The South African red meat industry has been shot into the global spotlight after the top lamb carcass at the Royal Show in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, was sold on auction for a whopping R3 000/kg to a Durban butchery owner.
The 21,5kg 2007 Royal Show Champion Ile de France lamb carcass, bred by Mark Gietzmann and Jimmy Keyser of DeBonnaire Stud in Fochville, North West, achieved a 98,15% rating and sold for a total price of R64 500 – a world-record sale at a standard red meat auction. The previous SA price record for a lamb carcass of R600/kg was achieved last year, also at the Royal Show.
The buyer, Ivan Ratthan of Crown Butchery in Durban, told Farmer’s Weekly that he was not intending to bid so high for the carcass, but was eventually caught up in the spirit and atmosphere of the auction, spurred on by the cheers of interested onlookers.
“Bids from my auction competitors also kept my bids going, and before I knew it my final bid of R3 000/kg had been accepted by the auctioneer,” Ratthan explained. “My family and friends have been supportive of my purchase, and I will be having the lamb on a spitbraai for them.”
Johannesburg dietician Dr Christa North carried out an unofficial test for Farmer’s Weekly and calculated that a mouthful of meat for an average adult male was approximately 23g. This means that a single mouthful of Ratthan’s lamb would cost approximately R70!
The 1st Reserve Champion Lamb Carcass, also an Ile de France, but this time bred by Rudolph Gevers of Blood River, KZN, scored 94,01%, and was bought by Solly Moola of Meat Connection, Durban, for R1 600/kg. According to the Royal Agricultural Society, this price might also prove to be a world record. The Guinness Book of World Records is currently seeking verification of these facts.
A Hampshire Down, bred by Jaco van Heerden of Bethlehem, Free State, was graded 93,37% and was awarded 2nd Reserve Champion Lamb Carcass. Bought by Shaam’s Butchery in Durban, this carcass sold for a far more realistic R42/kg.
No price records were achieved for the top beef carcasses, but CA Froneman of Biggarsgat Brahmans in Dundee, KZN, made the breed’s supporters proud after taking first and second place at the Royal Show beef carcass competition. His 238,5kg 2007 Supreme Champion Beef Carcass scored 97,35% and was sold for R60/kg to Jeremy Shearer of The Butchery restaurant in Pietermaritzburg – a total price of R14 310. It was the third consecutive year that Shearer had bought the top beef carcass at the Royal Show.
One of Froneman’s animals also won the 1st Reserve Champion Beef Carcass, which scored 97,34% and sold for R44/kg to Ivan Ratthan. A Santa Gertrudis, bred by Garth Ellis of Winfield Farms, Greytown, KZN, was rated 96,48% and sold for R28/kg to Longbury Meat Market in Durban.
General manager of the Royal Agricultural Society, Terry Strachan, was justifiably proud of the world-record prices, and for the high standard of beef and lamb carcasses entered at the show’s competition.
“This year’s Royal Show carcass results are vastly superior to those of last year. In fact they are on a par with the best in South Africa,” he told bidders before the auction. “This auction is an opportunity for beef and sheep breeders from all over the country to gain valuable exposure for their businesses as producers of top-quality meat.”
In a new category at the Royal Show, Hertzog Zuma of Essex Farm near Impendle, KZN, won the award for Top Beef Carcass produced by an Emergent Farmer with a Brahman X animal that scored 95,22%, and sold for R28/kg. – Lloyd Phillips
