Whopping $38,000 for stag
Afocus on genetics has paid off for Southland’s Tikana Wapiti stud with a bull going for a bid of $38,000 at their annual sale.
Tikana owners Dave Lawrence and Donna Day, of Browns, had their annual sale on Tuesday with
20 wapiti bulls and 10 hinds up for auction.
The highest bid went to 387 kilogram bull Forecaster, a son of champion velvet sire Storm, which previously held the record auction price at Tikana of $30,000. Forecaster will go to Connemara in Manapouri, owned by Murray and Beverly Hagen.
Forecaster was the winner of the three-year-old elk/wapiti category in the National Velvet Competition last year after cutting
12.2 kilograms of velvet. Forecaster ranks in the top one per cent for terminal index.
Lawrence said he was rapt with the result. ‘‘They’re the best sale prices we have ever achieved, That was the highest price we’ve ever sold before.’’
The second highest price was for five-year-old bull Isobar, which weighed in at 475kg, earning $34,000. The wapiti was bought by Donald Whyte, of Ashburton.
Lawrence credited the Wapiti Sire Summary by DEERSelect as a milestone for the breed, with wapiti breeders involved using a visual colour code to make estimated breeding values and index interpretation easier.
He said it made a real difference to farmers because they were able to see the traits clearly and select sires which suited their farming objectives. The progress farmers could make by using these tools was huge, he said.
Tikana was a family effort and the family took a lot of pleasure from seeing their genetics helping other farmers win awards and improve their businesses, he said.
Three bulls were passed in and the lowest bull prices were for two three-year-olds which went for $3500. Nine of the 10 hinds were passed in. The remaining hind sold for $3500 and would be rearing a fawn this coming season.
Lawrence said the sale of hinds varied from year to year and he could never predict what the demand would be before the auction.
Dave Lawrence