SLAUGHTER OX COMPETITION REWARDS QUALITY MEAT
Published: 10 Aug 2016 

Agra Auctions announced and awarded competition winners of the Slaughter Ox competition at an event held in Windhoek on 29 July 2016. The competition provided the ox producers a platform to showcase their animal and compete in an organised competition. The prizes for the first place winners were sponsored by Old Mutual as main sponsor, while Beefcor Abattoir and Feedmaster sponsored the second and third place prizes.

Agra hosted three Slaughter Ox Competitions where a total of 122 oxen were judged at an average slaughter weight of 240kg. The first competition was held in Windhoek on 2 June 2016, followed by Aub in the Khomas Hochland area on 30 June 2016 and concluded in Nina on 13 July 2016.

The competition winners were as follows:
Windhoek: 1st Gaston Mertens, 2nd Holga Pascheka and 3rd Ettienne Roux
Aub: 1st Wikus Esterhuizen, 2nd Tiaan Steenkamp and 3rd Achim Helm
Nina: 1st Kobus Human, 2nd Irene Human and 3rd Sakkie van der Merwe

Ryno van der Merwe, Agra Board Chairperson was full of praise at the award ceremony. He said, “In challenging times like this, it is good to see that there are corporates providing livestock producers an opportunity to showcase and compete with their livestock in a well organised competition.” He continued by thanking and encouraging Agra and its partners to continue with the competition and take it to greater heights next year. “I would like to extend my words of appreciation to Agra and its partners for hosting this competition. I trust this competition will grow from strength to strength and become an important event on Agra’s calendar,” he proudly said.

Herman Lintvelt, Agra Regional Manager of Central Auctions noted that the competition exceeded their expectations. “This competition is the first of its kind and the response from the producers was overwhelming. We plan to go bigger next year, and hopefully extend this competition to other parts of the country,” he said.

Reflecting on the competition, Lintvelt explained that each producer entered at least 2 oxens with an average slaughter weight of 240 kg. The animals were judged on the hoof and carcasses. On the hoof category, cattle were judged on the age, fatness and masculinity, temperament and on good farm practices such as branding and dehorning. While on the carcass, the cattle competed on the quality of meat. Petrus Maritz, the Head of Meatboard’s Classification Services was in charge of the evaluation panel.

Lintvelt concluded by expressing his gratitude towards Old Mutual, Beefcor Abattoir and Feedmaster for their contributions towards the competition. The sponsors were actively involved throughout the competition and expressed pride to be associated with the Slaughter Ox competition.