Thursday, October 27, 2011

October News

Good day everyone.

Its been a busy time at the Dorper office, but we finished the 24 page Dorper appendix in the Landbouweekblad and there are good articles in it. The appendix is in this weeks Landbouweekblad (28 October 2011) and we already received numerous enquiries from Dorper farmers. Some of the advertisers called me and they received lots of phone calls too; so it seems that the appendix was a big success. I hope that we will be able to do it again next year.

Upington International Dorper Sale (2-3 November) is just around the corner and our next council meeting will also take place just before the sale (31 October and 1 November).

Some other interesting news is that Colene Grevelink was invited to judge the National Dorper Sale in Mexico in December. Good luck Colene, I know that you will make us proud!

We are also busy finalizing the date of next years Dorper International Show in Pretoria. The World Federation of Dorper Breeders members meeting will also take place next year during our Show and we look forward to welcome some of our International Dorper friends.

Dorperland club also held a very successful senior and junior dorper course and the Inspectors told me that they were impress with the knowledge of the students. Congratulations to everyone who successfully completed the course.

I hope to see you at Upington and I'm sure that after the council meeting there should be lots of time to chat with everyone.

Regards,
Attie

Monday, September 26, 2011

National Veldram project 2012

Good Day Everyone,

We have posted the entry forms of our National Veldram project already, but you may also want to receive it via email or it should be available to download from our www.dorpersa.co.za/news page later today.
Drop me an email if you want me to send it to you via email.

There is big interest in our sale on 13 October 2011 at De Aar.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

National Veldram project Catalog

Good morning everyone.

The catalog for the National Veldram project is available to download @ www.dorpersa.co.za/sales

The auction will take place at De Aar Country Club on 13 October 2011

There is lots of interest in the Auction and I hope to see you there.

Regards,
Attie

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Update

It's been a while since I last post some comments on this blog. I must admit that it has been a busy couple of weeks.
Looking back at September thus far: we had more that 6 Auctions/production sales and everybody did better than last year. It seems there is a growing demand for Dorpers.

We are looking forward to the 24 page annexure for the landbouweekblad that should be published with the 28 October issue. Although it keeps us very busy it should be something that will have a positive effect in the whole Dorper industry.

Upcoming events are: Grootfontein Courses - 27 to 29 September with more than 120 students.
Vedendal Show - 3&4 October
National Dorper Veldram Auction - De Aar 13 October (the catalog should be on our web page tomorrow) www.dorpersa.co.za
Dorperland Dorper Course: 17 - 21 October
Judges Exams - 25&26 October
Our next intake for the National Veldram project should be on 27 October 2011.
Upington International Auction - 2&3 November.

Also check out our Dorper Facebook page: search for "Dorper Sheep breeders Society of South Africa"

Monday, August 15, 2011

SAMIC Carcass competition

The SAMIC carcass competition price giving will be held on 19 August 2011.

The Dorper won the last 14 years and has dominated in recent years. I heard over the radio that the winning carcass achieved 99.88% (very close to perfect).

If we won the last 14 years I'm sure we will do well on 19 August again.

Dorpers are not called the "Carcass King" for nothing.




Thursday, July 21, 2011

AGM 2011

Our AGM will be on 28 July 2011, one week from now. Looking forward to see everyone at the meeting.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Happy Birthday Dorper SA!

Happy 61st Birthday Dorper Sheep Breeders Society of South Africa on 19 July 2011!

I had to spend my day in Pretoria while the Dorper Society celebrated its 61st Birthday. Luckily I was on the plane by 19:00 back to good old Middelburg where this wonderful breed started. So when I walked into my office this morning, I took some time to look at all the old photographs and other memorable items. The Founding people like RY Edmeades, DJ Engela SW Bosman, W Hugo, Dr. QP Campbell, H de Smidt, R de Smidt, E Whitehead, CPJ Lourens, Ron Stander, J Bosman and many more standing proudly next to their Dorpers. I wonder would they be proud of us today? Did we take the Dorper forward and made it better as they intended?
I surely hope so!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

NATIONAL DORPER SHOW 2012

The Council decided that the 2012 National Dorper show will take place in Pretoria from 27 August to 2 September 2012.
This decision should still be confirmed at the AGM 28 July 2011, but everyone is looking forward to take the Dorper National Show once again to Pretoria.

