Good time for buying a beautiful nguni
Since last putting pen to paper much has happened in farming circles – fortunately all positive and exciting.
Rainfall in the district has been unbelievable, with farmers reporting annual rainfall now at over 1000mm where average rainfall is 650mm per annum - bearing in mind we still have 3 months left this year. Even so, the ‘doubting Thomases’ are already predicting the next drought! The area is so fortunate as all areas north of Colesburg are critically dry.
The Grahamstown stockfair was held in pouring rain last Thursday, but it did not put a damper on prices and local farmers Andrew and Kevin Bowker hit the jackpot with their old Merino ewes which sold for R1170 each, and Paterson farmer James Turner sold his Merino hamels for the same price. All sheep and lamb prices were exceptional and all farmers who braved the weather were well rewarded for their efforts. Cattle prices were also unbelievably good with Richard Gush, John Mildenhall and Dave Wentzel delighted with their sales.
Friday saw the launching of two new game sales in the Eastern Cape – the Lindale Heritage game auction to be held on the farm Lindale, belonging to Pete Amm, near Salem on 30 April next year and the Summit game auction in Graaff Reinet on 1 October next year.
Nationally renowned stud and game auctioneer, Brandon Leer, has teamed up with local agents Hobson & Co to hold these two auctions as well as taking over the reins of the now well established Frontier game sale at Sidbury on 21 May 2016. Watch this space for details of these exciting developments.
On Tuesday 6th Hobson & Co held a cattle auction for farmers in the Peddie area. The locals turned up in numbers at the Loverstwist sale pens and witnessed splendid prices being realized for the 100 cattle on offer. The district committees must be commended for the work they put in to make the sale possible. Auctioneer Paul Mills had the audience hanging onto his every word as he proceeded to sell certain lots for over R10 000 each.
Congratulations to the Biggs family for winning the family 6-side cricket tournament for the first time at Salem a few weeks ago, beating the Fords in the final. Rumours are floating around that they were still celebrating along the banks of the Bushmans River early on Sunday morning, where a near drowning was prevented by an alert passerby! All the par- ticipating families have deep roots in the farming community in the Eastern Cape and a wonderful day was had by all.
Next week sees a cattle auction at Bathurst on Tuesday, by which time most farmers will be nursing aching bodies from the first round of cricket fixtures in the local league.
The next stud sale in the district is the Umsenge Nguni auction on Thursday 22 October at the Grahamstown auction yard. Do yourself a favour and come and view these beautiful cattle from Wednesday 21 October or simply log onto their website www.umsengengunis.co.za