I have little to say about the Olympic closing ceremony except that I found it more enjoyable than the opening ceremony. Mainly because it seemed much more inclusive with the athletes and audience within the stadium, with a terrific backing orchestra and some really good songs. Perhaps I thought the songs were good as they were more related to my era than the modern day, but it does count as we are talking about my enjoyment as opposed to the wider audience. I am not sure what the medal count means now when so many activities I consider non-sports are included. I watched the games on the BBC, and while I am sure all the main sports were covered without a proper schedule, it was hard to select my viewing times, missing many of the important events. I was lucky to see my adopted country, Portugal, win gold in the cycling Madison despite most of the time not having a clue of what was happening during the race due to the complicated rules and number of point-gaining sprints within the single race. I did not know who won until the commentator announced Portugal. In athletics, I think many of the British teams or individuals suffered from the commentator's curse. Those, they built up as probable certainties of winning medals generally failed.
“I know the commentators’ curse is an unscientific phenomenon that only exists in one's mind. In saying that, I have watched so many sporting events when the commentators prematurely start talking about a winner or winning team or a rugby conversion, certainty for me not to get a bad feeling in my stomach that their expectations or predictions will be wrong.” - Peter McSporran.
I am on a two-month break from doctors and surgeons, which gives me a breather to try and recover some energy before the next round. We plan a fishing trip next month, hopefully, this time I will get on the boat. Perhaps amazingly, I will get good news in late September when I see the prostate surgeon and again in October from my stomach guy. Who knows? I will try to ignore any concerns until those visits, living each day as it comes. Those who have had or have cancer will know it is a bit of a roller coaster. With my two types of cancer, it is a bit like double jeopardy: one specialist gives me good news, then the other gives me bad, perhaps the trend will be broken this round. I am still often stunned by the state medical service here in Portugal, just this week, one of our friends was told she should have a CAT scan on Monday and had the said scan on Wednesday. I think my time of stomach surgery is probably over, as it is taking a fair bit of recovery this time in the sense of regaining my strength and, importantly, being allowed to do physical tasks other than very light exercise or work in the garden. Poor Rozanne has put her back out, probably because of this. She decided that rather than rake the leaves as I have always done, it would be quicker and easier to suck or blow them, so she bought herself a machine for the job. As it is electric, it is light, but despite this, after many years of freedom from backache, she has put hers out again, probably due to using this apparatus. Hopefully, by next month, I will be able to perhaps deal with the leaves. I have a belt to support my stomach, an abdominal binder, which I believe is the correct term. Initially, it was worn extremely tightly to assist in stemming the bleeding that occurred post-surgery. Now I wear it loose and have even left it off a couple of nights, hoping to gradually dispense with it, despite my doctor's suggesting its use in my case for three months. Wearing this belt means when I venture beyond our garden for a meal or a walk, I must wear braces, even in my shorts. My bum has always been small, enabling passers-by in the village to view my builder's bum when I stoop to weed, but now, with the stomach binder, my trousers, long or short, are liable to
fall to the floor at any time, how life changes as you get older.
Eight million Rand (USD$440,000) for a bull, not any bull, but a ‘Boran’ bull. You would expect to hear this price being achieved by one of the big studs in America for one of the leading breeds in numbers or perhaps in Brazil, where the cattle numbers are astronomical, enabling huge semen and embryo sales. It certainly was a surprise to have occurred in Southern Africa, where there are some forty million cattle compared to say Brazil's two hundred and thirty million head.
Even in the United States, exceptionally high prices are rare, although an Aberdeen Angus bull sold for US$1,5 million a couple of years ago, but in saying that the Scaff Valley production sale, the breeders, averaged only $15,750 for 414 bulls despite one receiving this eye-watering price. It should be remembered there is an unlimited market for semen and embryos, with some twenty million Aberdeen Angus cattle alone registered in that country, coupled with the sophisticated technology in embryo collection and animal health services permitting the export semen and embryos to most of the world. I cannot see anyone wanting semen from Zimbabwe, even in the region, let alone outside Africa with the risks real or imagined in regard to animal diseases. The sellers of the bull, excellent marketeers with a string of record prices to their names, are no fools, not only do they achieve record prices they commonly, as in this case, retain semen rights. The bull is five years old, and I wonder how many straws they have sitting in nitrogen and able to export to the Boran countries of Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and, to a lesser extent, Zambia.
It is naive to think if you buy a bull with unique highly sought after genetics while not retaining all semen rights, you will be able to command the very top prices for your bulls bred from that sire, let alone semen and embryos. Remember the bull is only half of the progeny makeup, and it is likely other long-term breeders have access to better female stock than you do, therefore increasing their sale opportunity over you despite you paying what might be a record price.
“I am no expert but buying a bull at an eye-watering price only gains half the progenies’ genetics. Without the right cows to use with your bull and the expertise to match them correctly, it is still a long way to becoming a top breeder within any given breed.” - Peter McSporran
The sale has undoubtedly had all retired and active cattlemen talking about it in Southern Africa, even further afield. The price is astronomical for a region that has about twenty-five thousand registered Borans, but also the fact it was paid by a ’new farmer’ in cash-strapped Zimbabwe where most people are lucky to earn a couple of US$ a day, not enough to buy two hundred grams of bolo grade beef. I believe the purchaser farms on Ross Milne’s farm in Wedza, a well-known Brahman breeder from the old days when Zimbabwe was a law-abiding country. I am sure the money he used to buy this bull was not generated on the farm despite it being ill-gotten but more importantly the skills of a successful cattleman cannot be bought.