Inspectors and Judges Day 2011-06-01

INSPECTION - PRACTICAL








We had a very Successful Inspectors and Judged day at De-Aar. This year we did some practical work on Dorpers the day before the actual meeting.











Many Issues were discussed and the functionality of the Dorper sheep came under the loop. It was also interesting to see that when it came to classing a dorper almost everyone agreed on what type the ram/ewe should be.




That evening we all "braai" together and had a great time.







The next day we had a very fruitful meeting and addressed issues like judges excams, Inspectors contracts, Senior Dorper excams and many more.


Everyone agreed that it was a great success.

Nampo 2011

Nampo 2011 - We had a Blast!












Naas Malherbe, myself, Wicus & Ben Cronje . White Dorper Ram . Gary Simon, Naas en Kobus Malherbe




On Monday when we arrived, Naas, Wicus en Ben came to help me for the 1st two days, and when the Cronje's had to leave, Free State Club send reinforcements in the form of Garry Simon and Kobus Malherbe.











It was the busiest Nampo ever and we seldom had a change to relax. Our exhibition had many visitors from overseas and locally. Thank you to the Free State Dorper Club and all the visitors who made this a huge success. Be sure to watch our www.dorpersa.co.za/news link and next years Dorper news for more stories on this years NAMPO!











Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Dorperland Club Show

I will publish the results of the Dorperland show on our News link: www.dorpersa.co.za/news later today. Bokkie promised me some photo's of the Show which I will also publish as soon as I receive them. Congratulations to all the winners and also to everyone that entered.

National Show - 2012

Just a reminder that the tenders for our National Show for 2012 should reach us by 25 May 2011. All show Societies and Dorper clubs can tender. Please contact us for more details.
dorperinfo@adsactive.com

Nampo 2011



NAMPO! - It is that time of the year again. This year the guys from Freestate club will help me run the Nampo exhibition in Bothaville. We are looking forward to a lot of visitors and hope to meet you there.



The theme for this years Nampo is ...., well you have to come visit us to see. I will be out of office for the whole of next week, but you can still contact the office and Juanita will give you my contact details at Nampo.



Friday, April 15, 2011

National Sale Beaufort Wes

CMW won the Tender to do the Beaufort Wes National Auction (18 August 2011). The Sale entry forms was send out yesterday and the closing date will be 17 June 2011. There once was a saying I heard, "if you build it, they will come". I want to say: "If the BIG GUNS bring their animals to the auction they (buyers) will come".

Friday, April 8, 2011

Upcomming events

Early April and the Winter will soon be upon us. Latest news: Tenders for next years National Show were send out to Clubs and Show Society's. Veld Ram project: next weight 12 April Inspectors and Judges day will take place on 31 May and 1 June at De Aar. Please remember that all sales applications for next year should reach us by 5 June 2011. All motions for the AGM should also reach us by 5 June. The Office will be close from 22 April to 27 April (Public holidays).

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Judges Exams 22 -23 March 2011

The Judges Exams were held in Kenhardt on 22&23 March 2011. Only 8 people attended the Exam and 5 people passed. As you all know that this is one of the most difficult exams and I want to congratulate everyone that passed and also thank the 3 people who did not make it. I would also like to thank the 3 Examiners (Inspectors). The feedback from everybody was that this was a huge success and it was well presented. We hope that the candidates will use the knowledge that they gained for the benefit of the Society. Look out for the next Judges exam that should take place in October 2011.

National Veldram Project

I attended the weighing of the National Veldram project on the 15th of March and I am happy to report that the Rams are doing very well! Some of the rams gained more than 22kg since October and most of them are looking great. The Veldram committee also had a meeting and discussions with the role players. I am very confident that we will be able to sort some of the problems we had last year. We are currently busy getting people and sponsors on board to make this year sale a great one.

