The supply of quality breeding material and the interest of leading breeders ensured exceptionally high average prices at the third production auction of Boemie Saaiman’s Ochre Meatmaster stud on 14 March.
By Johan Norval
Saaiman says this auction is usually held on his farm Tygerhoek between Murraysburg and Drie Susters in the Northern Cape, but due to drought conditions in the area, it was decided to host the auction in the north of South Africa. “It only started raining three weeks before the auction and local buyers were not yet ready to purchase animals,” he says.
PW van Heerden, auctioneer of CdP Afslaers, says it has been a long time since he experienced an auction where prices remained high from start to finish. The 100% sale of 141 animals realised almost R1,83 million, representing an average of R12 968 per sheep.
The highest price was R72 000 for the pregnant ewe DLT 240236 of Dirk Lötter of Doornpoort Genetics in Bloemfontein. The buyer was Willem van den Berg of Sterkfontein Meatmasters in Wepener.
Lötter, one of seven guest sellers working with Ochre, achieved a strong average price for his offering, realising R14 053 for 19 ewes.
The most expensive ram was Airforce One (OC 230300) from Ochre, which sold for R58 000 to Kobus Beeslaer of Vivo. This ram is one of a pair and his twin sister has also bred herd sires. The multiple-trait characteristic has been bred into him and is reflected in his offspring.
The second most expensive ram from Ochre, Euro, sold for R40 000 to Lennon Nkosi of Nelspruit.
The second most expensive pregnant ewe was also from Ochre – OC 210014 – which sold for R52 000 to Duncan Cairns’ Yield Agri Investments in Bloemfontein. Saaiman offered 50 ewes and 10 rams, with his ewes achieving an average of R12 310.
Among the guest sellers who performed well were Tiaan Lourens of Meiringspoort Meatmasters, whose 17 ewes averaged R13 412, Nico Grobler of Kern Meatmasters in Kenhardt (average R17 800 for 10 ewes), Piet de Lange of Leliekrans Meatmasters (average R10 700 for 10 ewes) and Louis Passano (average R13 000 for 3 ewes).
The average prices were: ewes R8 583, pregnant ewes R8 712, ewes with lambs R10 333, registered ewes R10 875, pregnant registered ewes R12 571, registered ewes with lambs R21 667, registered ewes (3-in-1s) R16 000 and registered rams R26 800.
The auction company CdP hosted the auction at EnGedi Manor, Krugersdorp, with Van Heerden as auctioneer. CdP’s 45 bidders accounted for 17% of the turnover.
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