An auction is one of those dates of a livestock farmer’s schedule that is circled in red on his calendar. Attendance is crucial and an added bonus is if he can take his wife and kids with to the big city, because contact with other people is still precious if you live in the countryside.

The 2016 annual Stanbic Bank Bull Sale was hosted last month by the Herd Book Society of Zambia and this year they decided to make it a family event. They organised entertainment for the wives and kids, while dad can look after his important business.

The auction was also more inclusive for the rest of the agricultural sector. There were agricultural machinery, fertiliser, animal feedstuffs, seed, animal health, vehicle, signage and insurance stands. On the livestock side there were seventeen sellers who offered Angoni, Boran, Brahman, Santa Gertrudis and Tuli cattle, as well as a few Boer goats and Dorpers.

The sale went well and 100% of the female cattle, goats and sheep were sold while 27 of the 34 bulls got new owners. The averages were 28 000K for the bulls, 12 111K for the female cattle, 17 000K for the goats and 11 000K  for the sheep. The sheep and goats were very popular and received astonishing prizes – the averages almost doubled from last year.

The platinum sponsor was Stanbic Bank and the gold sponsors were Cargill, Klein Karoo, Livestock Services, Novatek, BHBW, ProAgri Zambia and Afgri.

This white Brahman bull was the most expensive and went for 44 000K.

The staff behind the scene did a magnificent job with the handling and care of the animals. Their water was sponsored by Manzi Valley.

The sheep and goat sellers had a fantastic auction, since the average price for the animals almost doubled from last year.

The most expensive bull was offered by Clint Bruyns, Chucky Cantlay and Doug Cantlay from Tanderra Brahman Stud. (Chucky Cantlay was also the event President). The auctioneer was Barry Purdham and the buyers were Edith Z Nawakwi and Geoffrey Hambulo. Mr Hambulo has very specific plans for his newly acquired animal. “I want to improve the genetics of my herd to uplift the quality and herd structures,” he says.