By Jan-Hendrik de Villiers
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The 105th Consortium Merino auction, held on 31 January in the Eastern Cape, was a great success, with all 131 rams sold at an average price of R8 347.
Of these, 95 Merino rams were sold at the public auction by Claude and Greg Cloete of Felton Merino on the farm Felix near Dordrecht at an average price of R9 174, while 36 rams were sold by silent auction at an average of R6,167. Most of the buyers were local, with a few from KwaZulu-Natal.
Russell Clark of Kenrussmark near Dordrecht bought the ram that achieved the top price of R19 000. A total of 60 open ewes were auctioned for an average price of R1 717, while 203 pregnant single ewes sold for an average of R2,061 and 10 pregnant twin ewes for an average of R2 500.
According to Claude, the auction was a success because of the interest it attracted. “Not high prices, but everything was sold. That’s what we want, for farmers to get affordable rams.”
He added that this region of the Eastern Cape is very dry and that additional problems like the current financial circumstances are causing the wool and meat industry to struggle. However, he is optimistic that the rain will come soon. Sheard Auctioneers conducted the auction. The auctioneer was Jakkie Nel.
