Drought floods weaner auctions

At a ceremony earlier this month where Agra awarded its best weaner producers, Titus Koen said the large increase in cattle auctions in the first half of the year, prepared them for the flood of weaners sent to their weaner auctions.
Koen, Agra’s General Manager Livestock said at some auctions earlier in the year, more than 2000 cattle went under the hammer per auction. Despite so many cattle sold in the first semester, the weaner auctions still attracted very large numbers.
Of all the producers active at the weaner auctions, Bertus Calitz, a farmer and Charolais breeder from Gobabis was crowned the 2015 National Champion. Earlier in the season, he was the winner in the feedlot potential calves category at the Gobabis weaner auction.
The outcome of this competition is based on the sale of lots of 15 weaners each. Regional winners were first determined after 15 auctions were held, then the grand winner was chosen.
The criteria used in the judging process were explained by one of the judges, Lourens Swart of Feedmaster. These include brand marking; hide damage and dehorning while the animals’ temperament; mass uniformity; type uniformity; mass suitability as well as growth potential and musculature are all taken into consideration. For the past financial year ended 31 August, Agra sold 124,000 cattle.