Two Merino veld rams were the top-priced animals at the 40th auction of the Eastern Free State Veld Ram Club, held at the Vrede golf club in the eastern Free State town of Vrede.
By Charl van Rooyen
The auction formed part of the club’s 40th anniversary celebrations, which also included a dinner and prize-giving the previous evening.
The top price of the auction, held on 15 July, was R35 000. Ram 2369-25-6019, bred by Pollie and Nandi Kruger of the farm Radnor & Kington near Cornelia, was declared the best ram in the intake. He boasts excellent indices of 106 for body weight, 122 for average daily gain (ADG), 124 for fleece weight, 131 for wool value, 121 for meat value and 125 for economic value. His selection index was 126,9%. The ram was bought by Willem Beyers of Cornelia.
The second ram to sell for R35 000, 447-25-6078, is a veld merit ram offered by Fourie & Fourie Boerdery of Piet Fourie, also of Cornelia. The buyer was Janro Jooste of Kestell. The ram also achieved strong indexes, including 103 for body weight, 97 for wool value, 115 for meat value, 109 for economic value and a selection index of 108,7%.
The 50 rams sold at an average price of R18 650. The auction was presented by BKB and Jan Mostert was the auctioneer.
Dr Hannes Dreyer, well-known animal scientist and manager of the club, described the auction as a great success. The Merinos are of exceptional quality and demonstrate significant genetic progress. The club was founded 40 years ago to breed a unique type of wool sheep for the eastern parts of the country—animals that are well adapted to the environment. Although other veld ram clubs already existed at the time, they operated in different parts of the country. A group of farmers from Vrede visited them to study their operations before deciding to establish their own veld ram club.
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