The 11th annual Alphaeton production sale was held on Alphaeton farm in the Fort Beaufort district on Friday 14th October under critical drought conditions. Fortunately this well established sale was not as badly effected as expected and the bulls and boergoats sold extremely well with the heifers probably selling on a buyers’ market. A big crowd of 83 registered buyers and many interested bystanders were in attendance to see Brandon Leer hold the hammer for local auctioneers Hobson & Co.
34 Bonsmara bulls were offered and sold for an average of R29676-27 each and the 2 Boran bulls averaged R21500 each. Dassie de Villiers of Besterskraal , Fort Beaufort paid the top price for a Bonsmara bull of R42000 for lot 9. Most bulls sold for round about R30000 and bidding was keen on all lots.
The females sold sluggishly on a very depressed market but guest seller Jacobus le Roux did reasonably well selling good quality pregnant heifers for just under R10 000.
Jonathan Fetting must be congratulated on an exceptional boergoat offering and his 15 rams averaged R4863, the 10 Savannah rams R4025 and the 85 ewes (boergoats and savannahs) R1583 each.
The traditional selling of Fetting’s famous fowls was again a highlight. This year aspiring auctioneer Jeremy Maclachlan did a great job selling the 9 lots of one rooster and two hens for an average of R395 per lot which must be close to a sale record.
Most guests then forgot about the drought for the rest of the day and enjoyed the customary Fetting hospitality until the fowls came home to roost!
Sale Averages:
Type of Stock | No | Average Price | Top Price | Buyer |
BULLS (Bonsmara) | ,34.00 | 29,676.47 | 42,000.00 | Besterskraal Trust |
BULLS (Boran) | ,2.00 | 21,500.00 | 25,000.00 | Aylesby Trust |
SAVANNAH EWE(S) | ,10.00 | 1,600.00 | 1,600.00 | Ntando Livestock |
BOERGOAT EWE(S) | ,76.00 | 1,600.00 | 2,000.00 | Valencia Trust |
BOERGOAT RAM(S) | ,15.00 | 4,863.33 | 8,250.00 | VN Fetting Farming |
SAVANNAH RAM(S) | ,10.00 | 4,025.00 | 4,750.00 | Triple Stream Farming |
PREGNANT HEIFER(S) | ,17.00 | 9,705.88 | 9,900.00 | Sheard Auctioneers |
OPEN HEIFER(S) | ,52.00 | 4,550.00 | 6,200.00 | AJ van den Heever |
POULTRY | ,9.00 | ,395.56 | ,440.00 | Van Kerken Boerdery |