Cattle farmer Peter Menné from Makhado (Louis Trichardt) once again took top honours when yet another one of his Nguni cows was recognised as the top producing Nguni cow in the country.

It is the second consecutive year that Menné walks away with this prestigious award and in total he has won the award four times.

The ARC (Agricultural Research Council) Animal Improvement Institute annually identifies the best producing cows from each herd participating in the National Beef Cattle Improvement Scheme. The requirements for these awards are determined in co-operation with the national Advisory Committee of the scheme. The trophies for the best producing cow for each breed participating in the scheme are sponsored by Farmer’s Weekly, in co-operation with the ARC Animal Improvement Institute. These cows are identified from the Elite group and must adhere to strict standards, including an average ICP (time from one calf to the next) not exceeding 400 days.

Earlier in July, Menné again heard that another one of his cows from the Menné Farming’s Damline Nguni stud qualified as the Farmer’s Weekly/ARC Elite Cow of the Nguni breed.

Born on December 31, 1992, his winning 13-year-old cow has already given birth to 12 calves. Her first calf was born on December 15, 1994 and the last one on November 14, 2005. The cow’s average ICP is 362 days, slightly better than the cow that secured him first place last year.

Menné’s winning cow is truly in a class of her own with her BLUP (Best Linear Unionist Prediction) scoring far above the breed average. Her latest bull calf was sent down to the Irene Bull Testing Station where it’s being evaluated for growth and efficiency. Two of her previous bull calves have also been sent to the Mara Research Station for evaluation.

Menné contributes the cow’s success to good genetics. She comes from a top bull bred at the University of the North and she was purchased in the former Venda.