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Most expensive bull sold for N$210,000 at Agra auction in 2017

Most expensive bull sold for N$210,000 at Agra auction in 2017

Kiep Lepen, an agent for Agra’s Stud Services said the most expensive bull at an Agra auction was sold for N$210,000 last year, compared with 2016’ bull that was sold for N$100,000.

Last year’s most expensive bull came from Hartebeestloop Bonsmaras. A Brahman bull sold by the breeders Günther Hellinghausen and Ryno van der Merwe, also fetched a price of N$190,000 at Agra’s national auction last year.

The average bull price of N$41,473 on Agra’s stud auctions in 2017, is the second highest since 1998. Only in 2012 a higher average price of N$42,488 was achieved. Lepen said that in 2017 buyers were prepared to pay a premium price for good quality bulls.

During 2017, buyers were prepared to pay N$40,000 and more for good quality bulls on Agra auctions. By contrast, the average price for bulls in 2016 were N$31,786.

“The significantly higher prices that were paid for weaners, contributed to the fact that buyers were willing to pay more for breeding- and herd bulls. This increase in the cycle for cattle prices could not have come at a more favorable time and brought financial relief to many livestock producers,” Lepen said.

During 2017, Agra Stud Services offered a total of twenty stud auctions and sold 191 more bulls than in 2016. These were the most bulls sold annually since 2015.

According to Lepen, the Gobabis Bonsmara Auction, Hochfeld Joint Production Auction, Boran National Auction and Northern Select Auction have all delivered 100% sales.

2017 bull prices- by breed ; Brahman breeders sold the most bulls (270) on Agra auctions in 2017, followed by Bonsmara breeders (112 bulls), Simmentaler breeders (82 bulls), Simbra breeders (46 bulls), Boran breeders (18 bulls) and Braunvieh breeders (10 bulls).

During 2017, the 10 Braunvieh bulls sold on Agra auctions achieved the highest average price of N$54,000. By contrast, in 2016 ten (10) Braunvieh bulls were sold for an average price of N$27,500.

A total of 112 Bonsmara bulls were sold on Agra auctions at an average price of N$48,464 in 2017 (in 2016, 99 bulls were sold at an average price of N$35,171), 1 Braford was sold for N$48,000 (in 2016, 1 bull was sold for N$24,000) and two Sussex bulls for an average of N$44,000 (in 2016 four (4) Sussex bulls were sold for an average price of N$20,750).

In 2017, 18 Boran bulls were sold on Agra auctions for an average price of N$43,888 (in 2016, 5 bulls were sold for N$25, 700 on average), 82 Simmentaler bulls were sold for an average price of N$40, 378 (in 2016 48 Simmentaler bulls were sold for an average price of N$25, 083) and 9 Santa Gertrudis bulls were sold at an average price of N$40,000 (in 2016, 1 bull was sold for N$30,000).

In 2017, a total of 270 Brahman bulls were sold on Agra auctions for an average price of N$39, 624 (in 2016, 153 bulls sold on average for N$31,594), 3 Charolais bulls were sold for an average price of N$36,666 (in 2016 three bulls were sold at an average price of N$26,000) and 46 Simbra bulls were sold for an average of price of N$35, 510.

One of the most sought after achievements in stud breeders’ circles, is to earn the highest average price for your bulls on a single auction; Len de Jager sold four bulls on the Paresis auction for an average price of N$78 250. Likewise, Dr. Joggie Briedenhann sold 32 bulls at an average price of N$70,875.


Caption: Recent Stud Auction at the Agra/Bank Windhoek Ring at the Windhoek Show Grounds.

About The Author

Donald Matthys

Donald Matthys has been part of the media fraternity since 2015. He has been working at the Namibia Economist for the past three years mainly covering business, tourism and agriculture. Donald occasionally refers to himself as a theatre maker and has staged two theatre plays so far. Follow him on twitter at @zuleitmatthys