2017-10-17Staff Report 2 Staff Reporter Windhoek-T.H. Johnston has been awarded the overall first place in the slaughter ox competition with A. Helm in second place. Agra Auctions announced and awarded the 2017 slaughter ox competition winners at a ceremony held at Agra Hyper at Lafrenz last month. This was the second slaughter ox competition hosted by Agra Auctions since the competition’s inception in 2016. The competition forms part of the initiative to provide ox producers with a platform to compete in an organised competition similar to the Agra weaner competition. Agra Auctions this year hosted four slaughter ox competitions where a total of 155 oxen were judged at an average slaughter weight of 252 kg, compared to 120 oxen judged at an average weight of 240 kg in 2016. The first competition was held at Aub on June 14, followed by Windhoek on June 28, Okahandja on July 18 and concluded at Nina on August 15. The main sponsor for this year’s competition was Old Mutual with a sponsorship of more than N$110,000. Other sponsors included Feedmaster, Beefcor and Esterhuizen Transport. All sponsorships were used for rewarding various category winners at the awards ceremony. To participate in the competition, each producer entered two animals to be judged on their hooves, and carcasses. For the hoof category, key aspects for judging criteria comprised cattle age, fatness, masculinity, temperament and good farming practices such as branding, dehorning, etc., which constituted 40% of the total points. On the carcass, the cattle competed on the quality of meat, which constituted 60% of total points. Judging was done by Tiaan Steenkamp (Agra) and Petrus Maritz, head of Meatboard’s Classification Services, in the hoof category, while Petrus Maritz from Meatboard judged the carcass after slaughtering. Winners were: Windhoek: 1st Place – T. H. Goldbeck 2nd Place – T. H. Goldbeck 3rd Place – H. Rusch Okahandja: 1st Place – H. Kruger 2nd Place – Cloudy Sky Investment 3rd Place – T. G. Giersch Aub: 1st place – T. H. Johnston 2nd Place – C. J. Steenkamp 3rd Place – A. Helm Nina: 1st Place – R. Van der Merwe 2nd Place – P. Z. Jansen van Vuuren 3rd Place – R. Van der Merwe Reflecting on the competition, Herman Lintvelt, Agra regional manager of Central Auctions, said the quality of animals entered in this year’s competition was better than that of 2016. “This can be attributed to the better grazing conditions experienced by farmers this year. The competition also received very positive feedback from producers. This is a competition that Agra would like to expand in the future,” he said. •••• Picture: Slaughter Ox Competition 3 2017-10-17Staff Report 2
