WINDHOEK – The Hartebeestloop Bonsmara auction hosted by Agra on 22 May 2014 on the Farm Hartebeestloop once again showed that no matter what the circumstances, quality will sell. The top price achieved for a Hartebeestloop Bonsmara bull was N$400 000; the second highest price was N$270 000 and four more bulls sold for more than N$100 000. The Hartebeestloop bulls achieved an average price of N$72 000, while the auction average price achieved for the 56 bulls sold was N$65 179.
Heifers sold for N$8 969 average and up to N$10 000, cows with calves sold for N$11 776 average and cows for N$10 000. The most expensive bull, HART 9-055 was bought by Lohan Steyn and Wouter van Amstel. A group of four Bonsmara breeders from the Orange Free State, South Africa, paid the second highest price for bull HART 11 – 0073.
Owner Joggie Briedenhann and stud expert Kiep Lepen both expressed their satisfaction with the auction. “The top price, average price as well as the number of animals sold was all above our expectation, although the effect of the current market situation on the prices was noticeable”, Lepen said after the auction. Ninety-two prospective buyers registered, which is already exceptional and 46 buyers were successful in their bidding for the animals on offer. Many previous buyers attended the auction again, showing their satisfaction with the animals previously bought from the Hartebeestloop auction and there were also many first-time buyers. Briedenhann and Hartebeestloop’s standpoint of not having a reserve price on their animals, make this superior genetic material available to a wide spectrum of farmers and breeders.
Guest sellers who added to the auction were Edward Hansen of Emok Bonsmaras, Ben and Corlia Mouton of Wagner Bonsmaras, Johannes Smith and Streicher and Hella Coetzee of Hochfeldstreek Bonsmaras.
The auction was preceded by the annual Hartebeestloop Farmers’ Day on 21 May which was hosted by Agra for the second consecutive year. It was once again a very successful information day where the more than 120 guests were entertained by valuable and relevant information, focusing on meat production, exhibitions of various products and services and delicious food.
At the information sessions Dr Fanie Schoeman highlighted the important aspects of successful cross-breeding and Willem Wethmar of Chalmar beef gave a very insightful presentation under the topic: “the winning recipe for the win-win for all”, explaining requirements for feedlot animals. Johan Mouton from Molatek covered the topic “overly fat bulls – the story”, looking at the finishing of bulls for auctions.
Thereafter, guests gathered around the auction pen where animals were brought into the ring to discuss their characteristics, also looking at animals cross-bred with Bonsmara. The day was concluded like many farmers’ gatherings in Namibia, with a braai of prime Namibian steak and mingling with co-farmers and agriculture role players in the Kalahari.