South African Agriculture Livestock Farming

Livestock is the largest agricultural sector in South Africa, with a population of some 13.8-million cattle and 28.8-million sheep. Stock breeders concentrate on the development of breeds that are well adapted to diverse climatic and environmental conditions.

Dairy farming:

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Dairy is produced throughout South Africa, with most farms in the eastern and northern Free State, North West, the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, the Eastern and Western Cape, Gauteng and the southern parts of Mpumalanga. The four major dairy breeds in South Africa are the Holstein, Jersey, Guernsey and Ayrshire.

South African Agriculture Livestock Farming

The dairy industry is important to South Africa's job market, with some 4 300 milk producers employing about 60 000 farmworkers and indirectly providing jobs to 40 000 people. Milk production for 2003/04 was estimated at 2-billion litres.

Beef farming:

South Africa produces 85% of its meat requirements, with 15% is imported from Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Australia, New Zealand and the EU. Local demand generally outstrips production, even though there are untapped reserves in the communal farming areas.

Cattle ranches are found mainly in the Eastern Cape, parts of the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Northern Cape. Popular beef breeds include the indigenous Afrikaner and Nguni and locally developed Bonsmara and Drakensberger. European and American breeds such as Charolais, Hereford, Angus, Simmentaler, Sussex, Brahman and Santa Gertrudis are maintained as pure breeds or used in cross-breeding.

Sheep and goat farming:

South African sheep farming is concentrated in the Northern and Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Free State and Mpumalanga, with Ermelo in Mpumalanga being one of the largest wool-producing districts. Fifty percent of sheep are fine-woolled Merinos. Other breeds include the locally developed Afrino, a woolled mutton breed adapted to arid conditions, the South African Mutton Merino, the Dohne and the Merino Landrace. South Africa's mutton is produced from the Dorper - a highly productive and locally developed mutton breed for arid regions - and the woolled Merino.

Karakul sheep are farmed in the more arid areas, with some 20 173 pelts with a gross value of R3-million produced in 2002/03. The indigenous meat-producing Boer goat accounts for about 30% of all commercial goats. The Angora goat is used for mohair production.

Poultry and pig farming:

South Africa's poultry and pig farms are more intensive than the extensive sheep and cattle production, and are found near the metropolitan areas of Gauteng, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. The predominant pig breeds are the South African Landrace, the Large White, the Duroc and the Pietrain.

South Africa's annual poultry meat production is 960 000 tons. Broiler production contributes about 82% to total poultry meat production, with the rest made up of mature chicken slaughter (culls), small-scale and backyard poultry production, ducks, geese, turkeys and other specialised white meat products. Income from poultry and egg production amounted to R11.3-billion in 2002/03.

South Africa accounts for 67% of world sales of ostrich products - leather, meat and feathers. The gross value for ostrich feathers and products during 2002/03 was R276.5-million.

Game farming:

South Africa has more game and a wider variety of game species than most countries. Game farming has grown over the years, and today is a viable industry with great economic potential. The country's main game areas are in Limpopo province, North West, Mpumalanga, the Free State, the Eastern Cape, the Karoo, the Kalahari in the Northern Cape and the thorn scrub of KwaZulu-Natal.

A descriptive game-production model has been developed for optimising intensive animal production on game farms, with the potential to increase the global produce of the game industry by between 8% and 15%.

Aquaculture:

The aquaculture industry in South Africa continues to make meaningful progress in cultivation technology, marketing strategy, marketing practice and scientific innovation. Mussels, trout, tilapia, catfish, oysters and waterblommetjies (Cape pondweed) are the major aquaculture species. Mussel farming occurs mainly at Saldanha Bay.

South African Agriculture Livestock Farming

Gerald Crawford was born in South Africa, studied electronics, telecommunication, eco-travel and african travel concepts. He taught responsible tourism in South Africa. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me on. E-mail Address: southafricantravelarticles@12234455.co.za Website Address: http://www.12234455.co.za

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The History of the Eco Movement

With the current problems with global warming, deforestation and other environmental problems, you could be excused in thinking that the environmentalism and eco friendly ideas are a new movement.

However, environmentalism can trace its origins to some of the very oldest civilisations with the ancient Greeks, Romans and Arabic philosophers all proclaiming the importance of protecting and looking after mother earth.

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Even in Britain, eco friendly ideas have been around for centuries. Sea-coal was outlawed by Edward I because of the pollution it caused and notable figures throughout the industrial revolution such as John Ruskin and William Morris advocated back to nature and environmental ideas as the threat of pollution from the new factories and industrial heartlands began to cause smog and other problems.

The History of the Eco Movement

Throughout the 50's, 60's and 70's different environmental movements began but most were seen as fringe movements with singular ideas and principles. It wasn't until the 1980's that many of these fringe ideas became mainstream, helped by the threat posed by the decreasing o-zone layer, depleting resources and rising smog levels in major cities like Los Angeles.

Now, with the problems caused by climate change, even scarcer resources, and an ever increasing populations; eco friendly ideas are no longer seen as fringe. Most of us are now aware of the many problems we cause to the environment.

Recycling has become commonplace and many of our cars and appliances are manufactured to reduce energy consumption and other eco friendly products are now becoming increasingly popular and even big business and politicians are starting to act more responsibly toward the environment.

The eco movement started with small ideas and actions but it has grown into a mainstream ideology which proves that as individuals, if we recycle, but eco friendly products, save energy and think of the environment we can go along way to encourage others to do so.

The History of the Eco Movement

Richard N Williams is interested in green innovations and writes about them. Please visit our website if you are interested in Recycling or other eco-friendly products

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FBI Badge - Knowing the Real From the Fake

One of the most widely recognized and renowned symbols present today would have to be the FBI badge. Considering the power wielded by an FBI officer, it has become important to know the badge to recognize the same so that no mistakes are committed when it comes to identifying these officers from the other civil officers. But then, it is important to know how this badge looks like to begin with. After all, you wouldn't want to be fooled by a duplicate badge and reveal something dangerous to a felon, subsequently endangering your own life in the process.

The Actual Badge

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The badge is completely golden in color. On the upper portion of the FBI badge, there is special text that reads Federal Bureau of Investigation. This is followed by a bald eagle, which proudly sits in the middle of the badge. On either sides of the bald eagle, there are the characters 'U' and 'S'. Hence, this is the prominent aspect of the badge that others can see. Towards the end of the FBI badge, the words "Department of Justice" appear. On the whole, this is a very impressive looking badge that commands high authority and ensures that it is instantly recognizable when shown.

FBI Badge - Knowing the Real From the Fake

The Replicas

Since the design is a standard one, there are many different replicas of the same out there. While most of the FBI badge replicas are utilized in movies and TV shows, there have been instances when the same have been used to fool people into revealing something important or even for conning purposes. When you encounter an FBI agent, always be sure to check his credentials before discussing anything. Unless you are absolutely sure that this is an FBI agent that you are talking to, it might be best to abstain from communication of any kind. There are many dark elements out there with a fake FBI badge and waiting to exploit you.

Getting Hold of a Badge

If you want an FBI badge but don't really want to join the FBI for the same, you should go online and check out some of the stores that sell these badges. There are a number of different stores out there and depending on where it is that you head out to; you should be able to stumble upon a store that can help you with the same. The level of realism depends on the place that you buy these badges from.

FBI Badge - Knowing the Real From the Fake

For learning more about an FBI badge, go to the website http://www.fbibadge.org.

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