Pedigree Limousin Sales break £7 Million gross mark in 2011 and set new UK all-breeds record.
Gross sales of pedigree Limousin cattle, sold at official British Limousin Cattle Society (BLCS) auction sales in 2011, have surpassed the £7 Million mark for the first time and set a new UK all-breeds record figure for the third consecutive year.
The figures released by the BLCS show that total pedigree Limousin sales in the year realised over £7.3 Million (£7,335,062) up by almost £1 Million (£973,185) on last year’s figure.
Correlating with the performance and demand at sales, pedigree Limousin breeders registered 20,001 pedigree calves with the British Limousin Cattle Society in 2011, the first time the breed has gone through the 20,000 mark.
In the course of the 2011 year, seventeen collective sales were held at Carlisle, Stirling, Brecon, Dungannon, Ballymena and Aberdeen respectively to gross over £3,984,000. Official BLCS Breeders’ Sales (which comprise of Production, Reduction & Dispersal Sales) together grossed over £3,350,000 on behalf of 27 individual herds.
In the last eight years alone, Limousin pedigree sales have grossed over £43 Million. Again, these figures have been achieved in a period when UK cattle numbers across the board have continued to decline.
Auctioneer David Thomlinson of the Carlisle-based Harrison & Hetherington, who handled more than £5 Million of the total Limousin sales (£5,044,784) through Borderway Mart in 2011, commented: “These are tremendous figures for the Limousin breed and achieved in what was their 40th anniversary year in the United Kingdom. It has been great to be associated with Limousin at H&H for the best part of that 40 years and to see the development of the breed in that time.”
“There is no real secret to the breed’s success – the end product consistently provides what the producers, processors, high street butchers and retailers want and leaves them with a profit. The carcases grade well and consistently and provide that extra meat yield and killing out percentage, and the beef is of a high quality. At every level of the industry there are choices but the market will always follow profitability,” he said.
Leading prices for both bulls and females in the year were achieved by Gordon Wilson of the Bankdale Herd, Wreay, Carlisle, Cumbria with the 38,000gns Bankdale Exfactor & 65,000gns Bankdale Erin respectively – the latter setting a world-record price for a beef breed maiden heifer. Whilst the high-end of the trade saw 57 animals in the year make 10,000gns or more, the highest proportion of bulls (60-70% sold) made between 2,000gns and 5,000gns. Alone, bulls presented at collective sales grossed more than £3.4 Million for 792 sold at an average of £4,323.
In 2011 an extensive Limousin Bull Buyers’ survey, carried out on bulls purchased in 2007 & 2008, confirmed a high level of satisfaction with the commercial customer who prioritised calving ease, carcase qualities, good feed conversion and profitability as their main purchasing criteria. Underlining this, 93% of Limousin bull buyers said that they would definitely be purchasing further Limousin bulls at future Society sales.
