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| To access Member and Animal Search via the Livestock Registering Foundation: use this quick link below: |
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| https://www.lrf.co.za/zimbabwe/ | |
| To access the Goat Breeders Association of Zimbabwe (GBAZ) web page, click logo at right: |
| Breeders - please note that all birth notifications must be submitted within 60 days of birth.
The amnesty period closes on 17 Dec 2025. With effect from 5th January 2026, late birth notifications will attract late penalty fees as follows: 61 to 180 days: $2 Please don't hesitate to contact us on trace@lit.co.zw if you have any questions or concerns. |
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The ZHB & Livestock Centre Team thank you for all your support in 2025.
We look forward to another successful year of collaboration in 2026! Our offices close for the festive season on 17 December 2025. We re-open on 7 January 2026. We wish you a very happy holiday season and a peaceful and prosperous new year. |
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| Following the ZHB Council meeting on 12 Nov 2025, note the following changes, effective 1 January 2026:
Levies increased by 20%: ZHB Annual Herd Levy: increasing from $200 to $240 Per Capita Levy: Smallstock: increasing from $1.65 to $2.00 Cattle (Electronic): increasing from $4.40 to $5.30 Cattle (Manual): increasing from $5.50 to $6.60 With effect from 1st January 2026, a fee of $20 will be raised to register imported animals – this is to cater for processing extended pedigree information, necessitating the capturing of 14 ancestors for each imported animal. We are in the process of sending out: Herd Lists – please check these and notify the Office of corrections; Requests for Information (RFIs – held birth notifications) – we await your corrections to enable the processing of the birth notifications in this list. Reminder: RFIs older than 6 months will be deleted. Inspection Lists – it is important to ensure that all animals over 12 months of age are inspected. We cannot update births where the parent is still in Calf Book (CB). For more details, download: The ZHB Summary of Breeder’s Requirements In January 2026, the Office will send out Levy Lists. These must be returned by 18th February and levy payments settled by 31st March. |
Access papers delivered at Beef School and Small Stock School 2025 Go to our Beef School Page |
| In Memoriam - Jeff Sommer
It is with shock and regret that the Zimbabwe Herd Book records the passing of Jeff Sommer, a prominent Brahman stud breeder and commercial producer. Jeff H. Sommer completed his high school education at Milton before attending Gwebi Agricultural College. His formative years laid the foundation for a lifelong commitment to agriculture and cattle breeding. Together with his brothers, Jeff ventured into the cattle business, establishing a pedigree Brahman herd under the name Sommer Ranching. In 1991, they expanded their operations by taking over the BF herd from the late Peter Grant, further cementing their reputation in the industry. Jeff was a founding member of the Brahman Breeders Society at its inception in 1979. He served on the Brahman and Herd Book councils multiple times, actively participating in the society’s and Herd Book’s development and direction. Jeff’s cattle were regularly sold at the National Bull Sale, where his hardy, well-adapted bulls were always in high demand. The Sommer Ranching team also held annual production sales, with the next event scheduled for 12 December 2025. Jeff played a key role in improving the quality of their herd by importing stud bulls from South Africa, working with respected breeders such as Theo Dicke and Jan Serfontein. He was known for his discerning eye, able to quickly identify a promising stud sire and always sought confirmation from others before making his final choice. Jeff was a fascinating individual, capable of engaging others in conversation on a wide range of topics. His home was always open, providing accommodation and warm hospitality to visitors. The Herd Book family extend their condolences to his wife, Rifca, his daughter, Jaimie, and his brother, Henry. |
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Take advantage of the latest LRF Tipsheet: Download Docility Tipsheet ** Watch the 1 minute video on Docility LRF Introduces Tipsheets with Videos: About the LRF Tipsheet series: Each month, we spotlight a key trait you should be recording - and why it matters; why you should record it, how to do it, how to submit recordings, how to interpret the EBVs! In Memoriam: Carmen Stubbs |
LRF Newsletters downloads: October 2025 LRF Newsletter - covers Stockman School Sept 2025 LRF Technical Services News For more links to earlier issues of LRF News and LRF Technical News: RTU Scanning Services: Read more |
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| Pedigree livestock - also known as stud animals - are the seed stock of the livestock industry and is the basis of stud breeding. The Zimbabwe Herd Book was established by an Act of Parliament in 1980 to oversee the registration of pedigree livestock. Stud breeding involves the controlled mating of livestock and detailed birth notifications of progeny with parents are recorded with the Herd Book. In addition, stud breeders record the fertility, survival and growth performance.
