An in-calf Ankole heifer, Queen Arusha, sold for R6.4 million at the Ntaba Nyoni & Friends auction at Phala Phala near Bela-Bela in Limpopo on 3 October, a new South African record for a female animal across cattle breeds, according to JP Smith, chief operating officer of the auction platform Veilingswinkel.
The sale also set a South African record for sexed semen across breeds: two straws from the Ankole bull Optimus Prime fetched R250,000 each. Ntaba Nyoni bought both, for a combined R500,000. Total turnover reached R22.5 million, an average of about R490,000 a lot, with 120 registrations and about 100 people at the venue; buyers could also bid online.
Queen Arusha, offered by Ntaba Nyoni, went to an anonymous buyer. Smith described her as a full sister of Optimus Prime, the bull with a 68-inch horn measurement. In the pregnant-heifer category four animals brought in R7.48 million, an average of R1.87 million.
"The buyer is buying access to future genetic production," Smith told Farmer's Weekly, pointing to the potential to multiply a female's genetics through offspring and reproductive technologies such as artificial insemination and embryo transfer.
Genetic material sold well beyond the two record straws. In total 37 straws of semen sold for R1.235 million, an average of R33,378 a straw, and 19 embryos for R1.445 million, an average of R76,053, with the best embryo fetching R100,000.
Among live animals, the top bull, offered by Ntaba Nyoni, sold for R650,000 to Gabriel Ngomane of Ngomane Stud Breeders, and 10 bulls averaged R275,000. Eight heifers averaged R482,500 with a top price of R900,000, and four pregnant cows averaged R432,500. Smith said such auctions show breeders what buyers will pay for different genetics. "A strong breed is not built by one breeder. It is built by an industry," he said.
The report is by Hanlie du Plessis for Farmer's Weekly.
Photo: sarahemcc / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Source: Farmers Weekly South Africa
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