Beefmaster Cattle Breeders Society of South Africa

The Beefmaster Cattle Breeders Society celebrates 24 years since it was accepted as a breed in South Africa in 1987. With the growth during recent years, the future of the breed looks bright and the Breeders’ Society has great expectations, especially with regard to the production characteristics of the breed. The South African Beefmaster is handmade by selection for the tough Southern African conditions. Each animal is the product of dedicated breeder's selection and performance testing, with emphasis on functional efficiency. It is still good practice to buy bulls from a breeder in one's own environment in order to avoid adaption difficulties. What is a Beefmaster? Beefmaster is a synthetic breed that is genetically composed of ± 50% Brahman, 25% Hereford and 25% Shorthorn blood. The result was the Beefmaster that inherited the best characteristics of each individual breed. This was achieved after years of selective breeding, careful experiments and vicious culling of unwanted animals. Throughout the history of the Beefmaster breed the main objective was meat production. The best cattle produce the most high quality meat at the lowest cost, which means more profit. The breeding and management program that is followed is based on nature's oldest law: "Survival of the fittest." Upon selection six characteristics are required. The required economically important traits are: fertility, temperament, weight, conformation, hardiness and milk production.