2016-10-04Staff Report 2 Windhoek Heinz Grühn and Almut Grühn of Otongovi Farming from the central part of the country were crowned the ‘2016 national champion’. The duo also won in the feedlot potential category for the central region. Agra announced and awarded the 2016 national champion and regional winners for the Agra weaner auction competition, at a gala dinner held in Windhoek last Thursday. Agra established the weaner calf competition to reward producers on their well-bred weaner calves. Ryno van der Merwe, president of the NAU and chairperson of Agra Board of Directors, congratulated the producers for the quality produce they entered in the competition. “Thank you for choosing Agra’s services to market your weaners. This is the opportunity that Agra uses to both reward exemplary producers for their efforts and to educate the farming community at large on prevailing market requirements,” he said. Titus Koen, Agra’s general manager of auctions gave an overview of the 2016 weaner auctions competition. “As was expected, the numbers were far less than the norm for this time of the year. On a positive note, all animals were sold and the price was much better, according to the buyer and seller perspective,” he said. The first auction was held in Grootfontein on July 20 and the last auction was concluded in Nina on August 23. A total of 11 auctions were hosted where lots of 12 weaner calves with the ideal weight of 220 – 260 kg each were entered for the competition. For the past financial year, which ended on July 31, Agra sold 120 000 cattle. The historical record for the weaner auction was Otjiwarongo last year with 2 453 weaners sold. This year Otjiwarongo again achieved the record, but the number was down to 1 227. The categories in which the animals competed were feedlot potential, veld potential and heifers with breeding potential. Within these categories, judges looked at fertility, growth ability and capacity to produce meat, and farming practices such as dehorning, branding, mass uniformity etc. The judging was done by Dawid Krause and Christo van Zyl of Feedmaster. Arnold Klein, Agra’s CEO, thanked all the stakeholders for their involvement in the competition during difficult times. The total value of N$450 000 in prizes was contributed by the main sponsor Bank Windhoek; senior sponsors Feedmaster, Sanlam and Santam and co-sponsors Bayer; Henco Engineering; Indongo Toyota; Marsh Namibia and MSD. The sponsors were also actively involved throughout the weaner auction season by attending auctions, hosting exhibitions and networking with clients. “We are proud that this competition attracted the diverse farming community, ranging from small-scale resettled farmers to established commercial farmers, from both the communal and commercial farming areas,” Klein concluded. The regional winners were as follows: North: Feedlot Potential : Kuhn’s Farming Veld Potential : Kuhn’s Farming Breeding Heifers : Kuhn’s Farming Central: Feedlot Potential Family Grühn Veld Potential :. L M van Heerden Breeding Heifers : M K Woker-Wilckens Southern: Feedlot Potential : H Leeb Veld Potential A van der Merwe (Van der Merwe Boerdery) Breeding Heifers (EMK Boerdery) 2016-10-04Staff Report 2
