Farmers are fire and flame for Lamb Champs 2024

The agricultural network Saai presents the third Lamb Champs competition at the Pretoria National Botanical Garden on Saturday 20 July. Farmers from all over South Africa will compete with their lambs against each other to determine who produces the tastiest lamb and goat meat.

Paul van Rooyen from Rouxville in the Free State, last year’s winner with his Meatmaster lamb, says that apart from the delicious togetherness and direct exposure to consumers, the competition has done wonders for interest in the Meatmaster breed.

“We are too far from the big cities to be able to deliver meat on a large scale to everyone who inquired after the competition, but we were able to assist all the farmers who inquired about the Meatmaster with advice and action.”

Van Rooyen says he is going to take the long way again this year to take part in the competition.

Nathan Naudé from Steynsburg on the border of the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape, took home the R50 000 prize money in 2022 with his Geelbek Merino lamb. He attributes his farming success to good breeding material and feeding practices. They feed their own lambs that are bred from their closed flock according to a practice that Nathan’s great-grandfather, Fanie, started four generations ago.

They mix their own rations and Nathan believes this makes the difference. “We know exactly what our animals eat and ensure that only good quality ingredients are used in their feed mixture.”

Nathan is excited about Saai’s plans to set up a Lamb Champs brand. This will help a lot so that farmers who compete in the retail trade can earn a premium price for their products.

The first Lamb Champs was presented in 2022 on the grounds of the Harlequins Rugby Club in Pretoria, where ten judges judged 50 farmers’ lambs. About 2,000 guests arrived to taste what South Africa’s best lamb meat tastes like.

Last year there were 100 lambs on the spit and for the first time also a goat meat competition, with 5,000 people turning up for the feast.

This year 100 lambs and 50 goats are roasted. The prize money for the winner of the competition is again R50 000.