- Official Society Sales gross £6,644,543
- Limousin heifer sets 125,000gns new world mark in 2014
- 55,000gns Aultside Hulk tops bull trade
Gross sales of pedigree Limousin cattle, sold at official British Limousin Cattle Society (BLCS) auction sales in 2014, have increased by almost £1 Million in the year to over £6.6 Million.
The figures released by the BLCS show that total pedigree Limousin sales in the year realised £6,644,543 – up by almost £1 Million (£943,813) on the 2013 figure.
In the course of the 2014, seventeen collective sales were held at Carlisle, Stirling, Brecon, Dungannon, Ballymena and Aberdeen respectively to gross £3,733,364. Official BLCS Breeders’ Sales, which comprise of Production, Reduction & Dispersal Sales, grossed a further £2,911,179 on behalf of 29 individual herds. Just under 1,900 animals were sold in all at pedigree Limousin sales in the year.
Commenting, BLCS Chairman John Phillips, Whitland, Carmarthenshire said: “These are terrific figures and reflective of the ongoing demand for the breed and the quality of the cattle being brought forward. The suckler men and the feeders are looking for performance and efficiency. They want easy-calving, cheap-to-keep, easy-managed cattle that are feed efficient, do well and hit the target weights and grades consistently. Limousins are fitting that bill.”
The seemingly insatiable year-on-year demand for Limousin females also showed no signs of slowing with the breeders’ sales in the year themselves grossing just shy of £3 Million and up by over £900,000.
In the last ten years, Limousin pedigree sales have grossed over £58 Million (£58,946,181). Whilst the high-end of the trade in 2014 saw 56 animals in the year make 10,000gns or more, the highest proportion of bulls at the sales made between 2,000gns and 5,000gns.
Highlights of the Limousin sale year included the maiden heifer Glenrock Illusion from Stephen & Helen Illingworth, Lockerbie, Dumfries selling for a Limousin world record, and UK & European all-breeds record of 125,000gns. The highest price bull came in the form of the 55,000gns Aultside Hulk from Garry Patterson, Aultmore, Keith, Banffshire.
