Savanna goats first came to Boschfontein, a farm about 20km east of Thabazimbi in Limpopo, South Africa, to help open up encroaching bush. Their performance persuaded Anton Barnard and his son to register the Anton Barnard and Son Savanna stud in 2021. "The costs of breeding stud animals do not differ much from breeding animals commercially, but the return on investment in stud breeding is considerably higher," Barnard Snr told Farmer's Weekly.
The breed was then farmed mainly in the Northern Cape, and the family saw a chance to establish it in the bushveld. Barnard admits that they first bought unselectively before switching to chosen breeders and bloodlines. In 2025 they bought the 2023 world champion ram for a South African record price of R340,000.
Thabazimbi has heavy tick loads, and the aggressive Welgevonden strain of heartwater is carried there by the bont tick. The Barnards say they have not lost a single animal to tick-borne disease, crediting the Savanna's loose, pliable skin and footbaths twice a day. The goats browse and graze the woodland by day and are kraaled at night against black-backed jackals and caracals.
The stud aims for a lambing percentage of 170% or more and has averaged 1.7 lambs per lambing over five years. Lambs are weaned at 100 days and gain 200g to 230g a day; average birth weights are 4.08kg for rams and 3.73kg for ewes. Ewes are first mated at one year and rams used only from 12 months.
Every animal is weighed every 14 days, and the records, kept with specialised software, feed Logix merit and reproduction indices. The report is by Annelie Coleman.
Source: Farmers Weekly South Africa
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