Do you know how to supplement for your veld type?

Farmer or producers that use natural grazing as the bulk of the feed source for their animals need to understand the type of veld that they are working with, and what nutritional value it has for their animals.

In South Africa we have three types of veld, namely:

• Sweetveld
• Sourveld
• Mixedveld (combination of sweetveld and sourveld)

Sweetveld

Sweetveld is found in areas of low rainfall and the nutritional value of the veld is retained through maturity. It is also highly palatable to grazing animals.

 

Possible problems:

Because sweetveld occurs in areas of low rainfall, droughts are bound to occur and may result in fodder shortages. The result is that animals do not have access to enough grazing material.

Solution:

It is also common for mineral shortages to occur during summer and protein shortages during winter, for this reason we recommend a Molatek Foslick (V16059), and  Fosblock (V22502)  in summer or a good quality protein lick (V16048)  during winter of which Molatek has many to offer. Contact your technical advisor for advice as to which would suit your animals best, to ensure that no nutritional deficiencies develop.

Sourveld

Sourveld is found in areas of high rainfall and loses some of its nutritional value throughout maturity. Sourveld is only palatable during the growing season.

Possible problems:

During winter the protein content of the veld decreases as well as the digestibility. This means that although the grazing material is readily available, the animals do not want to graze on the veld.

 

Solution:

Animals on sourveld are bound to lose condition during the winter and strategies should be put in place to ensure that body condition is conserved. It is good practice to supplement a protein lick like Molatek Winlick 50 ( V12086)  Contact your Molatek technical advisor for guidance as to which would suit your animals best.

It is important to know what sort of veld you are using, in order to best supplement the diet of your herd or flock, should a shortage of grazing material arise.

Here is a rough guideline for the provinces and their veld types:

Western Cape: Sweetveld

Eastern Cape: Western region – Sweetveld

Eastern region- Sourveld

KZN: Sourveld, mixed veld and sweetveld

Mpumalanga: Sourveld

Limpopo: Mixed veld

Gauteng: Sourveld

North West: Western region – Sweetveld

Eastern region – Mixed veld

Free State: Western region – Sweetveld
Eastern region – Mixed veld and sourveld

Northern Cape: Sweetveld