By Johan Norval

New entrants to the formal stud market for indigenous veld goats made headlines at the national auction of the Indigenous Veld Goat Society (IVG) by paying the highest price for a pregnant ewe and her triplet lambs.

Colbert Maqula and his son Otha from East London paid R130 000 for K20-81, a five-year-old Cape Lobear ewe. She belonged to Ronel Retief’s Klawervlei stud in the Sneeuberge between Richmond and Graaff-Reinet.

Other outstanding prices for Cape Lobear ewes were R60 000 each for K20-63, also from Klawervlei, and CMF21-03 from Carize Ferreira from the Winburg district. K20-62 from Klawervlei fetched R55 000.

Marené van der Walt, chairperson of the IVG, said breeders are beginning to place more value on the hardy, indigenous breeds that can be kept extensively and at low input costs. “Female indigenous goats therefore fetched high prices at the auction. Another reason is that fewer ewes are available due to herd building, especially in areas where it rained well.”

The Maqula family and another breeder, William Smith of Bonnievale, acquired a fair number of animals at the auction, and she sees this as a boom in the breed.

Breeders in the drier areas, such as Elbie Visser of Kenhardt and Deon Vlok of Calvinia, have indicated that their indigenous goats thrive in the drought and perform better than other small livestock breeds.

Van der Walt says her and her father, Schalk, have goats that can cover up to 12 km per day to look for good grazing. Schalk, one of the IVG’s founding members and the first chairman, was surprised by the good prices the ewes fetched.

The most expensive Cape Lobear ram, FJF 20-113, from Freddie Besselaar of Hopetown, was sold for R45 000 to Colin Engelbrecht of Hartebeesfontein, North West.