It is funny how you can spot a farmer. Many moons ago you could go to the local co-op, and you’ll find them there, conversing with their counterparts and catching up on anything from farming to how the family is doing. But that was easy, because the chances were excellent that if you are at the co-op with bags of feed or seed or whatever on the back of your truck that you were a farmer. However, he would stop over at other shops in town, and you would still spot him. He was the rugged sun-tanned man who walked like he was on a mission. He’s had enough of town … he wanted to get back to his farm.
Nowadays you also find them at the co-op …. sometimes. But in the bushveld they no longer farm with cattle or sheep. Those days are over. They are game farmers … they think. You’ll rather find them at one of the numerous bush pubs that have sprung up all over. He has a little bit more panache now. The dirty diesel single cab 4x2 has been traded in for a fancy double cab turbo diesel 4x4, complete with reverse gear and all the other bells and whistles that comes with a R350,000+ price tag. But that is not enough. No more canopies. That is so twenty years ago. They have hunting frames on the back. And they are no longer conversing about farming or their families. They are determining prices for the next season. It’s almost like price-fixing for which some big companies recently paid hefty fines.
But he is still that rugged, sun-tanned chap. He just has a lot more time for himself now. He no longer dresses up in working clothes. Their shirts are all embroidered with their logos. Game does not require all the dipping and handling that livestock does. Check the fences. Check the watering holes. And if there are no hunters or visitors, the day’s work is done. But it was not quite that easy all the time. When the farm was in the development stage there just was not enough daytime. He was out at sunrise, working like a dog until sunset. He had to check that the fencing company was doing exactly what he paid them to do. He had to go to numerous game auctions to buy all the game he wanted. And he had to check that the game capture company delivered all the game he paid a fortune for in good health. He has earned his leisure time that he now enjoys so much.
But is he really still a farmer? Trading traditional livestock farming for game should not change things that much? Or does it? The short answer to this is – definitely not! Game farming is hard work. You need to be on top of your game (no pun intended) at all times. Wild animals are not like cattle that you can count every day without the help of a helicopter. Nor can you just spot a sick animal and treat it. However, checking fences and waterholes is just not enough to call yourself a game farmer. There is a lot more to it.
In order to be a successful game farmer you need to have a well researched management plan. To draw up a well researched management plan you need to call in the help of ecological experts. You need to manage the numbers of game on your farm, and that is not quite as easy as to say that you can keep one unit per so much hectares. You have browsers and grazers, and there will be a number for each. You need to know what grass types will be utilized by which animal species, and the same for trees utilized by browsers. And you need to know the different grasses and trees. You need to keep your bush density at the right levels. If you have too much thicket, you will have less grass for the grazers, and visa versa. You cannot just place a watering hole at a spot where you think it will make a good setting. Animal movement needs to be checked in order to determine the correct placement. You need to know which animals prefer natural watering holes, and which prefers artificial ones. Yes, there is a difference in preference.
Whether you are in the hunting or eco-tourism industry, you need to determine the need of the market you are catering for. If you set up a lodge with fantastic luxury for the corporate market or foreign hunters you need to be sure that you will get enough market share to justify the costs. If you are catering only for the South African hunting market you need to be sure that you do not go overboard as you will not be able to recover your cost in day fees. The South African hunting market requires a lot less luxury than the foreign trophy hunters. A LOT less. And the cost to set up for South African hunters makes it worth your while to cater for this market, provided you did not overspend. The local hunting fraternity has, up to now, contributed the largest portion of income generated in the wildlife industry. Although local hunters spend less per capita than their foreign counterparts, their shear numbers make them a market not to be ignored. In the private wildlife industry meat production is the sector that generates the least, closely followed by eco-tourism.
How many game farmers are there in South Africa? There are more than 10,000 game farms in South Africa, of which around 5,000 has hunting exemption. That does not mean that there are 10,000+ game farmers. In fact, there are a lot less than that. Even less than half. I would go as far as to say that there are no more than 3,000 true game farmers in South Africa. Owning a game farm does not make you a game farmer. It only makes you a game farm owner. To be a game farmer requires that you have ecological studies done on your farm to determine what species you can keep, and how many of each species you can keep. It requires research by specialists and a management plan to be drawn up, and following that management plan. Game farming is not as easy as buying a game farm or putting up game fences on your farm and stocking it with game. Game farming is a science, and not a lot of us are “scientists” in this sense. You do not need to obtain a science degree from a university. It does however require that you make sure that you obtain the input of qualified people, understand what they are telling you, and implementing that research and knowledge.
