“Cattle is a Guaranteed Pension Fund” – Rudie Lemcke

After 40 years participating in agricultural shows, Rudie Lemcke bows out a happy farmer.

The 65year old Ghanzi farmer needs no introduction to the farming community. Having won more prizes in Ghanzi and Gaborone shows, Lemcke remains an inspiration to many and his response is, “the inspiration will be more fulfilling if I can see more farmers better than Rudie himself. It will be my biggest achievement if I can grow young farmers to be master farmers,” says Rudie. He continued to state that, in order to become a master farmer it’s all about productivity and fertility of your animals.

Lemcke says a farmer must select well adapted cattle for the environment and weaning weights for the feedlots. “Don’t farm with cattle that will cost you lots of money but farm with cattle that will save you money. “ Spoiled cattle will cost you a lot of money,” he continued. He advised that commercial farming is about looking after your cattle with grass, water, licks and record keeping. “You can sell your weaners at 8months and that will cover your costs and invest your profits to cover your needs,” says Lemcke.

Advising upcoming farmers to buy productive cattle to spoiled cattle Lemcke quoted the late Jan Bonsma, an animal scientist from South Africa offered some invaluable insight into the importance of the wedge shaped cattle when he said, “In most breeds, the show standards for heifers and bulls are based on the conformation of the ideal fat steer. No wonder so many prize-winning bulls are feminine in appearance, while so many females are sterile or subfertile.” This has proven true over 50years that most of today’s cows and bulls are rectangular in shape.

Lemcke bows out of show competitions as age and business commitments are demanding more of his time. He, however is a happy man having left a footprint and bagged four Grand Champion prizes from the Gaborone Show, which he sums up as a privilege.

A patriotic Motswana whose travel around the world continues to show him how good Botswana is as a country, Rudie says he is thankful to the government of Botswana continues to give its citizenry opportunities in the farming sector. “The Governments’ open door policy where you can access your leaders is unmatched all over the world.” Says elated Lemcke.

Rudie who sees colour, race and culture as serious barriers in the co-existence of our citizens believes his legacy will not be complete if the benefits of this country are not enjoyed by all. With every family in Botswana having access to cattle he says the liberalization of Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) is a ground breaking development that will ensure that with the uncertainty of global economies, cattle is the best pension fund every Motswana can invest in and where small farmers can get their return on investment. “Livestock rearing is the best form of investment which can take care of our children school fees, medical expenses and benefit communities. FMB