Meet Dr Hendrik du Toit
Hendrik is part of the animal breeding team at GeneCo Repro. He has BSc Agriculture and Veterinary degrees from the University of Pretoria. He joined GeneCo Repro in 2014 and also travels to England and Wales for a yearly stint of laparoscopic AI’s and embryo transfers.
#FunFact: For the last couple of years, Hendrik has done laparoscopic AI’s on the farm where the recent world record ram – who just sold for £367,500 – was born.
We’re just glad he always comes home to Bloemfontein to spend some time with our South-African sheep and the farmers of @genecorepro.
Please meet Dr Frans Jooste
Frans is a highly sought after Veterinary Reproduction Specialist. He has a Masters degree in Animal Reproduction from the University of Pretoria and is also a Diplomat of the European College for Animal Reproduction. He is the only veterinarian in South Africa to ever sit and pass the European exam.
Frans started @genecorepro in 2007. With hard work and a love for all things sheep and goat @genecorepro is now a 3 Veterinarian, 2 Nurse and 4 Animal Technician team.
Dr Frans also works for various International AI and Embryo Transfer companies for certain periods every year – and he gets to meet some pretty impressive history-makers!!
Luckily his roots are firmly stuck in the Karoo, South Africa with @genecorepro !
Please meet Dr Floris Coetzee (and baby Springbuck Donald)
Dr Floris qualified as a Veterinarian in 2009 at the University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort.
Floris joined GR in 2018. A keen love for all things animal he has been doing Laparoscopic AI’s and Embryo Flushing programs for years but now on a more commercial scale. Floris also shares a mixed practice @danvet in Bloemfontein with his Vet partner Dr Pieter Jansen van Rensburg.
Floris is by far the favorite Vet when you ask any of our technicians ( although we love all three equally)! Always with a joke and a stong coffee in his travel mug he has never-ending energy.
He is a family man with a beautiful wife and three busy kids! A keen bee-keeper and farmer it is amazing what he gets done in a day! Talk about multi-tasking!
Meet Willemien Jooste
Vet Nurse.
Please Meet Sr Nannie de Villiers
Nannie qualified as a nurse in 1985, received her honors degree in 1987 from the University of the Free State and worked in that field for many years. Her compassion and cool head in an emergency made her a favourite of the doctor’s she assisted or patients she nursed.
She joined Geneco in 2013. She just stepped up to whatever challenge was thrown her way without blinking.
Nannie is the voice of GeneCo. When you phone us you are likely to speak to her first. If she cannot assist she will direct you to the right person. She believes that each and every client deserves the best and that each query is answered, whether it is about the AI of 2 sheep or 2000. If you have ever dealt with her you will know this to be true.
She also keeps our invoices and admin up to date. She has a memory like an elephant. Not that it’s any indication of her age- she might have the most years on her clock but she is definitely the youngest by heart!
Please meet Miki Fourie
Miki completed her degree in B.Proc at the University of the Free State. After completing her studies she swopped city life for a Merino Farm in the Karoo. Sbe joined GR in 2017
Miki is our all round handy-(wo)man. She can do anything! From admin to sorting synchronisation drugs to administering Donor injections to name but a few!
All phones are diverted to Miki if they have no mobile signal. If she cannot help just leave a detailed message with her and she’ll make sure you get a ring back.
An excellent sense of humour together with being an excellent tea(coffee)-lady you can be assured the staff and clients at GeneCo Repro are always well caffeinated and with a smile on their face to boot!
Please meet Corli Lambrechts
With a bit of luck this girl from Porterville ended up in the Karoo with GR. And what a pure diamond to have on our team!
Corli has had a deep love for animals since she could remember, but not only dogs and cats, a love for sheep, goats and cattle too. Once she realised this she went straight for it, completing her Btech in Game Ranch Management, she also registered as a Reproduction Operator ( collecting semen and AI in Sheep, Goats, Pigs, Cattle and even Poultry!). She also attended an IMV smallstock pregnancy course in 2019 in the lovely Scotland.
Corli’s work ethic and absolute devotion to animals under her care makes her an integral part of GR. Never one to go home before taking one last stroll to check that all the rams and ewes on centre are happy and relaxed. They even get a goodnight cuddle.
Her sense of humour and all round amazingness ensures heaps of laughs and fun in the centre and on farm.
