Between Mossel Bay and Albertinia on the N2 is a facility for stock fairs. Today was the Christmas Auction. Traditionally meat prices are at their highest in the weeks before Christmas (as is demand) and all stock farmers try to get as many animals as possible onto the auctions.
My Dad was a sheep farmer, and this auction process is central to the livestock farmer's economy. I stopped briefly to look and was fascinated how nothing seems to have changed since I last went to a stock fair in the '70s. To the outsider, the farmers and the buyers are indistinguishable; it's school holidays so kids are around and there are hardly any women to be seen. Those that did come down to the auction were all sitting inside the shed, drinking tea and making pancakes and other eats. The auctioneer had the perfect voice, and the ability to create bids and crank the sums up. I only stayed for the one lot, and the back-slapping and nodding at the result indicated that a very good price had been received. All in all, that farmer was having a good day at the office.
Originally started the project to improve my photography skills. Over a 2500 photos later it's become a personal diary. I post pictures that mark my...
Very interesting to see the stock fairs in S. Africa. My Grandfather worked in the stock industry in Chicago and this one looks so humane and for the farmer. Nice shot.
@cmt2812 What interested me was how different the smells were from my childhood because this fair was being held in a green, coastal area and I had been brought up in the dry dusty Karoo (like the Outback) where the overpowering memory is the smell of dust!