What is said here is only skimming the surface of what is required to be a true game farmer. It is up to the game farm owner to now go out and seek qualified help. Without it he will not succeed in the long haul. Yeah, sure, he might make a living if he does not do all these things. But really succeed he will not. There will be those years where he will realize that he has too much game on your farm, or too few watering holes.
The strange thing about some of the modern day game farmers is that they will rather let their game die of thirst or hunger than letting a hunter come in, pay day fees, and shoot excess animals at a reduced price. A couple of years back a game farmer lost 46 kudu and 73 impala due to drought. The signs were clear early on that this could be a problem. When it was suggested to him that he reduce his price on kudu and impala, and have a limited number hunted in order to get to a sustainable number, he got very angry and said :- “I will NEVER allow my game to be shot at prices below what I’m charging now!” A short four months later he admitted that he maybe should have listened to the advice. At the prices suggested to him he lost at least R150,000 on game prices alone. It was suggested that he require hunters to be a minimum of four in the hunting party, and stay a minimum of four nights. The size of his farm can allow up to six hunters to hunt safely. The loss of income from day fees lost him another R50,000+. A total loss of more than R200,000! And this from being stubborn and greedy. Another had a problem in early summer of 2008. He lost about 10 impala before he realized that there was a lack of grazing on his farm. He spent thousands on getting them to December when some good rains began to fall. Grazing recovered to a certain extent, but not enough to carry the animals through the winter of 2009. By end of May/beginning of June he will again have to start feeding if he does not want to loose more animals. However, when an offer was made to cull the animals at a kilogram price, he bluntly refused. He’d rather spend R100,000+ on feed in the hope that the next summer will be better before he will allow his impala to be culled to sustainable levels.
It is unfortunately so that society today is driven by greed. The only people you will find who are not greedy are those who are financially not that fortunate. They will share what little they have with anyone. But those who are wealthy will only share if you pay a hefty price for their product. It is no different with game farmers. They possess a commodity which is in high demand by hunters and conservationists alike. It is estimated that there are more than 200,000 fairly active hunters in South Africa. Most of them do not hunt every year due to the costs involved. But they will hunt every 2nd or 3rd year. It is also estimated that another 100,000 hunters will enter the market if costs were at affordable levels.
Now the calculators come out. At only R100 per hunter per day with a minimum of four days per hunter this sector of the hunting market has a potential of R120 million! income per annum. If every hunter would spend on average R2,000 (conservative) on game it constitutes another R600 million! This already constitutes a higher income from local hunters than the figure of the year 2000. In the good years from 2002 to 2007 income was higher than this. With the current economic crises, the income for 2009 looks a lot bleaker than before. I have advocated this for many years, but it seems that greed has always prevailed. The fact that we had some very prosperous years between 2002 and 2007 contributed to the factor those game farm owners thought that they could keep increasing prices without any consequences to them.
With the current global economic slump the geese that laid the golden eggs are fast disappearing. I’m cutting back big time on my own hunting, as will dozens of my buddies … and their buddies … and their buddies … etc. The market is shrinking at an alarming rate. Game farmers are going to feel the pinch a lot more than their counterparts in the more traditional farming sector. Hunting and leisure time no longer is a priority. If the craving for biltong becomes too bad one can always go to a biltong shop and buy some. For the normal man a carcass price of R50-R70 per kilogram has become just too expensive. Hunting outfitters who concentrate on the foreign market have already seen a decline of more than 40% on average for 2009 compared to the previous year. Game farm owners will therefore no longer have the luxury of “blaming” high prices on the fact that “Americans” are prepared to pay higher prices.
Even in good years there has always been game farms failing. This has mainly been due to poor management. In a weak economic climate the number of failing game farms is going to increase. The main contributing factor will still be poor management, but it will be accentuated by the weak economy. The men will be separated from the boys. I already hear the mumbles – ‘Not gonna happen to me.’ Surprise, surprise! It might just be you. Nothing quite as bad as denial when you’re in trouble. Everything said is not just to criticise. It is meant to warn game farm owners to take precautionary measures in order to survive during these tough times. Those going on the defensive when reading this probably have more problems to come than those taking the warning seriously. There will also be the handful who will smile and say :- “I’ve seen it coming. Luckily I took precautions.” As a (local) hunter and PH I’m feeling the pinch on both sides. I’ve seen how hunts from foreign clients got cancelled. I’ve heard buddies, who were hell bent on hunting this year now sing a completely different tune.
