By Johan Norval
The Sale of the Bonts was an exciting auction with more than 350 people in attendance. Due to excellent prices ranging from R320 000 to R1,1 million, the evening auction of bont (multicoloured) Boran, held on 22 March at the Fire & Wine arena in Pretoria, can be described as “healthy”.
Christopher Havenga, breed advisor to the Boran Cattle Breeders’ Society, says quality breeding stock fetched high prices, but there were affordable cattle available for between R40 000 and R70 000.
“A bont coat is one of the Boran colour variations that is preferred by certain breeders and occurs in certain genetic lines,” he says.
Sparks flew right from the start when Bianca (IYD 220037) from Yolandi Botha’s Iminathi stud in the Waterberg fetched R450 000. This cow is from a rare bont bloodline and has a calf (IYD 250027) by sire PRB 200029 Colton. The buyer is Wouter van Deventer, a new entrant to the Boran industry. He operates the Discovery stud at Rust de Winter.
Botha further caused a stir when she paid the highest price of R1,1 million for a Hurwitz Farming bull from Simeon and Jarren Hurwitz from Davel.
According to Havenga, Santos (BH 200323) is a well-balanced stud bull with excellent masculinity from proven breeding material with good breeding values. Santos is a half-brother to Cyclone, the bull that sold for R8 million in August last year (https://www.africanfarming.com/2024/08/04/watch-beast-of-a-boran-bull-achieves-record/), and a son of the legendary Picasso, who was killed by lightning.
A pregnant heifer, Maxine (BRO 220079) from Brooks Borane near Pietersburg, achieved R380 000. The buyers are Hurwitz Farming. A Sterkfontein bull (DM 200497) also fetched a solid price of R320 000. The buyer is Dr. Pieter Odendaal of the Coracias Borane at Bela-Bela.
Semen straws fetched an average of R16 000.
Veewinkel hosted the auction and Meerkat was the online platform. Johan van der Nest was the auctioneer.
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