In search of a suitable cattle breed

In 1960 the 17 year old Matthys (the 3rd) asked his uncle,Prof. Dr. Johannes Cornelis Swart , (born 1900) head of the Departments of Animal improvement and Agricultural faculty of the University of Stellenbosch,  to help him to select a suitable cattle breed for the farm Koesanie in South Western Cape.

Sonnleiten Matvi

Prof Swart himself was raised on this Swart family farm in the Overberg region, and knowing the climate very well. This is not typical cattle area but sheep country. Rainfall average between 300 - 350 mm per year. Somers is very hot, dry and windy. Winter rain is carried by cold fronts that move from the Atlantic ocean to the coast. The ground to plant in only 10-15cm deep with hard rock underneath. This soil could not take large amounts of rain but needs follow up rain during the winter. Prof Swart immediately mentioned the Simmentaler. While he traveled through Europe in the 1950's to buy Holstein cattle for Elsunburg College, he saw the Fleckvieh in Bavaria. This breed left a good impression on Prof Jannie Swart.  He was impressed with the amount of beef and milk in one breed. He thought that this breed will do excellent in the coastal area’s of Southern Africa and could become a very imported breed because of it’s milk and beef quality that was not nearly equaled by any other breed in SA. (In 1960 Simmentaler was not well known in South Africa and only small numbers of animals existed.)

In 1964 Matthys saw an advert of a cattle auction in the Kalahari with allso some Simmentaler animals on it. During the auction he met Mr Hennie De Klerk (Mon-Bijou stud) of Winburg who just received his first shipment of imported Fleckvieh from Germany. On this 2000 animal auction the Simmentaler animals were just cattle and Matthys left with Hennie and visited him on his farm to see how the German cattle looks like. In 1965 animals were bought on an auction in South West Africa (Namibia today). These cows came from the studs of H.E. Rust en G. Rush (Sonnleiten). Sonnleiten Matvi was one of the Southwest cows. She became the grandmother of the wellknown Kykso Kaimat. With the arrival of Kykso's first animals on Koesanie, the 77 year old father of Matthys mentioned:" Son, this is beautiful cattle, but if they suffer in a drought, they will be ugly to!"

In 1966, after the death of Matthys's father, his brother Streicher joined him on the farm until 2000 when they separated there farming business when the sons of Streicher and Matthys joined the business.

Imports from Germany

After the Southwest Simmentalers proof to be adapted very well in their new environment, 10 heifers and two bulls Heros and Hansjorg was imported from Germany. This two bulls became the foundation of the herd. The strong rand in those day's made the importation of German Fleckvieh very favorable. One Rand bought 3 German Mark! No animals was selected if the mother did not produced at least 5 000kg of milk.

More imports followed in 1972 and 1976. Semen of Bernheim, Herodus, Hellas, Pronco, Probleem, Hospie, Hospan, Dirko, Dirin and Hafke was also imported. Imported bulls that influenced Kykso allot was Hansjorg, Heros, Kaiser, Hadon, Egon and Dior

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Matthys and Streicher with Kykso Kajes

Kykso achievements and highlights

With more and more economical pressure, many Kykso cows went back to the milking parlour in 2000. ( In 1980 the milking of the Simmentaler cows were stopped due to a drought and new milking parlour regulations. )The second year in the milking parlour some of the cows produced 16 liter average during the winter. From the 200 strong herd as base, a dairy herd was bred by using Fleckvieh bulls like Samurai, Rexon and Randy. The aim is 200 suckler cows and 200 dairy cows.

In 2002 a new quarantine station was build and came in use. From the new centre many embryo's were flushed and exported to Canada, Australia and Paraguay.

2003 the first polled genetics was used in the herd. Hauk Erz (Father: Eisenherz . Mothers father: Kykso Hafet) This bull is owned by BFG and Kykso. In 2005 Hauk Erz got the most calves registered of all bulls in South Africa. Meanwhile other polled bulls like Zimbo, Exodus and Epupa is used.

In 2006 Thys and Rossouw's sister Helena and brother-in-law Chris Niemand, joined forces with Kykso and formed Kykso "North". They made there farm and management available so that Kykso could expand in numbers. The North West of the country is more suitable for cattle raising. The first suckler cows left for the Northern parts of South Africa in April 2006. The aim is at first 500 beef cows with a strong polled influence for Kykso "North". Kykso "South" will keep the embryo donors, show cows and also the 200 dairy (dual-purpose) cows.