Applicants need to apply on a prescribed form to become members of the South African Brahman Breeders’ Society, with the application being accompanied by the relevant entrance fee. There are three classes of members: Ordinary membership, sub-membership and associated membership.
Ordinary Brahman Cattle Breeders' Society of South Africa membership is aimed at people who are directly or indirectly involved in the breeding of Brahman cattle, or who are interested in the breeding of Brahman cattle.
Sub-membership is aimed at people, who are directly associated with an ordinary member in the breeding of Brahman cattle, such as a child, grandchild, parent, grand-parent or trustee. Such a member will enjoy the same rights as an ordinary member, so may attend the annual general meeting, participate in discussions and have a right to vote.
Associated Brahman Cattle Breeders' Society of South Africa members are anyone who applies indirectly for membership, or merely for the sake of interest. They share the same rights as the other members, but are not allowed to vote.
Only animals that comply with the minimum breed standards and have no physical defects, abnormalities or diseases are eligible to be recorded in the herd book. The animals should also be approved during a breed inspection.
Farmers have to keep stringent production records of all the registered animals and their offspring, and animals have to be properly branded, according to the breed standards, to ease identification and prevent fraud.
All bulls used for breeding need to be DNA typed. The Society annually nominates herds to DNA parentage determination to test the correctness of parentage and record-keeping. Participation in performance testing is optional, although highly recommended.
The Brahman is the first cattle breed to have been developed in the United States, and is now part of beef production of South Africa....