Please meet Lana Prinsloo
Lana completed her National Diploma in Agriculture at Grootfontein Agricultural College in 2005. After which she worked as Training technician ( sheep and wool) at Grootfontein until 2016. Lana then headed back to her hometown, Pretoria and worked at various small stock stud breeders until joining GeneCo Repro in 2021. Lana’s love and passion for animals shines through in everything she does! She puts her focus on the big as well as the small things, as she values both as important when it comes to the animals under her care. And one of the hardest workers you’ll ever meet, we are overjoyed to have her as part of the GR team!
Please meet Melissa Boshoff
Melissa grew up on a farm just outside Bloemfontein in the Free State. After school she went on to study BCom Industrial Psychology at the NWU in Potchefstroom. She has always had a great love for animals and the outdoors.She became part of the GR team in 2021 and is now living on a farm next door to GR.She will always do her best to help, and if she can’t she’ll will make sure you get in touch with the right person.
Melissa is our ‘Jack-of-all-trades’ and does everything! From admin in the office, to heading to farms with Vets on big LAP AI days or even helping in the lab with the collecting of rams and freezing of semen. She can do everything, and she does it sooo well! Melissa is an integral part of the GR team, and one we can’t do without!
Please meet Rizel du Plessis
Rizel is part of the animal breeding team at the GeneCo Repro Pretoria as a Breeding Technician – where she spends most of her days freezing semen and taking care of all her rams. She will often be seen on farm and on-centre assisting our Vets with Lap AI and ET days. You will also see her be helping at small stock auctions in and around Pretoria- scanning for pregnancy and testing ram fertilities with a Vet. Rizel has had a love for animals her entire life – she already started farming with goats at the age of 13! When she started working at GeneCo Repro, it gave her a whole new perspective on farming! Rizel’s work is driven by passion and she enjoys everyday surrounded by the very animals she loves most. Rizel is an integral part of the GR team, and loves meeting new people, or rather, their animals, as well as learning new things in a knowledge-rich environment.
PLEASE MEET ELMÉ VENTER (AND OUR MAIN TEASER EWE, CRYSTAL AMBER)
Elmé is a local ‘Philipstowner’. She grew up surrounded by sheep, horses and the great Karoo, which set her up perfectly for being part of the GeneCo team! Elmé completed her photography and Cervical Ai courses in 2020 and 2021.
“I became part of the GR team in 2020 and have loved every day since! I am stationed at GeneCo Repro Philipstown but also help at our Pretoria Centre. My daily routine entails spending time with rams, collecting and freezing semen as well as general care of rams and ewes on centre. On big LAI and flushing days I can be found assisting. I love being part of the GR family and with people like Soi, Piet, Melissa and Corli by my side every day feels like fun instead of work. I would just like to apologise in advance that Chrystal Amber will always be my favourite sheep no matter how cute your ram is.”
PLEASE MEET GIFT NG’OMA (left) AND PATRICK JERE (right)
These two provide an incredible contribution to the GeneCo Repro Pretoria Team! Patrick feeds the admitted animals and keeps a close eye on all of them – making sure they are healthy and happy with all their needs provided for! Maintenance and cleaning their pens – Patrick ensures all animals have a warm and clean bed every day! Jere is guilty of having favourite rams at the station – the neat eaters, mostly!
Gift keeps the semen flowing! Knowing and reading a ram’s specific comforts for jumping the station teaser ewes through an AV is a special talent Gift has mastered! Gift gets to know every ram’s personality and earns their trust in record time, a true stockman! Gift ensures rams jump into an Artificial Vagina, never giving up and showing heaps of patience for each ram he works with! He has a true talent of working with animals and will always have time to give out scratches to his beloved rams and teaser ewes!
Your rams will surely be taken care of with these two by their side!
Please meet Josef Ngada
Also known as Soi to most of you. Soi grew up locally in Philipstown and helped his dad whenever he could with his sheep and goats. Soi joined GR in 2014 and soon showed his special sense with animals. Soi and Corli are one mean team when it comes to their rams!
Soi is a great natural stockman with the uncanny ability to read animal minds. There is just no other way to explain it!
Completey focussed on his task and interaction with sheep and goats he can immediately settle even the wildest ram. Figuring out each animals’ personality, likes and dislikes is a special talent Soi has and he soon knows exactly how to use only slight movements and body language to get total trust from his new animal friend.
Soi teaches all Rams on centre for semen collection to Jump comfortably into an Artificial Vagina. Semen is then processed for freezing. We have quite a few rams who literally follow Soi around like a pet-lamb (hansie). He also knows where their favorite scratch spot is- so no wonder they all love him so much!