A Bonsmara stud farm established 43 years ago by WA van Zyl on the farm Visagieskraal between Wesselsbron and Bothaville in the Free State was dispersed at a general auction on 12 February. The auction achieved a turnover of more than R4,3 million.
By Johan Norval
Van Zyl’s son, Thabo, says the decision to close their Thuso-Bonsmara herd after decades was a financial choice between expanding their livestock enterprise and increasing crop production on the farm. “Our goal over the years was to breed animals with above-average growth and milk values,” says Thabo. The offering of 165 females and four bulls represented genetics sourced from some of the country’s leading Bonsmara stud breeders, acquired at various production auctions.
Only one bull remained unsold and will be offered, together with 30 commercial cattle, at the next auction of the Valsrivier Bonsmara Group in April 2026.
The Thuso herd was the Logix regional winner for the Western Free State in 2023. Van Zyl says he would have liked to see greater participation from stud breeders, although the auction was well supported by commercial producers. “I assume stud breeders are cautious about introducing new animals into their herds in light of foot-and-mouth disease restrictions, even though our area has not been affected.”
The most expensive Thuso-Bonsmara animal was the bull WVZ 200064, which sold for R80 000 to James Allen on behalf of Jorrie Jordaan. The average price of the four bulls was R66 250.
The most expensive female was NFS 200250, five months pregnant, which fetched R40 000.
The average prices for the female animals were: SP cows (3-in-1s) R28 958, pregnant SP cows R24 889, SP cows with a calf R25 000, pregnant SP heifers R24 543 and non-pregnant SP heifers R18 964.
The auction was presented by Vleissentraal Bloemfontein in collaboration with SwiftVEE, with Mike Killassy as auctioneer.
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