiden Hartley of Tango Maos Boran Stud. Woragus 276, also 30 months old, sold at a Zambian auction for US$11,600, reported as a record for a Boran sold outside South Africa. In 2011 the couple received the society's Almatix Perpetual Trophy for Champion Boran Bull on Show, with Woragus 147.

The breed society's own pages are at the Boran Cattle Breeders' Society of Kenya.

Learn more

For more on cattle and ranching in the region, visit farm.FM's ranching section or browse a farm.FM story on Boran cattle.