Vexour Garth and sale of bulls at Kangeyam cattle mela

Kangeyam is a town in the Kangeyam taluk of the Tirupur district;  Kangeyam was the capital of Kongu Nadu for many centuries. Away, Charolais cattle are a beef breed of cattle (Bos taurus) which originated in Charolais, in France. They are raised for their meat and are known for their composite qualities when crossed with other breeds, most notably Angus and Hereford cattle. The breed tends to be large muscled. 

A few months ago, Vexour Garth set a new Charolais breed world record of£105,000 at Stirling Bull Sale on 24th October 2012. Vexour farm is set in the Kent countryside; the herds here produce pedigree cattle for the commercial sector. Back to olden days, buying a fine breed is perhaps good way of investment. The two year old Garth became the most expensive Charolais bull on the planet.  In Europe, rearing and selling classic breeds is good business.  It is stated that rising demand for red meat from emerging economies such as Brazil and China is one of the factors driving the prices for pedigree cattle, not just in the UK but also in the United States. Vexour Garth was put forward by investment banker, Jan Boomaars, Heathdown, Woldingham, Kent, and was bought on behalf of the US based Livestock Capital Company which had shown interest in the bull as a calf and keenly tracked his development.

Originally from the Netherlands, Mr Boomaars has a 125 cow Charolais herd founded on good animals and strong figures. Among the females, a cow and calf forward from Miss A MacPherson, from Blackford Farm, Croy, Inverness, sold for 8,500gns. When Vexour Garth, a one-ton British bull, strode into the ring at the Stirling Bull Sale, British beef farmers held their breath for one of the biggest sales of the year. They weren't disappointed. The 19-month-old Charolais sold for £105,000 – a world record for the breed and a price tag that puts him on a par with a new Porsche 911.

That cannot be dismissed as a stray happening at the EU as  the Hindu reports that a genetically pure Kangeyam cattle fetched Rs.1.18 lakhs at the Kannapuram Kangeyam cattle mela.   The reports states that despite the prevailing drought conditions and the resultant slump in the general demand for cattle because of lack in adequate fodder, the just concluded Kannapuram Kangayam cattle mela attracted 15,000 oxen, cows, and bulls of genetically pure Kangayam cattle breed.

The almost 1,000-year-old mela is historically used by farmers and breeders to display and trade pure Kangayam cattle. The event coincides with the annual temple car festival of the 11th century Vikramacholeesvara temple and the three-century-old Arulmigu Mariamman temple near Kangayam. Quoting the Managing trustee of Senaapathy Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation, which is involved in ‘in-situ conservation and breeding’ of genetically pure Kangayam cattle breed for almost six decades, the Hindu states that it was indeed heart-warming that around 60 per cent of the cattle brought by the farmers/breeders to the mela found buyers even in the midst of drought-dominated farming season and got attractive prices. This year, a single Kangayam bull fetched Rs. 1.18 lakh while a pair of oxen was sold for Rs. 1.63 lakh, he said.

It is stated that most of the buyers are farmers from other region who try hard to promote organic methods of cultivation. Apart from the capability to pull heavy loads, the Kangayam cattle produce urine and dung which are proven alternatives to nitrogenous fertilizers and hence, been preferred”.  The foundation had put up an exhibition ‘Wealth of Yoke’ (extracted from Tamil for ‘Meli sinnam kolai padadhu’) to disseminate the techniques for conserving native species of cattle in the country like Kangayam cattle, Vechur cow, and Bargur cattle, and their grazing areas.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

26^th April 2013.  

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/kangayam-bull-fetches-rs-118-lakh/article4653130.ece