Introduction As a technical adviser and inspector for SA Studbook in the late 1960's, I worked mainly with our cattle breeds.  It is thus strange that after farming with stud sheep for over 30 years, I now for the first time acquired stud cattle. The harsh area in which I farm, severe droughts in the area and the stress this puts on most cattle breeds was the main reason for not wanting to farm with cattle.  With the re-emergence of the Nguni cattle breed over the past few years, due mainly to the fact that it could cope best with precisely these conditions, made me reconsider my position regarding cattle farming. After studying first calving dates, inter calving periods, weights of calves and efficiency of production, I decided to start an Nguni stud.  Our  first Polled Ngunies where bought in 2002.   Polled Nguni’s The big horns most Nguni cattle have leads to restlessness and injuries in the cattle yards. Having to dehorn also causes stress to the calves and a lot of unnecessary labor and cost is involved. This made me determined to have a genetically Polled Nguni stud, and after many miles traveling and getting some here, there and everywhere, I eventually ended up with 4 bulls and about 75 cows, all polled. The quality and genetic diversity I acquired was most encouraging.  I was determined to start with some of the best Nguni’s South Africa had to offer, and thus quality, not price, determined what I bought.   Natural Selection of Polled Nguni’s All my experience with our indigenous sheep breeds had taught me one very important lesson: The reason for their survival instinct and generally good reproduction was due to the fact that they had been left to survive in nature no matter what.  The reason was never due to some of the petty conformation characteristics breeders dream up and then base their selection on. Often I have witnessed how selection for some of these characteristics had actually led to the breeding of less adapted and fertile animals.  Thus I made the decision that I will be open to advice but will never allow the selection of fancy points to play a greater role than the performance of the animal under natural conditions. For 7 months of the year our Nguni’s run along the river and almost eat just reeds.  They then go onto our dry winter veldt for the entire winter and early spring with no licks or any feeding available. Our selection is then based on the best producers under these natural circumstances.   Carcass Quality of Polled Nguni’s The problem with many of our indigenous sheep and cattle breeds is the fact that they don’t produce an acceptable carcass for the market. Calves are also inclined to grow too slow for the feedlot industry. Experience has also taught us that it does not help to fight the feedlots or the graders.  If you do not meet market requirements then you will sacrifice price per kilo when supplying calves in large numbers.  We are thus determined to breed Nguni’s with good enough conformation and growth rates to satisfy the buyers out there.  We do not chase size, but through performance testing select the cows able to produce fast growing calves. Getting the balance just right between adequate beef production and the ability to survive in the natural environment also improved our fertility.  These atributes are most sought after when selecting our cows. Managing and Feeding of Polled Nguni’s The cows are mated during December and January to calve in September and October.  The heifers are also mated and will thus be expected to calve at 24 months. The calves are weaned in May and those not kept for breeding are sold as weaners.  Heifers are mated separately to calve at two years, also in September and October.  Bulls remain on the veldt from weaning until 18 – 24 months when they are sold.  We are determined to never give any of our mature Nguni’s any licks or feeding, except for rock salt. Our aim is to have all heifers calving at 24 months and every year after that under these natural conditions with no supplementary licks.  We are not there yet but hope, with our numbers now at full capacity, to select and make this possible. No bulls will be fed for any sales or before breeding seasons.    Recording Polled Nguni’s for Profitability Our Sheep Studs made a name for themselves, not only in South Africa but also overseas, because we don’t only try and breed good looking animals, but also concentrate all our efforts on breeding the most profitable animals. We are doing the same with our Nguni’s. We will achieve this by very accurate record keeping and having the data analyzed on our very effective and efficient Beef Pro Computer Program. We will improve on the conformation of our animals by way of the remarks with the linear scoring system. We will also improve cow efficiency by selecting on our BLUP figures that are analyzed, by taking into account first calving date, inter calving period and growth rate of calves.