There was strong interest in the offering at the Merino Landsheep Society’s national auction on 29 July in Bloemfontein.
By Vida Booysen
Select animals from some of the best Merino Landsheep breeders in South Africa went under the hammer at the Merino Landsheep Society’s national auction on 29 July in Bloemfontein.
This popular and versatile dual-purpose breed is particularly renowned for its high economic performance, excellent fertility and carcass quality. Thanks to the length of the Landsheep, the carcass yields more back chops, increasing profitability.
There was strong interest in the quality breeding material, says Piet Wessels, manager of BKB Kroonstad, which presented the auction at BKB’s small-stock venue on the Bloemfontein showgrounds. “Excellent animals were on offer and all the stud rams and ewes were sold.”
A ram from Jan du Toit of Dutwa Farm fetched the highest price of R29 000. The buyer was Jasper Retief of Uniondale. Dutwa Farm, in the Cradock district, places a strong emphasis on functional efficiency. The rams are bred to be hardy, with strong frames, excellent growth rates and top-quality wool characteristic of the Merino Landsheep breed.
A total of 43 stud rams were sold at the national auction at an average price of R14 250.
As for the females, 15 open stud ewes sold for an average of R6 520, while 18 pregnant stud ewes averaged R7 030 and five stud ewes with lambs averaged R6 700. The total turnover for the stud animals was R870 250.
Roelof Heenop of BKB was the auctioneer.
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