By Ntambo Mabuza
Most of us have a fairly good sense of the goings on at a typical livestock auction, thanks to the Internet Age. Still, no amount of Googling can replace the experience of sitting on the ringside of a livestock auction. A livestock auction is as much a cultural experience as it is a demonstration of the market’s invisible hand at work. The khaki shorts and veldskoene are equally cultural symbol and comfortable “uniform” of choice. What’s striking about livestock auctions is not the “culture” per se, but rather some kind of insider’s world of doing things and the jargon that sounds like secret knowledge to the uninitiated. To an untrained ear, the auctioneer’s “bid calling” might be akin to a “speaking in tongues” episode during a heated revival church meeting.
The auctioneer’s electrifying rap, however, is meant to drive the auctioning and keep
the crowd on the edges of their seats until the “closing bid” in favour of the highest
offer price. A novice might also be puzzled by the poker faces, the knowing nods,
codes and, above all, the smell of manure and the sound of lots of money.
Soaking up a livestock auction experience is a fun way to learn. However, one
should always bear in mind that livestock auctioneering is a serious business.
Whether one’s first encounter is with a humble neighbourhood event or a mega
livestock auction, there’s that feeling of stepping into something big.
Livestock auctions are generally classed by whether they are calendar or private
auctions. A novice should target calendar auctions as they’re easier to access.
These are usually staged weekly, monthly or seasonally countrywide, with the
hooves value running into thousands to millions of rand. BKB, one of the major livestock auctioneers in South Africa, has a national footprint of 57 fixed auction points, runs 10 auctions daily and sells livestock to the tune of R4,2 billion annually. In 2022, the international statistics and data research company Statista estimated that the cattle segment of the livestock trade was valued at nearly R54 billion.
A visit to an auction is a window into the mysteries of livestock trading. It also opens
up a world of opportunities for those who would like to venture further into the
lucrative livestock farming and trading.