02 Jul 2013

 Mr Hendrik D’Kamp's Simmental cow has  won the Champion of the Yard award at the just ended Ghanzi Agricultural Show. The cow also won three categories: Senior Champions, Grand Senior Champions and Locally Bred Best Female.

According to Mr D’Kamp of Tsootsha, the cow competed at the national show in Gaborone last year and it settled for position three. During the recent Ghanzi show, it was accompanied by four other cows.

One of these cows was a Grand Champion at the Gaborone nationals last year and in the recent Ghanzin show, it got position two. He said he competed in Gaborone for the first time last year, but had been competing in Ghanzi since 2008.

 Mr D’Kamp, who works with wife Hildegard, said five years ago when they decided to compete; lady luck was on their side as they won the Junior Champions and Best Locally Bred categories. He explained that preparing for the exhibition was a challenge and needed determination as well as perseverance to get better results.

“When I take a decision to participate, I put everything on hold and focus on the cattle,” stated Mr D’Kamp. He said it took them three months to prepare the cattle adding that a total of P120 000 was incurred as costs for the preparations.

He explained that preparations for the cattle should start at the farm and well in time. He said everything should be taken care of and this included feeding as it might show some effects at the exhibition.

The Ghanzi show is popular for its livestock and crops exhibition, but it has over the years also afforded government and parastatals as well as private sector to exhibit. ENDS