By Johan Norval
The 22nd production auction of Grassfields Beef Droughtmasters from Rustin Shawe at Utrecht, Kwazulu-Natal, yielded a relatively high average bull price of R114 524. Only two of the approximately 70 bulls were not sold.
The Droughtmasters from Shawe, Voermol’s Cattle Farmer of the Year for 2024, boast high fertility and adaptability to the mountainous sourveld of Utrecht.
The bull GRB 210118 was the most expensive at R350 000. The buyer is Lawrence Sidell from Mbombela. Lennon Nkosi, his partner, bid online on behalf of Sidell.
GRB 210118 is the offspring of one of the best cows in the Shawe herd, GRB 160035, and was also used in his embryo flushing program.
The most expensive 3-in-1 cow was R65 000, paid by Henru van Rooyen van Marquard. The average price of the 3-in-1 cows was R53 600. The average price of the pregnant cows was R33 824, with the most expensive being R60 000. The buyer was Ruan Lourens from Greylingstad. Pregnant heifers fetched an average of R42 842 with the most expensive (GRB 220151) R90 000, also paid by Sidell.
Commercial pregnant cows sold for an average of R18 426 and pregnant heifers for an average of R18 205.
The auction was hosted by Simon Hughes in collaboration with Meerkat. The auctioneer was Johan van der Nest.
