MORE than 70 registered buyers joined in the tussle for Little Meadows Angus genetics at the Golding family's annual on-property sale in Dardanup last week.
But not everyone went home a winner. With demand high and a total clearance of the 59 sires, only 36 punters managed to secure a Little Meadows bull at auction.
The sale averaged a cool $7966 to better last year's average by $1103 and the gross jumped almost $200,000 from the 2016 result to $470,000. So it was clear the team at Little Meadows had been doing something right.
Little Meadows stud principal Tony Golding, Daniel Delaney, Delaney Livestock Services, Jamie Abbs, Landmark Boyup Brook and auctioneer Michael Glasser, Glasser Total Sales Management, all agreed the sale was an overwhelming success.
"The most pleasing thing was the number of registrations on the day," Mr Golding said.
"We appreciate the support of our returning and new clients and it was also great to see people looking with interest at our new genetics."
Mr Abbs agreed, adding the strong competition on the day to achieve a 100 per cent clearance was a testament to the efforts of the Golding family.
"And the young bulls sold extremely well," Mr Abbs said.
Of the 59 bulls up for grabs seven were just babies - ET born in January 2016 as part of a special breeding program at Little Meadows.
The Goldings have been educating clients about the potential of buying a young sire.
"These yearlings are ready to work so it was good to see buyers taking advantage of this opportunity to secure quality young sires," Mr Golding said.
It was the first time 13-month-old bulls were sold at auction by the stud, with the seven yearlings offered at the end of the catalogue averaging $7643.
And the youth presented at the end of the line-up was anything but a deterrent with buyers willing to go the distance to five figures on two occasions.
But it was the April 2015-drop son of Prime Juggernaut J15 in lot six which topped the day after it matched the 2016 top price of $14,000.
Little Meadows Limerick L9 is now headed to a new home at Orange Springs with loyal Little Meadows clients Dale and John Jansen, Fernwood Farm stud.
When asked why they thought Limerick L9 was worth the big dollars, Ms Jansen said in her opinion Little Meadows bulls had the best Angus genetics to be found in WA.
"We want to continually improve our herd by buying the best bulls we can find," Ms Jansen said.
"We always buy from the Goldings because we know their genetics perform well for us and I like to have the very best."
The Jansens were looking for good temperament, a nice coat, a moderate frame with good fat coverage and lots of meat.
"We're in the meat game after all," Ms Jansen said.
"And the Goldings are fantastic to deal with.
"Their cattle aren't pumped up - they're just genuine good stock. What you see is what you get."
Backing up the top priced young sire's well-shaped, easy on the eye outlook was it's growth EBVs, ranking in the top 1pc of the breed for 600-day weight (+134), and top 5pc for 200 and 400-day weights (+55 and +96) and mature cow weight (MCW) at +116.
Its carcase weight EBV of +77 was also in the top 5pc and its milk figure of +19 was in the top 15pc, while it had indices of +$123 heavy grass (top 10pc), +$127 Angus breeding and +$138 heavy grain (top 15pc).
The Jansens bought one more Little Meadows sire, Lieutenant L51, an Alpine High Octane H037 son, which they thought was worth the second top price of the sale at $12,000.
The June 2015-born sire also demonstrates plenty of growth, ranking in the top 5pc for 600-day weight and MCW.
"We're really happy - we've filled our requirements and got exactly the bulls we wanted," Ms Jansen said.
Third top price on the day of $11,000 was forked out by another return buyer, Dardanup local G & RM Telini when Fernwood Levi L23 walked into the ring.
The well-tempered son of Little Meadows Hotspur H26, was an April 2015-drop calf and had plenty of depth of body, featuring in the top 15pc of the breed for MCW, top 20pc for 600-day weight and with a high docility figure of +23, putting it in the top 10pc.
Volume buyer on the day was new Little Meadows client Terry Cockman, trading as Tebco Fishing, Dongara, who secured a total of 10 sires at an average of $8150.
Mr Cockman bought across the catalogue, primarily looking for bulls with a low mature cow weight and low birthweight.
"Because we don't have easy going South West environment where we farm, I am aiming for a bit of hardiness in my cattle," Mr Cockman said.
The Dongara-based operation runs a herd with more than 750 PTIC cows, including just over 700 head of purebred Angus, but they are moving towards an entirely Angus herd as they continue to build numbers.
"Dealing with Little Meadows has been really easy," Mr Cockman said.
"Tony came up and visited us to discuss our needs which was really considerate.
"We're really happy with our purchases."
Of the 10 bulls secured by the operation, the most expensive was Little Meadows Lawman L77, which was worth going the distance to $10,000 with positive rib and rump figures (+0.7 and +0.6), +89 MCW, +67 for carcase weight (top 15pc) and is in the top 10pc for gestation length.
Of the bidders who did secure a purchase, most only managed a singular sire.
But the lucky buyers who did buy more than one included return buyer 5PH Grazing, Esperance which secured five Little Meadows sires to average $7300, Farris Family Trust, which bought three at an average of $7667 and Gabyon Pastoral Co, Dongara, which bought three at an average of $6833.
The yearling portion of the sale was topped twice at $10,000.
Norwood Estate Vineyard, Boyup Brook, was the first to fork out that kind of money when Little Meadows Maverick M14 walked into the ring at lot 51.
Maverick M14, an AI ET son of Coonamble Elevator E11 had impressive growth figures for a yearling at +52, +95 and +129 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights and had carcase figures of +125 MCW and +77 CWT, putting the sire in the top 5pc of the breed on all fronts.
A January 2016-drop AI ET son of Connealy Confidence 0100 also hit the five digit mark when PPC Pastoral Co, Coolup, paid $10,000, when the young sire came in at lot 56.
Little Meadows Milo M13 had a low birthweight figure of +2.5 (top 15pc) and an impressive EMA figure of +9.2, putting it in the top 5pc.
Glasser Total Sales Management auctioneer Michael Glasser said the Golding family was deserving of a hearty congratulations for their efforts.
"The line-up was excellent with good, soft, easy-doing bulls backed up with top figures throughout the catalogue," Mr Glasser said.
"It was quality across the board and all bulls sold accordingly."
Daniel Delaney, Delaney Livestock Services agreed.
"It's nice to see the rewards coming in for the hard work put in by the Little Meadows team."
