Sheep breeders celebrate their breeding in style
“We are excited about the new opportunities that will arise for these farmers from this year’s Lamb Champs”.
Scores of food lovers descended the Loftus Park to celebrate the annual Lamb Champs competition on Saturday.
The Chief Executive Officer of Saai said that the aim of the event was to help showcase the farmers’ livestock to consumers.
“It was once again a huge success and gave sheep farmers from all over the country exposure to consumers. More than 5 000 people came to taste some of the 100 lambs on spits to determine which farmer has the best-tasting lamb in South Africa,” Rossouw said.
The Lamb Champs event was launched in 2022 as part of the family farmer network, which was aimed at shortening the agricultural value chain, and giving consumers more direct exposure to producers.
Renier Strydom from Pretoria East told Rekord that he enjoyed the event because it gave him an insight into the sheep farmers market.
“One of the reasons I am here is because we get to loosen up as people because we are currently burdened with lots of issues in our country,” said Strydom.
Elane Schoeman, from Springs in the East Rand, said she came to support the event, as her friend was one of the people that donated a sheep to the event.
“We are here to support my friend, he’s actually one of the sponsors of the event. The show is actually nicer, the atmosphere is nice and the people are friendly,” Schoeman said.
This year’s Lamb Champ, Paul van Rooyen, is from the Free State. Van Rooyen walked away with the laurels as the Lamb King for 2023.
He wins R50 000 in prize money and a trophy by the sculptor Nic van Rensburg, worth R80 000. Basie van Wyk of Limpopo was a runner-up, and Leon Struwig, who represented S2 Boerdery, was in third place.
The Saai CEO said his organisation derived pleasure from knowing that their patrons knew where their lamb chops are coming from. “Meet farmer A and farmer B.
These are the people who breed sheep with so much care and knowledge so that you can have the best lamb on your coal,” added the CEO.
He furthermore said the lamb champ was also a marketing event between farmers and butchers, hotels, households and restaurants.
“We are excited about the new opportunities that will arise for these farmers from this year’s Lamb Champs.”
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