2012 LIMOUSIN SALES GROSS OVER £8 MILLION AND SET A NEW ALL-BREEDS RECORD MARK

• Gross sales up on the year by £850,000
• Over 1,200 females sold in the year
• Record mark is set for the fourth consecutive year
• £33 Million of pedigree Limousins sold in five years 

In 2012, pedigree Limousin cattle sold at official British Limousin Cattle Society (BLCS) sales have broken through the £8 Million mark for the first time to set a new all-breeds record sales gross mark of £8,184,303.

The new figure for 2012 reflects an increase of just under £850,000 in gross sales, up by 11% on the 2011 figure, and up by over £1.8 Million (+28%) on the 2010 mark which was in itself an all-breeds record.  Sales of pedigree Limousin cattle have now set a new sales gross record figure for four consecutive years.  Within the last five years, official pedigree Limousin sales have grossed over £33 Million.

In the 2012 year, pedigree sales of Limousin bulls, females, and youngstock, held under the auspices of the BLCS have comprised of both Collective and Breeders’ Sales.  Sixteen BLCS Collective Sales held at Carlisle, Stirling, Brecon, Dungannon, Ballymena and  Aberdeen in the course of the year have grossed a total of £4,510,386, with BLCS Breeders’ Sales (comprising Production, Reduction & Dispersal Sales) having grossed £3,673,917 on behalf of 25 individual herds.

Over 2,000 pedigree Limousins were sold in all with the breakdown being 850 bulls and a remarkable 1,219 females.

Commenting, BLCS Chairman Peter Kirton, Severn Lodge Farm, Bewdley, Shropshire said: “The demand for the breed is simply driven by it meeting the needs of the market place in performance and profitability.  There are so many strengths to the breed in its versatility and flexibility, both terminally and maternally, for beef producers. This is where the real added value is for farmers.”

The sustained demand for pedigree Limousin females has been a particular feature of the Limousin sale year and this was also picked up on by Mr Kirton:  “Limousin cows can produce top-level pedigree calves, first-quality commercial calves and carcases, and are top-grading cull cows.  They are easy calving, can be run commercially, have longevity, and are feed efficient.  It’s a really attractive package and is recognised by the industry.”

In the year there have been some spectacular sales of both bulls and females with a tremendous depth in five-figure prices and some terrific averages.  At the Society’s February Sale in Carlisle a new all-breeds UK record average of £8,243 (up by over £2,000) was set for 131 bulls sold and was led by the 120,000gns Dolcorsllwyn Fabio.  Exactly 90 animals in the year sold for 10,000gns or more.

Whilst the top-end bulls have continued to lift the sale averages, the figures show that the overwhelming majority of bulls at the Society’s major sales (between 60 and 70%) continue to sell at up to 5,000gns. The BLCS has placed emphasis on these figures as showing that top quality bulls, suitable for all markets, with good performance figures, can be readily bought at affordable money by commercial beef producers.

British Limousin Cattle Society (BLCS) Official Sales Gross 2008-2012