For years, I attended bull sales and got to know most of the cattle stud breeders of the day either there, at field days or in the show ring. I cannot imagine what Duncan Black, Brian Black, let alone Archie Black, Jenny Whaley, John Glandfield, John Philp, Frank Hart, Bill Francis, Peter Grant and the many other renowned cattlemen would think of these prices. Even the wonderful bull marketeers such as Roger Beal of RB Ranches or Rueben Pilossof, of Ruvale probably could not imagine these prices, although, at the time, they were both prone to break local records. All mentioned and many others were renowned lifetime cattle breeders, some second and third-generation, all doing the best for themselves and their breed with a long-term view of improving their herds through using semen supported by often a local-bred stud bull. I suppose Roger Beal was the first to step out of the tradition of just breeding cattle and selling at best by actively promoting his cattle, continually reminding you why you should buy one of his Brahmans. He assured us he only imported the best and most expensive bloodlines. Over the years, his cattle lost their lustre after he imported some poorer stock, not sure of the reason, on purpose or error, and thereafter some breeders, both commercial and pedigree, felt the bulls were being promoted by bullshit rather than performance. No fault of his as he successfully sold cattle at a premium, and to be honest, his bloodlines can probably still be found in many cattle in Zimbabwe today. When he sold his farm and cattle as a going concern without his livestock knowledge, marketing and promotion skills, the premium prices obtained at RB soon fell away. I may stand corrected but I think Johann Zietsman of Bar-Z fame may have been a bit of a bullshitter as his bull prices suddenly took a plunge after a few years despite his impressive advertised production figures and criticism of the old established breeders. He loved using the word phenotype. I may well get a letter from him, I like correspondence even if critical.
“In any cattle breeding program, providing the correct environment for the breed, the proof is in the progeny. That is why the good breeders sell many of their bulls to repeat buyers.” - Peter McSporran
Every now and again, a bull in Zimbabwe would achieve a premium price, being identified as a possible stud bull both in conformation and genetics. In Zimbabwe, as in most countries while semen is a tool the stud bull is critical for the wider success of the herd. Interesting people now talk about phenotype as a description of the bull's actual performance, but a good stockman's eye is still critical for success, numbers do not give the answer to all the required questions on an animal's suitability.
Somewhere else where prices for stud livestock are crazy is in the Blackface tup (ram) market in Scotland. I watch the tup sales each year with interest. In my father's time, it was Lanark which was the main centre. Now it is the small village of Dalmally in rural Argyll, where he used to show and sell livestock, has become the premium sales venue for Blackface tups. A couple of years ago, the record stood at £200,000, a crazy price as a Blackface wether lamb (castrated male lamb) was lucky to achieve £85 per head in the market. When you look more closely at the highest prices achieved it becomes obvious a small group of the top breeders purchase and sell these animals mostly among themselves. I am sure this is also true in the cattle world with some idiot from time to time making a fool of himself with a one-time purchase at a price beyond his or her farm’s means, thinking it is his road to success. The Blackface record for a sheep has been taken over by a Texel at £360,000. It is not a world for novice stud breeders or commercial breeders to delve into. The old guideline for a commercial cattle farmer in buying a bull was it should be about the value of five finished steers.
I had a look at the 1994 National Bull Sale prices converted into US$ and it was about $1,570 across all breeds with Peter Grant getting the top price at that sale of close to the equivalent of US$6,000 (ZW40,000) for a Brahman bull. The average price equated to about four steers in value and this was the premium annual bull sale.
Hamish Smith, a renowned dairy and beef cattle breeder, said to me in regard to the value of stud animals it is worth as much as you can afford if you need that animal. Hence, to many, the prices can be seen to be excessive but generally they are by breeders looking for a specific trait or traits. I heard the same being quoted by a leading Blackface breeder just recently, if you need that tup buy it whatever it costs to remain a market leader.
My old friend Dirk Odendale sold a Brahman for close to $25,000 three years ago. It seems a lot, but I do not think so, as the bull was stud material. It's a big price for Zimbabwe, but a sensible price for a stud bull considering the market opportunity for its offspring. Most top studs use insemination on their elite breeding cows rather than spend huge sums on a bull. So, is the $400,000 a good buy for the Wedza farmer?
“Paying crazy prices for a bull does not ensure your success as a cattle breeder. Years of dedication and the knowledge of breeding cattle using the best bloodlines for your target animal while relying on their worth to you and others are what make a cattleman.” - Peter McSporran
As a bit of trivia, in the 1960s, when I was a teenager a small stocky early, maturing Aberdeen Angus bull, as demanded by the markets then in America and Argentina, was sold at a record price of sixty thousand Guineas, the equivalent of £800,000 in today's value, at Perth Bull Sales to Black Watch Farms in America. The bull was found to be infertile on arrival in the States, so probably remains to this day the highest price paid for an animal only good for making burgers. The highest price for a cattle animal was $4 million for a Brahman cow in Brazil. You cannot get semen out of her and it will take a hell of a lot of embryos for the buyer to recover his investment.
Disclaimer: Copyright Peter McSporran. The content in this blog represents my personal views and does not reflect corporate entities.
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