BY MAEDER OSLER
In the early to mid-2000s, I was privileged to form part of an informal group of farmers and their partners who met regularly to chat about their experienecs, interests and concerns. The discussions circulated at intervals between farms in the districts of Rouxville, Colesberg, Bethulie and Venterstad.
A notable member of the group was the immensely knowledgeable and experienced Dennis McDonald, owner of Soetvlei Farm near Bethulie in the Free State. Dennis has written several articles about grazing and veld management for Toverview.
Encouraged by his son, Ryan, he has now started his own blog, simply called Soetvlei. The first post is truly remarkable — it presents a system for calculating rotational grazing set out in excel spreadsheets, which is free for use by other farmers and can be downloaded.
As Dennis explains, there is a sheet for every month, and when the figures for the last month have been filled in, the opening and closing numbers are extracted in the year-end sheet. Costs can then be filled in from an accounting program to provide figures such as gross margins and return on capital.
The stock number sheet caters for four herds/flocks and two lands for sheep, but users can add to this.
To view and download the workbook, click here. Fortunately, Dennis will continue to write for Toverview as well.