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Animal scientists meet at UFS to discuss ecological footprint of livestock

18 June 2019 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Leonie Bolleurs

Dr Christine Engelbrecht from the Agricultural Research Council presented the keynote lecture on climate dynamics, predicting that El Niños will double in frequency towards the end of the century.

The world will need nearly double the current food supply by 2050 to feed an ever-increasing world population. This is a mammoth, almost impossible task.

Building on knowledge

According to UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Petersen, if we approach challenges such as these with scientific level-headedness, systematically build on knowledge and experience gained, and draw on similar inputs from other specialist fields, the seemingly impossible becomes possible.

“To what extent do we integrate our knowledge across sectors – within the university and outside the university; on the continent as well as globally?” he asked the 300-plus delegates, which included animal scientists, students, and various other role players in the livestock sector, at the 51st South African Society of Animal Science (SASAS) congress on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS).

Willingness to adapt to new strategies

The theme of this year’s congress was: Managing the ecological footprint of livestock through efficient production. The congress provided a platform for discussions on the impact of livestock production – bringing in elements of critical thinking, as well as the willingness to adopt new strategies.

During the congress, workshops on topics such as silage, predation management, intensive sheep production, prickly-pear utilisation, and animal welfare provided delegates with the opportunity to discuss challenges faced by the South African livestock producer.

Dr Christine Engelbrecht (Meteorology) from the Agricultural Research Council presented the first keynote address, focusing on climate dynamics.

“We have high-impact weather systems across Southern Africa. It is projected that strong El Niños are to double in frequency towards the end of the 21st century,” said Dr Engelbrecht.

She further predicted temperature increases of between 4 and 7 degrees Celsius in the interior before the end of the century. Over the Free State, Northern Cape, and North-West Province, we can expect shorter frost seasons, significant increases in maximum temperatures for both summer and winter, as well as more frequent El Niño-induced droughts.

Ecological footprint of food

Improved production outputs need to be achieved by using less land, water, and available energy, while ensuring that the degradation and pollution of natural resources are limited. A scientific approach would be a viable option to improve the efficiency of livestock production.

SASAS President, Prof Este van Marle-Köster from the University of Pretoria, pointed out that all food had an ecological impact.

Dr Frikkie Maré, Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at the UFS, presented a keynote lecture on managing the footprint of beef through efficient production. Comparing the water footprint of different cattle breeds, his question was what could be done to reduce this.

Animal welfare was introduced to the congress for the first time. Prof Cathy Dwyer from Scotland’s Rural College presented a session on, ‘Can animal welfare contribute to improved production efficiency?’

The oldest conception of animal welfare is the five freedoms adapted to the five welfare needs of animals, namely a suitable environment, a suitable diet, exhibiting normal behaviour patterns, being with or being apart from other animals, and protection from pain, injury, suffering, and disease. Studies demonstrate that animal welfare can be an important and effective part of production efficiency, and that animal welfare should be seen as an integral component of improving the sustainability of livestock.

Prof HO de Waal from the Predation Management Centre at the UFS presented a session on the impact of predation on livestock production, with the tile: The need for coordinated predation management in South Africa – quo vadis? He said: “The current approach to predation management is fragmented and uncoordinated. Solutions for the management of human-wildlife conflict require a South African institutional memory. Most of the information on predation and the hunting of predators is held by specialist predator hunters and farmers. In a system of coordinated predation management, farmers and government are equal partners, each with specific responsibilities.”

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Address by the first Inaugural President of the Central SRC

2005-08-03

The UFS Central SRC

Address by the first Inaugural President of the Central SRC of the University of the Free State, Mr Tello Motloung on Wednesday 3 August 2003

The Chairperson of the UFS Council, Judge Faan Hancke,
The Vice-chancellor and Rector of the UFS, Prof Frederick Fourie
The Vice-Rector Student Affairs of the UFS, Dr Ezekiel Moraka
The Presidents of the main campus SRC and the Vista campus SRC
Colleagues in the Central SRC, campus SRCs, students and fellow South Africans

Please receive my heartfelt revolutionary greetings

Vice-chancellor and rector what I bring here with me assisted by facts, is just the work of my imagination. Like a love letter addressed to a sweetheart miles away, even though you do not know how she feels, what she wants to hear, and do not even know what she looks like.

I value speech as just an honest intimation, that’s why I got into a habit of establishing a dialogue with people, looking at each other’s face, and persuading one another of what we are saying.

Vice-chancellor, today marks an important milestone in the history of the existence of the UFS. Today reflects the confidence and trust that students of the UFS have placed in us. They are confident that the Central SRC has both the will and the capacity to take our university forward as we confront the challenge of transformation.

Students are confident that they are correct to trust the Central SRC as the principal agent of change in our university that is genuinely committed to the objective of building a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic university. We need to frankly ask ourselves, as CSRC members, whether are we up to all these challenges?

All Central SRC members have to understand this fully, internalize it, and ensure that everything we do, does not betray the confidence and trust of students, or disappoint their expectations. I say this knowing that all Central SRC members have committed themselves to serve the students of the UFS, black and white, and no one among us (CSRC) needs any special lectures about this central commitment.

The UFS should be an omnibus, welcoming everybody on board. But we should be a bus with a clear direction. We will certainly lose our way if we, as an institution, don’t have a clear road map spelling out where we are heading to.

There should be clear guidelines on the role of students in the transformation process. Students should also be viewed as role players in transformation along with the University management, and not just opposing forces. There is no right time, other than this one, to move away from the politics of opposition to politics of transformation.

However, we need the support of management to do so. The University should value the role and contribution of student leaders, hear our legitimate claims and consider them as part of political and policy decision making.

Vice-chancellor and Rector, it remains our task to ensure that the UFS is transformed into an institution that is seen to be playing a vigilant role in developing students academically, intellectually, socially, culturally, politically and otherwise. The process of transformation is not ending tonight, it is just beginning tonight.

Judge Hancke, Prof Fourie, Dr Moraka, fellow students and fellow South Africans, I lead students at this university with a sense of pride and duty, and I know very well that I lead men and women, students who are all determined that we reach our destination safely and on time.

A navy divided within its ranks will be destroyed and vanquished by the enemy, but the navy united in purpose and action, loyalty and commitment will not sink but sail on to victory.

It is befitting to mention that every drop of my blood is telling me that the UFS is my home. I firstly became a student here, I became the SRC treasurer in my first year here, I became the deputy president here, and I became the first president of the Central SRC of the UFS.

Therefore you should never doubt my commitment towards the transformation of this university. To paraphrase what was said by students at another institution, “If there is no UFS in heaven, then I am not going.”

Let me conclude by thanking my ancestors for teaching me that even if I wined and dined with kings and queens, I am not a king myself, so I should not turn my back on people who made me what I am today.

Most importantly, I would like to thank the Almighty God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for giving me time and power to lead this university.

It will be theoretically irresponsible if I ended my speech without indicating that “Only a Kovsie knows the feeling”.

I thank you.

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