16 Aug 2018

When she was compelled to make frequent visits to her grandmother’s cattlepost at Mma Khumo, little did she envisage it developing into a passion that would be honed to finally characterise and become a business avenue by which her life would ultimately hinge on.

With each passing day, Ms Minky Morake completes a script for an episode of her life production as a mother, entrepreneur and a farmer par excellence. She speaks the language of serial winners and she packs the jargon of the Simmental breeding business with utmost ease.

Like any other child growing up to what has been termed humble beginnings, Ms Morake was not fond of farming until at a later stage in her life that she got malleable in her views, thanks to her husband whom she started farming jointly with.

What sets her conspicuously apart is her drive and passion for breeding Simmental, one of the acclaimed breed of cattle that is also fragile and requiring intense care and management.

Probably with experience from caring for her 13-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son, Ms Morake has transferred her innate parenting skills to cattle farming that have come to characterise her adult life.

Like many women who are caretakers of their families and are also self-driven and passionate about leaving their mark in the unforgiving yet rewarding world of cattle breeding, Ms Morake is unperturbed by her status as a woman and is steadfast in realisng her  dream of being a master farmer, only if she could get a farm.

“Although I don’t take being a woman in farming as a challenge per se, I think women are very fortunate to be blessed with multitasking capacities,” said the Nkawane cattlepost farmer whose passion for Simmental breeding beams through her face.

Without necessarily blowing her trumpet for managing to break the glass ceiling of cattle breeding that has hitherto been regarded as a male preserve, Ms Morake beckons on other women to venture into the lucrative industry. Her summons of women is premised on that they too have a duty to shape the legacy of their families.

The 39-year-old Serowe farmer challenges women to learn the ropes of farming from their husbands and or partners whilst still alive so that in the event the latter departs earth then women can survive on their own.

She is of the firm conviction that even when the males are ailing women who have taken keen interest in farming will ensure continuity in such unforeseen circumstances.

Education in cattle breeding is of paramount importance and hence Ms Morake wants it inculcated in children at a tender age so that they appreciate the business from a family level.

Being amongst the minority females in the cattle breeding industry has not deterred her unwavering dreams by any iota. She is bullish in approach. She quit her job at an information communication technology company in Gaborone.

The race for the crown is on sight judging by plans and optimism she harbours in her patient self.

Though she rears in a communal area, her Simmental cattle cut a competitive figure comparable to farm-reared ones. This is despite a common knowledge that animals exhibited at agriculture shows usually receive superior treatment as marketing gimmick.

At the recent past Serowe District Show, Ms Morake exhibited amongst a host of male breeders, a majority of whom were renowned and hailing from outside Serowe, and she managed to make a podium finish for couple awards.

She has big dreams for breeding, but she is curtailed by rearing in a communal area though she spoke with optimism throughout the interview that shortly she could be getting a farm where management of his breed would improve drastically.

Imminent plans to relocate to Serowe from Gaborone next year are momentous.

She is running a lodge in Serowe and she is getting closer to her diamonds that are freely roaming the pastures at Nkawane, cattle posts between Paje and Mmashoro.

Staying in Gaborone bred huge challenges to her cattle breeding business and reduced her and the husband to weekend farmers though they would alternate going to the cattle posts.

Predictably, Ms Morake is hands-on farmer who would arrive at the cattle post in the evenings from the capital city; take a rest before waking up to the kraals to ensure that all was in order.

She talks passionately about vaccination and de-horning which she regards as mere chores.

In fact, she boasts five year experience of fulltime cattle breeding minus part-time basis. Initially they just bought ordinary Tswana cattle like many ordinary Batswana farmers, but would depart in the direction of Simmental after drawing added inspiration to the love they harboured for the breed.

Some of their bulls were bought from South Africa, but have now produced bulls from their own kraals.

Cattle breeding especially for a special breed like Simmental naturally bears challenges to the breeders and the Morakes are not spared either.  Apart from management headaches due to mixing with various cattle, rearing in communal grazing area has never been a panacea to ambitious farmers on many fronts.

Simmental requires special care as the breed is not easily acclimatised to the living conditions of the country compared to Tswana breed that survive local harsh conditions like extreme heat and the usually lacking in nutrients grass and high chances contracting diseases from other stock.

“When there is no enough grass out there in the free-range we are compelled to dig deeper into our pockets into buying feeds,” she said.

Throughout the breeding business she has been alive to trends. She observes that Simmental breed has generated a lot of interest amongst farmers who hitherto have been staunch breeders of Brahman breed. In fact, she sees the sudden shift towards Simmental as good enough for the market.

However, she is of the view that to venture into Simmental breeding requires from the potential breeder loads of determination owing to the high prices of purchasing a zero tooth calf which could fetch up to P20 000 per head.

Though land is a challenge she observes that some people, upon buying the expensive breed which she perceived was in good supply, tend to lease farms so as to manage their flock easily.

With the land boards sudden response to farmers need for farming land, optimism teaches Ms Morake that things could be looking up for local farmers whose ambitions are to enrich themselves by way of breeding livestock. ENDS