The recent Fire Sky & Friends Ankole heifer auction in Pretoria saw impressive results, with a top price of R700,000 for a heifer and an average price of R326,000 for the 23 animals sold.
The auction featured five stud farms: Benella, Bona Bona, Lumarie, Ntaba Nyoni, and Ubhejane Ankole. Daniel Naudé, the owner of Benella Ankole stud near Stellenbosch, sold the highest-priced heifer, Shiraz DFN 24-044, for R700,000. The buyer was the Ernst family from the Bona Bona Ankoles stud and game farm, located between Klerksdorp and Wolmaransstad. Naudé explained that Shiraz is the first female offspring of the cow Aura and the bull Maximus to be sold, both of whom boast 52-inch horns.
The second-highest price of R500,000 was achieved by Bernard Swanepoel from Dendron for his heifer, Vega SA 24-014, which was purchased by new breeder Anton Taljaard.
The auction took place at Wildswinkel, with Brandon Leer serving as the auctioneer. A total of 24 heifers were offered, though one was withdrawn.
Jacques Malan, chairman of the Ankole Society, shared with African Farming that prices have returned to pre-election levels after a temporary dip. He noted that high prices were paid for quality heifers that are expected to make a significant impact on the Ankole industry.
“The breed is making great strides,” Malan said. “We currently have around 1,200 purebred Ankoles in South Africa, with half being female. There are about 300 heifers that will make their mark in the next couple of years, and with new breeding material from Uganda in the form of embryos, the breed will continue to improve.”
Malan also highlighted the potential of Ankole cattle in ecotourism. At his farm in Bela-Bela, tourists are more drawn to the Ankoles’ impressive horns than to buffalo or zebra.
He anticipates that the strong prices seen at this auction will be mirrored at the Ntaba Nyoni auction on 1 March at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm in Bela-Bela, and at the national auction scheduled for 21 June at the Bona-Bona game farm. An information day will be held the day before the national auction.