INTERGIS - PRETORIA

2011-03-24 PRETORIA More than 200 delegates attended a meeting where the Department of Agriculture, ARC, Registrar, NERPO, STAMBOEK, and various other authorities and Society's were present. The aim of the meeting was to share an innovative strategy to improve the quality and manner of service delivery for the National Animal Recording and Improvement Schemes and thus enhance the productivity of our livestock in South Africa. Some interesting aspects were discussed and it seems that the ARC wants to take control of the INTERGIS system again. We will have to sit back and wait on the outcome of the LOGFRAME discussions that took place during the meeting. A committee was form where all the relevant role players using INTERGIS will make suggestions on the way forward for the National Schemes. I will keep you posted.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Beaufort West Nasional Sale

After numerous request from our breeders that the National Sale at Beaufort Wes must still be held on 18 August 2011, it was decided to ask Auctioneers to tender for the Sale.

I think that we all should put in a major effort to make the National sale a huge success. I will keep you posted.

On a personal note: On my way to Cape Town today to do the Cape Argus Cycle tour. It was a long season (more that 3000km since September) and I'm looking forward to put the bicycle away for a couple of months.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Back from Bloemfontein

I'm back from Bloemfontein (council meeting). Looking forward to spend a long time at the office and not driving around that much. Its amazing how much admin awaits you, although you were only out of office for 2 days.
I'm crossing fingers that the National Auction in Bloemfontein will be a good one, because we had a lot of animals withdrawn from the auction due to various reasons.

I'll give feedback on the auction when I receive all the figures.

The Dorper News 2011 will be available in a few days and we are looking at sending it to our members sometime next week.
I'll include a circular letter with the Dorper News that will include council decisions etc.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Council meeting Bloemfontein and Nasional Auction

I am out of office for a couple of days (Council meeting and National Auction Bloemfontein).

Will give feedback when I return.

Dorperland Meeting and visit

I attended the meeting of Dorperland in Upington on 23 February 2011. Everyone made me feel welcome and I want to thank all the members of the Club for the wonderful treatment I received and a well planed auction. The sale on 24 February went very well and the rams on auction was sold for more than R6400 on average.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Out of Office

I'll be out of office for a couple of days, visiting the Dorperland Club in Upington and also attending their meeting.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Broadcasting time and Date - Agri TV

The Dorper segment will be broadcast on SABC 2 (on Agri TV) on Tuesday 22 February 2011 @ 05:30

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Nasionale Veldram Projek - Comments

I received a couple of interesting questions with regard to our National Veld Ram Project.
I believe that by discussing it and getting feedback from our members, we can better the project and get more breeders involved.
The intake dates might not suite everyone or we can advertise it ourselves earlier as soon as the last Indexes of the rams are available etc.

You may post your comments by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of this post. You need not sign in as a registered user, but can do so anonymously (last option at the drop down menu when posting the comment).

Please keep it positive and comment on issues that can benefit this very important project.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Auctions - Advertising

I receive numerous inquiries about auctions from buyers and members on a daily basis.

I need some input on this, so please comment on this post.

We currently don't have a "auction link" on the www.dorpersa.co.za web page.

Should we have such a link where anybody can advertise their dorper auction or should we only publish those under the protection of the Dorper Society?

I'm also thinking to use bulk sms to remind people of upcoming auctions.

About us - 2011-02-16

Updated the www.dorpersa.co.za/about webpage, for those of you who wants to put a face

behind the voice when you speak to people at the Dorper office.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

A week without telephones - 2011-02-15

What a strange week last week proved to be. We had lots of rain to the extent that a fibre optic cable was washed away/ damaged and Middelburg was without any land line or cellphone reception for more that 3 days. It was both nice and frustrating without any telephones, but when our Internet connection and emails also stop working it became only frustrating. No way to communicate with our members.
We were without electricity for a while too.
It gave us time to finish Pedigree certificates, Agenda's for meetings, import / export permits, general enquiries etc. but there was no way to actually send these documents to the relevant people.

