Velvet Sire Auction 7th January 2024

Welcome to the 2024 Velvet Sire Sale

I can't speak for all regions of the country, but in our area we've been experiencing a rather cold and wet spring, and what one might call a subdued summer! Fortunately, we've managed to create a significant amount of supplement in preparation for what's expected to be a dry season ahead, although these cloudy forecasts make it difficult to see the dry ahead. Nonetheless, all our livestock have come through the season well, and it seems our commercial herd's velvet yields are up from the previous year. This is somewhat of a bonus considering the reduction in velvet prices we're experiencing this year.

As most of you are probably aware, there are looming restrictions on exports to China. Yes, it's a real concern, but I firmly believe new protocols will be in place before next season, allowing us to continue exporting frozen velvet to China. However, we, as an industry and country, have some serious work to do for this to happen.

This year's lineup that we've offered is very clean, and the stags have all the characteristics we believe are necessary for being used as Sires in your herd. I know I keep stressing the importance of traditional grade velvet, but I cannot emphasize enough the importance of maintaining your breeding hinds' ability to produce high-grade velvet. It's incredibly difficult to breed out unattractive style from your herd, but far easier to consistently inject a clean style in. The average of the sale lineup this year is 7.77kg (last year's was 7.76).

You might have noticed that we've also offered 2x 4-year-old stags this year, so keep an eye out for these in the catalogue. Also, this year's sale stags do not include any progeny from our Embryo Transplant program due to COVID's impact on our operations that year. However, this setback hasn't affected our ability to select and offer quality stags for sale.

Our new Sires this year include Rangi, Husky, and Boris. Rangi is producing some remarkable velvet for us, and we've retained one of his sons this year that cut 10.32kg. Husky is leaving behind very clean, correctly-styled velvet and is blending exceptionally well with the Windermere bloodlines.

Please scan the QR code to view the 360-degree videos of the velvet or click on the link if viewing the online version of the catalogue. This will enable you to see every angle of the velvet, which is crucial if you're choosing to buy online via the BIDR platform. Photos simply don't do justice to these heads, so please check out the videos or join us on the day to see them in person.

We're looking forward to seeing you on the 7th of January.

Regards, 

Mark Tapley