From Doing Hospital Rounds to Breeding Champion Cattle

Dr. Obakeng Mfikwe, the founder of Lekatu Simbras & Simmentalers stud, hung up his stethoscope in 2010 to establish a successful commercial mixed-farming operation in Lichtenburg and Magaliesburg, under the name of KMF Farm Holdings.

Lekatu Simbras & Simmentalers has won numerous awards and has dominated shows across the country. Owner Obakeng Mfikwe, a medical doctor who took early retirement, believes that by setting big goals you might miss them – but if you don’t set them, it is almost guaranteed you won’t reach them.

For him, the goal is building an integrated meat enterprise to supply local and international markets. KMF Farm Holdings runs its mixed-farming operations on five farms totalling 2, 894ha; four in Lichtenburg, North West, and one in Magaliesburg, on the border between Gauteng and North West. The mixed operations include a 172, 000-per-cycle broiler production, 350 Simbra, Simmentaler and Black Angus stud breeding cows, and 1, 152ha for grain production. On the Magaliesburg farm, Obakeng plants just over 200ha maize and has recently started stocking a 20, 000-capacity feedlot.

But it wasn’t always his plan to end up in agriculture. Like many young kids who grew up in rural areas, farming was part of his childhood. “I grew up in Jericho, a village near Brits in North West. My dad was a cattle farmer,” he says. Naturally he had to help his father with farming activities, an experience that wasn’t always pleasant. “Instead of having a good time with your mates playing, you’d be busy on the farm,” he explains.

Obakeng went on to choose a career as a medical doctor and later opened a practice in Fourways, Johannesburg, a world away from farm life. He also started another business supplying medical equipment to various hospitals. His elder brother, Rothman, was the one who later joined their father part time on 1 000ha in Beestekraal, near Brits, where they farmed with Simbra cattle.

Things took an unexpected turn for Obakeng when Rothman passed away in a car accident in December 2008. “Dad didn’t take it so well, so I had to fill my brother’s shoes and joined my dad on the farm,” recalls Obakeng. He bought his first four Simbra cows in 2009. A few months later he bought another 55 Simbra stud cows, which he registered with the breed society. “I named the stud after my dad – Lekatu was his childhood nickname,” he explains.

By 2011 Obakeng had grown the herd to 160 animals. Because of the capital investment he’d made, he began to pay more attention to the farming, and noticed he enjoyed spending time there. “I started closing the practice on weekends to be on the farm. The more time I spent there, the more fulfilled and energised I’d feel. This of course led to my decision to close the practice permanently to focus on the farm and my medical supply business that I got off the ground between 2010 and 2011.”

As part of his fodder plan, Obakeng plants about 32ha Sorom stooling rye under irrigation for winter on his farm in Lichtenburg. The cattle graze it for two hours a day, which provides them with enough protein to see them through the following few days on dry grass.

As the herd grew, Obakeng needed more land. In 2011 he applied for a farm he had identified in Lichtenburg in the heart of the maize triangle, 69km outside Mahikeng. The 466ha farm Rietfontein was allocated to him under a 30-year lease in December 2011.

“It was dilapidated and needed a lot of work. The last activity on the farm had been poultry production on about 16ha; the rest was grazing and arable land that had not been in production for years,” he explains. Obakeng arrived on Rietfontein with only his Simbra stud. “It took blood, sweat and tears to build it back into a fully functional farm.”

By the end of 2012, the farm was making a profit, producing maize on more than 150ha, with 150, 000 broilers per cycle and the 160-strong Simbra stud. Obakeng’s knowledge of cattle breeding had also grown exponentially as he studied and attended various courses, including qualifying as a junior cattle judge.

Last year Obakeng introduced a Black Angus stud on the farm as part of his plans for an integrated beef value chain that could access the lucrative niche market for certified Angus beef. “Besides its high fertility, the Black Angus is one of the best performers in the feedlot,” he says.

Rietfontein produces 172, 000 chickens per cycle. The broiler production plays an important role on the farm: Besides providing a good cash flow, the litter is valuable as cattle feed and fertiliser.

“I want broad and longer animals that carry more meat. Other traits I don’t compromise on are good mothering abilities and milk production.” He maintains calves should not wean at anything less than 240kg. “About 15% of our animals wean calves of between 270kg and 290kg,” he says. These animals are selected as core breeding animals.

“As cattle farmers, especially stud breeders, we often focus on bulls and neglect the cows, forgetting that they’re equally as important,” he points out.

Obakeng says he is no longer as concerned with adding numbers to the herd as with having superior genes. “My cows have to produce the heaviest calves that are long and broad with sound conformation. Cows must produce enough milk and have exceptional mothering abilities,” he stresses. Admittedly, such exceptional quality is not yet as widespread as he would have liked.

Obakeng runs a small feedlot that he intends to move to his new farm in Magaliesburg, where the capacity will exceed 20, 000 animals.

All his camps have enough clean water. “Animals should not have to walk far from where they are grazing to find water, as they tend to lose condition,” Obakeng adds.

Obakeng believes your reputation is everything when you’re a young black stud farmer, and superior genetics is the name of the game.

Obakeng produces 70% maize and 30% sunflower on a combined 1, 152ha (952ha in Lichtenburg and 200ha in Magaliesburg).