Boran bulls show stud mettle
The Boran breeders who attended the promotion day with stud expert Kiep Lepen. At the back from the left: Hermanus Biewenga, Simeon Hurwitz; Hueston Groenewald; Kiep Lepen and Gottfried Tsuseb. In the front row stand Chris Coetzee; Johan Erasmus; Phlip van Wyk; Rosi and Heiko Hennes; Hubertus Ham; Chris van der Merwe and Kaspar GĂĽnzel.
At Wednesday’s auction twelve Boran bulls were sold for an average price of N$41,750 with a highest price of N$59,000 for two specific bulls. A stud heifer achieved the top price of N$24,000 and five stud cows sold for N$15,000 each. A Namibian bred bull, ECC12-23 of Chris Coetzee sold for N$50,000. Nineteen commercial Boran cross heifers sold for an average price of N$8,632 and eight commercial heifers in calf sold for an average price of N$8,875.
At the promotion day, Johan Erasmus, vice-president of the SA Boran Breeders Society discussed the origin of the Boran, Simeon Hurwitz looked into the Boran’s performance in the feedlot while Kiep Lepen discussed the effective use of African genetics in Namibian conditions. The Boran breed is about 1 300 years old and has its origin in Eastern Africa. It consists of 24% European Bos Taurus, 12 % African Bos Taurus and 64% Bos Indicus. Agra said many Namibian redmeat producers prefer the breed for a number of positive traits such as excellent crossbreeding results, strong herd instinct, longevity, fertility, disease resistance, early maturation and adaptability to environment and climate. Agra said it is keen to take hands with the Boran breeders through its livestock stud services. This first auction by Agra, which was a small auction as a value-adding event to the promotion day, is already an indication that the Boran breed has a good future as there is already a strong group of dedicated breeders.
