By Charl van Rooyen
Cattle breeders from Southern Africa produced four world champions in the PJ Budler World Cattle Championships, of which two come from South Africa and two belong to farmers from Namibia and Botswana respectively. Several breeders from the region also produced runners-up and won bronze medals.
Loumotta Stud Farms of Wilru Campher of Ventersdorp in the North West produced its third world champion. Previously, he won with a Charolais bull and cow, but this time his Beefmaster bull, Loumotta WC 21-005, was crowned champion in the Beefmasters and Droughtmasters division. Wilru says the bull comes from an embryo he flushed from Bos Blanco genetics from Burnie Staal of Kroonstad.
“It is already a great honour that our bull was able to compete against the other top bulls in the world. To win is really special.”
The Simbra bull Kamab Volcanic DM 19-526B from the Metzger family of Seeis in Namibia was named the world champion Simbra bull. Three of the four judges placed him first. The bull was the supreme champion interbreed bull at the 2024 Windhoek Show, where he was also named the senior and grand champion Simbra bull.
Diethelm says they will take very good care of him and use him in the herd themselves. They have also tapped semen from Volcanic in a quarantine station and can therefore sell semen to foreign breeders if there is interest. He has also received a lot of enquiries from Namibian breeders.
Female animals
Another Simbra, Joshlin Quartz JSL 22-11, has been selected as the breed’s world champion female. She belongs to the Joel Lutge Family Trust of East London. Joel’s daughter, Linley Jones, says they did not expect the cow to win and it has not yet sunk in properly.
They may flush her to make the most of her genetics. The animal has already won as a calf at the Bloem and Royal Show and was the reserve supreme champion female of all breeds at the Royal Show in Pietermaritzburg in 2024.
The world champion Limousin cow, LR 20-87 Bubble, belongs to Jan Stiglingh, chairman of the Limousin Breeders’ Association of Southern Africa, who farms in the Tuli block in Botswana. He grew up there and has been farming since 2006. Stiglingh says carrots are his main product and he started cattle farming to make use of any cracked carrots. The stud was registered in 2016. He currently has about 300 Limousins and is still building the herd. He will hold an auction on his farm, Lucerne Fields, on 22 February 2025.
Other medal winners
The Santa Gertrudis bull XX 20-14 Skymountain won the silver medal for this breed. He was the gold cup winner at the Swartland Show in Moorreesburg and was entered by Franco Koch of the Kochbo Stud in Morreesburg.
A Charolais bull, MCS Juggernaut, from the Marshall Charolais Stud in Botswana was also awarded a silver medal.
The Joel Lutge Family Trust also won a bronze medal with a Simbra bull, Joshlin Diesel. He is a half-brother to the world champion cow, Joshlin Quartz.
A Limousin bull from Stiglingh, LR 18-87 Zippo, also won a bronze medal.
TOP 21-126, a Droughtmaster bull from On Top Droughtmasters of Johann Pistorius in Standerton, won a bronze medal. One of his Droughtmaster cows, TOP 21-251 Minki, won a silver medal for her breed.
2 000 entries received
The championships are hosted by former South African and now Texas resident PJ Budler and are judged on photos of the cattle as provided by the participants. Some 2 000 bulls and females representing 16 breeds from 76 countries were entered this year. Bulls and females first competed separately in four international regions, namely Africa-Asia-Oceania, South America, North America and Europe. This was followed by the crowning of the world champions.
The supreme world champion cattle will be crowned on 1 January 2025.
