A Drakensberger bull from Carel Nel of Grasmunt Drakensbergers in the Brandfort district, which was the runner-up in the Vleissentraal and SA Stud Book performance test class at the Bloem Show in 2023, has set a breed record as the most expensive Drakensberger bull ever sold at auction.
By Johan Norval
CL 200067 Grasmunt Koning was sold at the Southern Highveld Drakensberger Club auction at the Vrede auction complex on 20 August this year for a record R575 000. This record gives Koning the recognition he narrowly missed in the performance test class.
The winning bid was made by MT Steyn, who bought the bull on behalf of Johan Wessels, a businessman and farmer from Frankfort.
The previous record price for a Drakensberger was R345 000, paid for a bull from the Neuman brothers, Rodney and Leonard, from Vrede.
Nel says the bull has a flawless phenotypic build and that his offspring are of the same quality. “Only two of his replacement heifers selected from the Grasmunt herd failed to achieve 80%. Their selection score was 78%.”
The Elite bull Grasmunt Koning was only two days old when Nel identified him as a future stud bull. His masculinity was already evident in his head and withers, and he had an attitude that made him recognisable among the group of calves every time. He also developed as Nel had expected.
Koning is the ideal medium-framed male, with an excellent balance of length, width and depth, exceptional meat characteristics and a perfect bone structure. He also performed excellently in an extensive Phase D field test.
Nel’s bull Grasmunt Puma CL 190017 made history in 2022 by becoming the first Drakensberger to win the SA Stud Book and Vleissentraal Elite bull growth test class.
From an early age, Nel wanted to focus on breeding Drakensbergers full-time. His Grasmunt stud farm is 50 years old this year.
“The concept of performance measurement was accepted early on by the Drakensberger breeders. We were the first breed in South Africa to make performance testing mandatory for our breeders.”
Nel believes that the genetic input a farmer brings to his herd has the greatest influence on the profit or loss of his farm. Because he manages his small herd so meticulously, he applies line breeding. In this way, he tries to breed an animal that is as close to phenotypically perfect as possible within the framework of the breed standards.
“It’s something you plan. You know your animals and know where they come from.”
When you put a bull on the market to make a mark in another herd, it has to be genetically dominant.
“It doesn’t matter what variety that breeder has in his cow herd; the dominant bull is going to bring it all together in terms of his progeny.”
Nel offered four bulls at the club auction, which he has been supporting the past 45 years. In addition to CL 200067, the other three bulls sold for about R89 473 each, which was the average price for bulls at the auction.
BKB Standerton hosted the auction, with Billy Lyons as the auctioneer.
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