A stud farmer from North West suffered more than R1 million in damage on Sunday when lightning wiped out more than 30% of his Bonsmara herd.
Christopher Maema farms on a 407-hectare farm, Eye of Malemani, between Lichtenburg and Zeerust. He also operates a feedlot and farms with commercial Boer goats and Brahmans. In 2020, he became a stud farmer when he registered his herd with Bonsmara SA. (Christopher also runs an engineering business from Mahikeng and is involved in construction.)
It is a massive blow for Christopher. The incident occurred Sunday evening when severe thunderstorms hit the area. The dead animals, including the calves, were all female. Four of the stud cows were SP (Stud Book Proper) animals he had acquired from Molopo-Bonsmara of Kobus Poggenpoel and his sons, Phillip and Kobus Jr., at Stella. Some of the cows were appendix A and B, which produced SP calves with which Christopher wanted to expand his stud.
No bulls were struck by the lightning. In 2022, Christopher bought one of his bulls, 1900366, from the Poggenpoels for R200 000. Christopher takes a serious approach to stud farming and has purchased the highest-quality breeding material.
Reint Grobler from Kyron Agri in Lichtenburg, who manages the Maema herd’s animal health and helps with management, said the thunderstorm on Sunday evening was particularly severe. Between 7 and 11 November the town recorded about 93mm of rain.