Livestock production depends on three pillars: genetics, health and husbandry. Stud Breeding - genetics - is the cornerstone of commercial livestock production. A strong commercial industry is dependent on a healthy and vibrant stud industry to offer stud/breeding stock that meet requirements in a range of production environments and market scenarios. At its annual National Sales, all animals on offer have undergone veterinary examination and inspection so that the livestock industry is offered a wide range of top quality genetics. Stud breeding is a long-term passion where breeders strive to breed the ‘best’ animal. Breeders apply modern breeding technologies to carefully select animals to be parents of the next generation and in so doing, improve the genetic merit of future generations. Breeders also select parent material from outside the country in the form of live imports, semen and embryos. Stud breeding also requires the meticulous recording of parentage (pedigree) as well as specific performance data that measures reproduction, survival and growth. These performance figures, together with the parentage information, are used to select the best animals to be parents of the next generation. Genetic improvement is therefore passed on from generation to generation and from the stud herd to the commercial herd. ZHB has implemented BreedPlan, the leading performance evaluation software from Australia. The industry can now avail itself of the latest technologies that provide both breeders and commercial producers with accurate genetic assessment of animals that are selected for breeding purposes. A wide range of genetic material is also available for commercial producers who want to select the best breeds and breed combinations to meet their particular production environments. It is more economical to select the right breed for a particular production environment than adapt the environment to meet the requirements of the breed. |
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| Links to useful documents and templates for ZHB Members: Summary of ZHB Breeders Requirements ZHB Birth Notifications Excel template ZHB Breeder Requirements Course Notes 2022 PowerPoint file BREEDPLAN BreedCodes ZHB Template |
Useful website links for ZHB Members:
Agricultural Business Research Institute (ABRI) https://abriweb.une.edu.au/databases/ https://abriweb.une.edu.au/breedplan/ Livestock Registering Federation |
| Breed Associations and Societies:
Constitutions To ensure alignment of breed societies constitutions, follow links to relevant documents below. The ZHB Office will gladly assist with the provision of a boardroom and facilitate setting up of online meetings via Google Meets. Contact the office for further information: Tel: 024 - 2756 600 / 2777 391 / 2772 915 / 0774 122 660 - or email: zhb-sec@lit.co.zw Registration of Pedigree Farm Livestock Act
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Tips for Upgrading to HerdMaster5 1. If you already use HerdMaster, create backups of each of your databases. • First try and run the Bundled Installer Package (Online) https://tinyurl.com/herdmaster5setup 3. Run the downloaded file 7. On the registration screen: 8. If you have an active HERDMaster licence then put your CRN into the existing HerdMaster5 user field, otherwise put your details in and register for free trial 9. On the screen asking if you are a new user, if you have already been using a. Restore database 10. Otherwise, select 'I am new to HerdMaster' and create a new database |
| Notice to ZHB Breeders
Are you, as a Member, compliant, with the Rules and Regulations of Zimbabwe Herd Book and of your Breed Society? To strengthen the integrity of ZHB, its Breed Societies and database, members are cordially requested to ensure their records are up-to-date at ZHB, all outstanding queries have been attended to and resolved, and all annual levies have been remitted. Contact ZHB at trace@lit.co.zw or your Breed Society or fellow breeders for further clarification and assistance. You can download the ZHB Members Guide, ZHB Breeder Requirements documents and templates using the links, above left on this page. |
Did you miss this FREE LRF course?
Then FOLLOW THIS LINK for the recording. Take advantage of this, to enhance your understanding of data quality in genetic improvement; at your own pace. |
| ZHB Beef School took place from 17 to 19 September 2024, and was booked to capacity, with 160 delegates and 16 sponsoring companies.
It was a great success in every way! |
The 56th NATIONAL BREED SALE |
| Our own Dr Mario Beffa was recently interviewed by Agribusiness. You will really enjoy watching this informative interview!
CFU Farming Oscar goes to our own Dr Mario Beffa! We are very proud to announce that Dr Mario Beffa was on 13 November awarded the 2023 Commercial Farmers Union Farming Oscar. |
The Livestock Registering Federation (LRF) Technical Services Newsletter is a biannual publication for members of the LRF in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. This is packed with insightful articles, exciting updates, and valuable resources. Stay informed, inspired, and connected. Enjoy the March 2024 issue of LRF-TS newsletter with its wealth of information on technical issues relating to livestock improvement, and news from LRF's member societies and office. Click here or magazine cover below, to read the March 2024 Issue:
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| Setting Up Calving Year in BreedPlan
In the instance where a breeder has not defined a ‘Calving Year’ in BreedPlan, animals are treated as distinct groups within a Calendar Year, for example: 2022 born calves, and ident of all calves starts with year of birth, i.e. ‘22’. This typically applies to year-round calving. For breeders with a calving season that extends over the calendar year, for example, calving from September to March, provision can be made in BreedPlan to identify these animals as being in the same calving contemporary group. This avoids splitting the contemporary group in genetic analyses according to calendar year. To cater for this, we firstly require you to confirm your Calving Year. For example, with a calving season extending from September to March, then a Calving Year can be defined as April to March. Then all calves born from 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023 will be given the same Year of Birth in their Ident, that is 21-NNNNHDL. To advise ZHB of your Calving Year so we can make necessary edits to BreedPlan to cater for your calving seasons, email trace@lit.co.zw |
