Brief History of Sussex Cattle in Southern Africa

About two thousand years ago Southern England was covered in beech and oak forest. In this region lived a race of Red Cattle that were found there at the time of the Roman invasion.

In time these cattle came to be called Sussex after the large county where they had originated. They were hardy animals that could live outside all year round and survive on poor forage if necessary. They were seen by the writer and traveler Arthur Young in the late 18th century, who remarked on their uniformity and deep red colour. They were used mainly for haulage and to till the heavy clay soil.

Having been trained to the yoke at between two and three years old, they worked for another three years and were finished for the butcher in the following year. Only strong animals with good temperaments were kept as breeding stock. Winters were spent in cold, muddy conditions in cattle yards and were fed on hay and turnips or in open fields with shelter and fodder being scarce.

This then was the background to the first imports to Africa. The Rinderpest outbreak in 1896 was followed by the South African War that ended in May 1902. By then, the country as a whole had suffered the loss of hundreds of thousands of trek oxen, but even more importantly, the loss of valuable breeding stock.

There was an urgent need to breed up good quality replacement animals in an era when ox power was the primary means of transport.

FIRST IMPORTATIONS

Fortunately, the Transvaal Agricultural Department employed Mr. Alec Holm after the war. He was a Scotsman who had useful insight into the type of animals needed to improve the indigenous cattle that had survived the outbreak of Rinderpest and then also the war.

The first importations of Sussex cattle occurred shortly after the war ended. The country was in the process of re-establishing its economy. Vast herds of cattle had been slaughtered or stolen during the war, and relatively few animals were available to serve as breeding stock. This created an excellent opportunity for British beef breeds such as the Sussex.

In 1903, nineteen yearling heifers and four yearling bulls were imported by the Union Department of Agriculture in Potchefstroom. It was here that Dr. H.J.

Orford from Klerksdorp saw Sussex Cattle for the first time. Alec Holm insisted on showing him the herd of Sussex animals. He was so impressed that he had to acquire Sussex cattle of his own. The news spread rapidly, and by 1920 there were eighteen herds across Southern Africa, including South-West Africa (now Namibia) and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). By 1924 a total of hundred-and-eight cows and thirty-six bulls had been imported to Southern Africa.

Foundation herds were those of Smartt Syndicate, near Britstown, established in 1910, the Ballineety and Mazunga herds, both in 1911 in then Rhodesia, and the stud which Dr HJ Orford established at Bosworth farm near Klerksdorp in 1914.

SUSSEX HISTORY 20TH CENTURY

From the 1930s, progress was steady, but the decades from 1950 onwards propelled Sussex to the forefront of the cattle industry. Breeders’ dedication to entering fatstock at both the Rand Spring Show in Johannesburg as well as the Royal Show in Pietermaritzburg paid handsome dividends. Cross-bred Sussex oxen most often won these carcass and block test competitions.

Commercial breeders had to take notice if they wished to remain competitive in the years when the national herd was comprised of mainly Afrikaner-type cows and their progeny. However, the prizewinning animals were predominantly

Sussex out of first or second-cross Sussex Afrikaner cows, and well-finished steers were virtually unbeatable in the decades of the 1960s and 1970s. This trend continued well into the early 2000s at the Royal Show.