A 36,86kg Dormer super lamb carcass from Tjaart Steenekamp’s 2 Broers Dormers near Barkly East in the Eastern Cape sold for R110 580, excluding VAT, or R3 000/kg, at this year’s Royal Show, setting a new South African record for the total price paid for a single lamb carcass on auction, according to the Royal Agricultural Society (RAS).
The competition also saw Johnny Forbes’s Vredesig Dormers & Suffolk stud near Darling in the Western Cape secure the overall Royal Champion Lamb carcass title with a 22,58kg Dormer–Hampshire Down cross that achieved a judging score of 90,06% and an A2 classification.
This was one of six awards secured by Vredesig, while Marius Eksteen’s Hatari Farming near Bloemfontein, Free State, claimed the Champion Lamb on the Hoof title.
From the hoof to the hook
The Royal Fat Lamb Competition, the live-animal component of the Royal Fat Stock Show, took place on 8 October. Individual lambs and pens of four were judged on the hoof before being slaughtered for the subsequent Royal Carcass Competition. The carcass awards and auction followed on 10 October.
The on-the-hoof judging was conducted by Angus Williamson and Brendon Blore, representatives of the South African Fat Stock Judges Association. The animals were subsequently transported to Halaal Fresh Meats Abattoir, where the South African Meat Industry Company assessed their carcasses.
Dewald Linde, studmaster at Vredesig Dormers & Suffolk, explained to Farmer’s Weekly during the on-the-hoof judging that assessors examined the animals’ conformation and fat distribution.
Judges feel along the lambs’ backs to estimate fat cover and assess how the animals are likely to perform once slaughtered.
According to Linde, the evaluation continues at the abattoir, where carcass measurements are taken and conformation and fat distribution are assessed.
The results are then submitted to the Royal Show organisers, who announce the carcass champions.
Record price for champion super lamb
2 Broers Dormers’ winning carcass was purchased by Zaid Omarjee of OJ Traders. The R110 580 sale exceeded the previously reported record total of R72 000 achieved at Lamb Champs Boland in Paarl in September 2025.
That carcass, a 20kg Dorper cross produced by Pierre Cilliers, owner of Affi-Plaas Premium Lamb in Philippolis in the Free State, sold for R3 600/kg to the Kalahari Group.
Although the 2025 sale achieved a higher price per kilogram, the Royal Show’s 2026 sale exceeded its total value by R38 580, or approximately 54%.
The RAS also cited a 2007 auction at which a 21,5kg Ile de France champion carcass sold for R3 000/kg.
2 Broers Dormers secured both the champion and reserve champion super lamb carcass awards this year. The category is reserved for lamb carcasses weighing more than 27kg on the hook.
The stud previously won the champion lamb and European champion lamb carcass titles at the Royal Show in 2024.
Champion lamb prices should not be confused with normal commercial lamb prices. Championship auctions attract buyers prepared to pay a premium for the prestige and promotional value associated with winning carcasses.
Vredesig claims six carcass awards
Vredesig Dormers & Suffolk emerged as the leading exhibitor in the lamb carcass competition, securing six of the 12 awards presented.
Forbes farms with his wife, Mala, while Linde manages the stud’s breeding programme.
In addition to the Royal Champion Lamb Carcass title, the operation also secured the First Reserve Champion Lamb Carcass title with an entry weighing 22,31kg, as well as the Royal Champion Group of Four Lamb Carcasses award.
Vredesig also won the Champion Lamb Carcass with Substantial European Genetics and the Champion Group of Four Lamb Carcasses with Substantial European Genetics awards.
Vredesig’s Royal Champion Lamb Carcass sold to Hampshire Down breeder Hennie Jonker of Kroonstad in the Free State for R56 450, or R2 500/kg.
Its First Reserve Champion Lamb Carcass realised R11 155 (R500/kg), while the champion group of carcasses sold for R160/kg.
Hatari takes on-the-hoof championship
In addition to its Champion Lamb on the Hoof lamb title for animals weighing less than 45kg, Hatari Farming also won the individual 45kg to 55kg class and achieved placings in the heavier weight categories.
The stud’s performance follows its success at the 2026 Dormer National Championship, where it secured both the Grand Champion Ram and Grand Champion Ewe titles.
The two animals subsequently won the Supreme Champion Ram and Supreme Champion Ewe awards in the Royal Show’s interbreed competition.
Hatari also earned honours in the carcass competition, including Second Reserve Champion Lamb Carcass, First Reserve Champion Group of Four Lamb Carcasses, and Second Reserve Champion Group of Four Lamb Carcasses.
A fourth award, Reserve Champion Group of Four Lamb Carcasses with Substantial European Genetics, completed the stud’s achievements.
Gras karoo performs strongly in group classes
Gras Karoo Dormers of Burgersdorp in the Eastern Cape was another prominent exhibitor in the live lamb competition, claiming the Reserve Champion Lamb on the Hoof award.
The stud achieved 10 of the 18 recorded top-three placings across the individual and group classes.
Its strongest performances came in the pens-of-four divisions, where it secured the first three places in both the under-45kg and 45kg to 55kg categories.
Gras Karoo also placed second and third in the individual lamb classes for the same weight categories.
