History of
SYFERFONTEIN BONSMARAS
Growing up on Syferfontein farm was an adventure, surrounded by fields of maize and herds of Fries/Holstein dairy cattle. My siblings and I would wake up early to help Dad Jan in the milking shed, making fond memories together.
In 1995, my parents made the tough decision to sell our dairy herd, much to my disappointment. However, it turned out to be the right choice. BKB Van Wyk managed the auction, and it was a huge success. To cheer me up, my dad let me help choose the new beef cattle breed. We wanted red cattle and settled on Bonsmara, partly because my dad was inspired by Prof. Jan Bonsma.
We bought 160 commercial Bonsmara cows with lapsed stud status and kept detailed records of calf registrations and pregnancy checks. For the first three years, my dad bought three bulls at the AG auction from Arthur de Villiers and his son of Arcadia Bonsmaras.
In 1997, my dad passed away while I was still studying agriculture at the University of the Free State. Fulfilling his dream of upgrading the herd to stud, my mom and I took on the challenge after his death. In early 1998, we began working on the herd name, stud membership, and base selection. Mr. Hennie Snyman handled the base selection, and we decided to cull all six-point animals. Mr. Snyman recommended registering the animals as Appendix A, and 130 female animals were registered.
We officially registered Syferfontein Bonsmara Stud in 1998, with Arthur de Villiers Jr. as our herd mentor. We bought our first “stud bull” from Dr. Wesson van Rensburg of Robco Bonsmaras. Later, we added more bulls from Wesson, Arcadia, and UP-George Bonsmaras to our herd.
Growing up on Syferfontein farm was an adventure, surrounded by fields of maize and herds of Fries/Holstein dairy cattle. My siblings and I would wake up early to help Dad Jan in the milking shed, making fond memories together.
In 1995, my parents made the tough decision to sell our dairy herd, much to my disappointment. However, it turned out to be the right choice. BKB Van Wyk managed the auction, and it was a huge success. To cheer me up, my dad let me help choose the new beef cattle breed. We wanted red cattle and settled on Bonsmara, partly because my dad was inspired by Prof. Jan Bonsma.
We bought 160 commercial Bonsmara cows with lapsed stud status and kept detailed records of calf registrations and pregnancy checks. For the first three years, my dad bought three bulls at the AG auction from Arthur de Villiers and his son of Arcadia Bonsmaras.
In 1997, my dad passed away while I was still studying agriculture at the University of the Free State. Fulfilling his dream of upgrading the herd to stud, my mom and I took on the challenge after his death. In early 1998, we began working on the herd name, stud membership, and base selection. Mr. Hennie Snyman handled the base selection, and we decided to cull all six-point animals. Mr. Snyman recommended registering the animals as Appendix A, and 130 female animals were registered.
We officially registered Syferfontein Bonsmara Stud in 1998, with Arthur de Villiers Jr. as our herd mentor. We bought our first “stud bull” from Dr. Wesson van Rensburg of Robco Bonsmaras. Later, we added more bulls from Wesson, Arcadia, and UP-George Bonsmaras to our herd.
