OFM News spoke to Louwrens Viljoen of the Charolais breed society during their exhibit at the recent VKB Bieliemieliefees in Reitz. Viljoen says the breed, which is produced under the slogan “King of the Weaners”, is definitely growing in popularity.

He says as a relatively small breed society, one of the big challenges is to make sure they breed only top quality animals.

“Due to us being quite a small breed, we have a lot to prove. We really need to breed very good stock to convince people to make use of a Charolais bull.

“I think that is one of our biggest challenges but I think we are doing it successfully at the moment because there is a lot of demand for Charolais bulls. So I think if we can convince enough people that the Charolais is a better option for feedlots, then the breed will just keep doing better going forward.”

Viljoen says Charolais crossbreeds do very well in feedlots. “It is the ‘speenkalf koning’ (king of the weaners). That’s our slogan. There are only a few breeds that can compare to the growth rate of a Charolais cross weaner calf.”

- OFM News