On Friday 11 February I was invited to attend a Gala evening at Grootfontein College in celebration of their centenary year. What a surprise when I saw so many people wearing our Dorper tie. Presidents from other small stock breeds asked me if I had to bribe people wearing the Dorper tie? "We all know that the Dorpers is the breed to associate with and nobody needs to be bribed to show it", was my response.

Look out for some photos in the Landbouweekblad and you just might spot someone proudly wearing the Dorper tie!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Agri TV interview - Dorpers


We had a visit from Agri TV today and they interviewed me and also one of our members on a farm close to Middelburg Eastern Cape.

They took some nice shoots of Dorpers (which will look much better on TV then me).

For those of you who's interested in when the segment will be televise, I'll let you know via our webpage @ www.dorpersa.co.za/news

VS Veldram Auction 2011-02-08


I attended the Free State Club Veld Ram auction yesterday, 8 Feb 2011.

I will post information on the auction @ www.dorpersa.co.za/news tomorrow.

It was nice meeting and talking to some of the club members.

Congratulations to Garry and his team on a well organised auctions.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Dorper into the new Century Ads

The English edition of the "Dorper into the new Century" manual needs to be printed again soon.
Anyone that's interested in advertising in the new edition needs to contact the office.
You can either phone us at +2749 8422241 or send an email to dorperinfo@adsactive.com to place your order.

There is a limited amount of ads in the manual, so place your order early to avoid disappointment.

The book is used as the manual of the Dorper Sheep Breeders Society and is widely circulated.

This year I'll draw a name out of the first 25 ads, that person will advertise for free.

OP Dorperklub Veiling 03-02-2011 - Burgersdorp


Today was a dark day for me regarding auctions. I attended the above auction and the auction was not well attended by buyers, hence the auction was not good for all our breeders.
I will post the results later on our website under the news link.

On my way back to the office I saw some dark clouds in the sky and the quote "every dark cloud has a silver lining" came to mind. Then I thought that dark clouds also brings the promise of rain and that there are positives to learn from all the negatives.

It's a pity that some of the breeders had to travel far and maybe financially it was not worth their while to bring their rams to the auction.

We all have the responsibility to advertise these auctions by word of mouth. Commercial Farmers should realise that the breeders go to a lot of trouble to bring animals to the auctions.

I received some good news when arriving at the office. Prieska Veldram Project auction did very well !
I will post that on the Dorper Web Page next week, and publish the results as soon as I receive it. Stay positive and enjoy the rest of the week. - Attie Westraad

EP Dorper Veldram Project 2011


I have place the advertisement of the above project under our website www.dorpersa.co.za/news/OP-Dorper-Klub-veldram-projek.doc

The intake date is Tuesday 08.03.2011 .
Contact person is Mrs. Barbara van Zyl, Skoongesig, Middelburg.
Time 10h00 to 12h00
The Project regulations and contact information can be seen by clicking on the above link.

I get more and more phone calls from commercial farmers who are interested in buying performance tested rams. As you are all aware that all breeders participating in the veldram projects have to participate in Dorper 21.

Constantia Dorper Auction 27-01-2011


You can read more about this auction on our web page www.dorpersa.co.za/news/constantiadorpersauction

I attended the auction and Charles and Colene can be proud with the quality of their rams and the positive feedback that we received. Congratulations on your 1st Private Auction; we are looking forward to many more. - Attie Westraad

Friday, January 21, 2011

Prestige Ram and Ewe Auction @ Graaff Reinet


The Eastern Cape Dorper Club had their Prestige Ram & Ewe Auction at Graaff Reinet on the 20th of January 2011.
Thanks for the warm welcome I received from everybody.

Nice to have met some of the breeders and had very nice discussions with them.

The dorpers on sale were of an outstanding quality.

The results and photo's of the auction can be found under our news link http://www.dorpersa.co.za/news look under Eastern Cape Club Auction (20-01-2011)

If this is an indication of things to come for the year; we will have a great year!

The auctioneers Hobson & Co. did a wonderful job and the organization by the EP Club was great.

What was interesting to me is that the certified pregnant ewes were sold for much more than those not pregnant. Maybe this is something to take note of.