AGRA WEANER AUCTION COMPETITION WILL AWARD PRODUCERS WITH N$500 000
Published: 10 Jun 2015

Agra Livestock launched the 2015 Weaner auctions and championships in Windhoek on 10 June 2015 at the Agra head office. The Agra Weaner championship has been a regular on the livestock calendar since 2011 with the exception of 2014 when it was cancelled due to strict export requirements by SA.

“We are optimistic that the market conditions especially with regards to exports to South Africa will remain favorable and that the foot and mouth disease threat will be averted by the good cooperation between the government, farmers, organised agriculture and organisations such as Agra”, said Herman Lintvelt, livestock manager for the central region, at the launch. Agra donated N$50 000 towards the Meat Board of Namibia’s initiative to address the problem of the foot and mouth disease. 

Lintvelt stated the importance of the involvement of sponsors to make the championships possible and expressed his gratitude to the sponsors who came on board. The main sponsors are Feedmaster, First National Bank, Sanlam, Santam and Nictus Holdings. The co-sponsors are Marsh Africa; Henco Engineering; Indongo Toyota; MSD; Virbac; AMH Motors and Bayer. This year’s sponsorship amounts to almost N$500 000, which will be used for the various category winners at the auctions and to host the National Champion gala event. 

Agra will host 16 weaner auctions nationwide from Grootfontein in the North to Karasburg in the South, with the first auction scheduled for 8 July at Summerdown. In order to enter for the weaner competitions, producers have to put together lots of 15 weaners each, with the ideal weight of 200 – 260kg. The categories in which the animals compete are feedlot potential, veld potential and heifers with breeding potential. Within these categories judges will look at fertility, growth ability and capacity to produce meat and farming practices (de-horning, branding etc.) Two well-known experts, Dawid Krause and Lourens Swart, both of Feedmaster, will do the judging at all the auctions. 

Lintvelt gave an overview of the weaner auction season in 2013 when Agra hosted 17 weaner auctions over a 2 month period, selling 14 900 cattle of 840 sellers. 
The average weight of the animals sold at all the auctions was 229kg and the average price was N$3 700 per animal. 
The National Champion in 2011 and 2012 was Mrs Willie Louw of Grootfontein and in 2013 it was Frans and Ellie Lottering from Gobabis

Auction winners will be announced on a regular basis in the media with the regional and national champions being announced at the gala event after the auctions. 

“The weaner season is a very special time for Agra – a time where cattle producers show off their products and market their ‘harvest’ and the auctions are sociable events where we see the auction pavilions packed,” said Lintvelt as he invited the sponsor representatives (as well as the media and general public) to the auctions to use the opportunities to meet the producers, network, introduce their products and services and enjoy these days with Agra.