Good karakul breeding animals gets good prices
An eager crowd of potential buyers gathered at the Outjo game auction that is part of the Outjo Game Festival. Although some species showed a marked moderation in price, the rare species maintained their elevated prices, except for rhinoceros which has come down considerably.
At two recent karakul auctions in the south, Agra auctioned more than a thousand quality animals on behalf of karakul breeders. Karakul is the sheep from which the famous Swakara pelts derive.
Agra said the results from these auctions show that the demand for good karakul genetic material is increasing. At the 9th Autumn karakul ram auction which took place on 29 April in Keetmanshoop, 37 karakul rams were sold for an average of N$10595. The highest price paid for a karakul ram was N$25000, paid by M Bronkhorst for a ram of J H Duvenhage.
A total of 1081 karakul ewes were sold at the Autumn commercial ewe auction at an average price of N$1812. Daniel Motenga paid the highest price of N$3200 for a ewe of Gamis Farm.
At the Giel Karsten; Karasberge Swakara & Jan Blaauw Swakara auction on 30 April, registered karakul ewes fetched prices of up to N$18000 with the outstanding average price of N$12500 paid for 10 registered ewes. The highest price was paid by Giel and Kleinman Karsten for a karakul ewe of Karasberge Swakara. Karakul rams at this auction also sold for an average of N$11741 with the highest price of N$34000 for a black karakul ram of the Karstens, paid by J Voss. Voss also paid the second highest price of N$30000 for a black karakul ram.
Outjo game auction
The Outjo game auction which Agra hosted together with Du Preez Game and the Otjikondo Farmers Association at the Outjo Game Festival brought in the highest turnover in a number of years with 276 head of game sold for a total of just over N$6 million. “It is a fantastic achievement compared to the previous years’ results and considering the current drought conditions” said Titus Koen, Agra’s General Manager Livestock.
Two white rhinoceros sold for N$340,000 each, six sable antelope for an average of N$268,333 with the highest price of N$430,000 paid for a sable cow. Roan antelope females also sold for up to N$330,000 with an average price of N$304,444 paid for nine roan antelopes.
Four waterbuck bulls went for N$9000 and cows for N$6689 as part of a breeding herd. Springbuck averaged N$1670 with the highest going for N$2700. Ostriches, never very popular, managed N$2500 per bird.
Nyala cows sold for N$25000, lechwe breeding herd between N$24000 and N$28000, impalas fetched between N$2715 and N$3150, both Hartman and mountain zebra family groups went for N$6000, giraffes around N$13000 per animal, blesbuck rams around N$1400, blackface impalas for N$10,000 each, and finally black wildebeest for N$4800 per animal.
