2016 saw the first Conestoga Simbras registered. This was a momentous day for all involved. We had just finished with the Excelsus Simbra dispersal sale which was emotionally taxing and tremendously exciting at the same time. We had a deal with the owner and our great friend Hennie De Lange that if the herd did indeed sell we would then establish our own Simbra herd.

The Conestoga Simbra herd was then born. We had the privilege of purchasing 20 registered Simbra cows from Excelsus and then around 10 registered Excelsus heifers. These animals were for some or another reason not fit for the dispersal sale. These animal form the foundation of our herd. We also used our pure breed Simmentaler bulls on our commercial herd and using DNA verified the heifer’s sires so as to have an F1 animal.

The stud is now 80 females strong and is increasing in quality with the best heifers replacing the old and or the weaker females.

In 2018 we had the awesome opportunity to move our fledgling studs to Thornham farms in Kokstad. This amazing farm has been the home of the Bob and Craig Adam family for three generations and many distant relatives still consider it home away from home. Thornham now is raising the fourth generation of Adam, cousins, many friends and is now hosting our two cattle studs.

Thornham is where our original Conestoga wagon can be found and where our family began. The old wagon belonged to Willie Adam from Waterloo farm where Margi and I lived and worked breeding cattle and sheep for the Intsizwa Simmentaler stud of Jack Bastard. Eileen bought the wagon on a sale and after many coats of paint we used it as our wedding vehicle complete with six oxen. The wagon has since been our mascot and hence the name Conestoga. The Conestoga wagon was the wagon of choice for the American pioneers and was built like a boat so as to ford rivers and to keep their goods safely in the hold. It could carry up to eight tons. We felt that we needed to name our farming enterprise after a vehicle that could weather storms and cross the rivers. Thornham is now the home of the Conestoga Farming operation.