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Farmer perceptions on milk production and calf rearing practices on communal rangelands in the smallholder areas of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa were evaluated on a total of 218 cattle farmers using structured questionnaires, semi-structured interviews with key informants and personal observations. Nearly 70% of the households in the small-scale areas milked twice a day compared to 60% in the communal areas. About 62% of the interviewees weaned calves between 6 and 12 months of age. Milk yield/cow/day (7.5 +/- 0.5 litres), fresh milk consumption/household/day (3.2 +/- 0.5 litres) and sales/household/day (3.1 +/- 1.1 litres) were highest in the sour-veld, small-scale farms (P < 0.05). Sour milk consumption/household/day (2.6 +/- 0.2 litres) and sales/household/day (0.8 +/- 0.2 litres) were significantly high in communal farms with a sour-veld. It was concluded that, calf rearing practices were poor and milk yield, consumption and sales were generally low and varied with production system and rangeland type. Further research is required to improve calf management practices, cow nutrition, milk yield and quality and how milk production can be used as a toll for rural development in the smallholder areas of South Africa.

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Understanding the utilisation patterns of milk assists in designing appropriate dairy development schemes in rural communities. The objective of the study was to determine milk utilisation patterns in different smallholder farming systems in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Data were collected through the administration of recording sheets to 130 randomly selected households in Alice, Fort Beaufort and Queenstown districts. Amounts of milk produced per household ranged from 9 to 21 l per household per day. Milk consumption/household/day was similar among the three districts. Milk consumption in the early lactation doubled the amount consumed in late lactation (P < 0.05). Milk in the communal areas was largely utilised as fresh or sour milk. Fresh milk was mostly used in tea/coffee or to make porridge for children. Sour milk was consumed with thick boiled maize meal. Fort Beaufort (10.2 +/- 1.37 l/day) had the highest sour milk sales whilst Queenstown had the highest fresh milk sales (9.7 +/- 5.57 l/day). It was concluded that quantities of milk consumed or sold as fresh or sour were generally low and varied across smallholder farming systems.

The objective of this study was to determine the live weight, body condition scores (BCS) and fleece weight of sheep in four smallholder farming communities of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Among the four communities studied, two (Roxeni and Tyabane) were in sweetveld and other two (Luzi I and Luzi II) were in a sourveld. Roxeni and Luzi communities were also engaged in the ram exchange project with the National Wool Growers Association (NWGA). Sixty crossbred ewes and 20 non-descript ewes aged 2 to 3 years were randomly selected from the four communities studied and were measured during their annual shearing in October. They were assessed for average greasy fleece weight per head, body condition score and live weight after shearing. Roxeni sheep were heavier (39.9 ± 1.10 kg) than Tyabane sheep (29.8 ± 1.10 kg). Sheep from Tyabane had the lightest (P <0.05) fleece weight (1.0 ± 1.10 kg) than Roxeni sheep (3.1 ± 1.10 kg). The 2-year-old ewes had similar (P ≥ 0.05) live weight to that of the 3-year-old ewes. However, the 3-year-old ewes had higher (3.3 ± 0.11) (P < 0.05) body condition scores than the 2-year-old ewes (2.8 ± 0.10). Two-year-old ewes also had lower (1.9 ± 0.11 kg) (P < 0.05) fleece weight than the 3-year-old ewes (2.3 ± 0.10 kg). It was concluded that sheep that were raised in the sweetveld had higher live and fleece weights than the ones that were raised on the sourveld. The communities that were engaged on ram exchange project had sheep with higher live weights, body condition score and fleece weight.