Hobson & Co held a highly successful sale for the EP Boergoat and EP Dorper clubs at the Graaff Reinet Showgrounds on Wednesday 20th January.
Against all expectations and the negative vibe surrounding climatic conditions 102 buyers registered and bidding was keen on all of the 42 Boergoat rams, 48 Dorper ewes and 111 Dorper and White Dorper rams on offer. All the animals were sold apart from the last Dorper ewe offered on the sale.
The prices realised for the outstanding offering of veld tested Boergoat rams was the highest ever realised on this sale. The average of R7785 paid for these rams was R2380 more than last year and is testimony to the quality of this year’s batch which was whittled down from an initial intake of 102 rams. Richard Biggs sold the top priced Boergoat ram, lot 13, a ram with an incredible index of 214 to local farmer Joe Kroon for R13500. Another 8 rams sold for more than R10000 and no ram sold for less than R4000. Chippy Poultney must also be congratulated on his string of 4 rams which averaged R9500.
The biggest surprise of the day was reserved for the Dorper sale where the demand for good quality commercial rams was strong on both black head and white rams with the average up R540 from last year. Arnu Viljoen of Arnida Boerdery from Hanover bought the 2 top priced type 5 rams on the sale from Ivor Phillips Dorpers for R18000 and R17000 respectively and Mickey Phillips received the top price of R17000 from Dreyer Pieterse of Bedford for a stud ram. It was a good day for the Phillips’s with Mickey and Ashley Phillips getting top price of R9000 for a White Dorper ram which was sold to Pieter van Rensburg from Swellendam. Roche and Charl Kleinhans received the prize for the best string of rams at the sale with 6 stud and 1 flock ram. The 5 type5 Dorper rams averaged R11900, the 40 stud rams R7106 and the 26 flock rams R5490. The 6 White Dorper stud rams averaged R6417 and the 34 flock rams averaged R5220 each.
The 48 Dorper ewes sold well and Mickey Phillips sold the top priced ewe for R5600. Unfortunately most of the ewes were not pregnant so the average of R3443 for the 30 Type 5 ewes and R2445 for the 18 flock ewes was excellent under the circumstances.
Brandon Leer, the well known stud auctioneer wielded the gavel on the day and was delighted with the outcome of the sale, commenting that there is always a price for quality, even in difficult conditions and that you cannot bluff good farmers who know the difference between a good and a bad animal. He also added that he thought the quality of the animals on offer was exceptional and would have not been out of place on any national sale.
Paul Hobson of the auctioneers Hobson & Co also said that he was obviously delighted how well the auction had run and thought that both buyers and sellers should be happy as prices were very fair on the day.
The sale averages were as follows:
| Type of Stock | No of Stock | Average Price | Top Price | Buyer |
| Dorper Rams (Type 5) | 5 | R11900.00 | R18000 | Arnida Boerdery |
| Dorper Rams (Stud) | 40 | R7106.25 | R17000 | Mondrepie Trust |
| Dorper Rams (Flock) | 26 | R5490.38 | R6500 | HF Groenewald |
| White Dorper Rams (Stud) | 6 | R6416.66 | R9000 | Mooiberge Boerdery |
| White Dorper Rams (Flock) | 34 | R5220.59 | R7000 | PJ Strydom |
| Dorper Ewes (Type 5) | 30 | R3443.33 | R5600 | IL Phillips & Son |
| Dorper Ewes (Type 4) | 18 | R2444.44 | R3000 | Mondrepie Trust |
| Boergoat Rams (Stud) | 12 | R9395.83 | 12000 | EM Deyzel |
| Boergoat Rams (Flock) | 30 | R7141.66 | 13500 | Mooifontein Trust |