IF the result of last week's Lawsons Angus on-property bull sale is anything to go by, 2017 is shaping up to be a big year for producers in the beef game.
The colour of the shirts on the rail at Jerdacuttup last Tuesday matched the mood of the sale which really couldn't be described as anything but red hot with more than 50 registered buyers from near and far competing for the well-respected Lawsons genetics up for sale.
All bulls on offer averaged in the top five per cent for domestic index, in the top 6pc for the heavy grain index and almost all lots had calving ease traits which proved to be a major drawcard on the day.
Elders auctioneers Don Morgan and Nathan King had their work cut out for them as they kept track of nods, winks and waves across the crowd to hammer down 98 Lawsons sires offered for a massive average of $7712.
The average was up a solid $1876 on the 2016 sale average of $5836.
Last year's gross of $595,250 for the sale of 102 bulls was put to shame when the final tally for this year's 98 bulls came to $755,750, up a whopping $160,500.
And it didn't take long to blow last year's top price of $10,000 out the water.
In fact, the 2016 top was reached and surpassed a total of 14 times, with lots still reaching five figures in the final pages of the catalogue.
But it was the sleek, soft and well-balanced bull first to enter the ring that drew attention of bidders.
Making the trip to Jerdacuttup from Kojonup with an aim to buy a high quality bull, Michael and Diana Fryer-Smith, trading as Towerlup Cattle Co, thought they'd snagged a bargain when Lawsons Legend L112 was knocked down for their winning bid of $15,500.
The February-born son of Ayrvale Bartel E7 is a full flush ET brother to one of Australia's leading AI sires leased by Genetics Australia, Lawsons Incredible H803.
Legend L112 has been used as a stud sire at Lawsons Angus and is ranked in the top 1pc of the breed for all four Angus indexes.
In the catalogue the bull was described as a superb, all-round trait leader.
For grainfed, domestic, Angus breeding and grassfed indices, Legend L112 posted results of +$171, +$132, +$150 and +$138 respectively.
The Fryer-Smiths said the bull was extremely well-balanced and well-tempered.
"He's just an excellent bull," Mr Fryer-Smith said.
"We don't usually pay too much attention to breeding values because we're a bit old fashioned, but his figures stood out regardless."
The Fryer-Smiths were particularly impressed with the young sire's EMA of +8.6, and the growth and carcase traits didn't hurt either.
Legend L112 had calving ease with EBVs of +51, +90 and +114 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights, +86 mature cow weight (MCW) and +3.3 for IMF.
Both of the bull's EBVs for EMA and IMF place it in the top 5pc for the breed, while the 400-day weight figure places Legend L112 in the top 10pc.
Now headed for Kojonup, Legend L112 will be used over the Fryer-Smiths' purebred Angus breeding herd to breed replacement bulls.
"It's our first time buying at Lawsons and we've been really impressed with the evenness of the cattle presented," Mr Fryer-Smith said.
"The quality and thickness throughout the catalogue was outstanding, but we're happy with the one we've got."
Lawsons Angus retained semen marketing rights and 50pc sharing interest in the purchase, as the stud did with a large number of the bulls on offer during the sale.
Proving buyers noticed consistency of quality throughout the catalogue, the sale's second top price of $11,000 was forked out after a long round of bidding for the thick, all-rounder in lot 61.
Albany-based operation and return buyer Chimera Trust made the winning bid for July-born Lawsons Sure Fire L238, a son of Gar Sure Fire.
The bull had that tell-tale red tick next to calving ease, backed up with EBVs of +48, +86, +106 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights, +90 MCW, +5.8 EMA and +2.1 IMF.
Chimera's $11,000 purchase will be joined by a Paringa Judd son after the operation secured it as well at $8000.
A further 12 Lawsons bulls sold at or above $10,000 to a range of buyers from interstate via AuctionsPlus, Northcliffe, Boyup Brook, Walpole, New Norcia and the local Esperance area.
New Norcia operation GP Mackie & Co secured a team of four Lawsons sires to head north at an average of $8375, including two July-born Paringa Judd sons at $10,250 and $10,000 respectively.
Three other Paringa Judd sons caught the eye with local producer I & C McCallum, Esperance, willing to go the distance for lot 20, hammered down at $10,250, while Elders stud stock manager Tim Spicer made winning bids of $10,500 and $10,750 for Eastern States interests via AuctionsPlus for lots three and 16.
Both had excellent growth rates, with lot three ranked in the top 5pc for EMA at +8.7 and lot 16 ranked in the top 5pc for IMF at +3.2.
Sons of Gar Sure Fire were also popular, with four of these young sires selling for $10,000 or more.
Walpole-based operation Durnbond Pty Ltd beat out the competition with a bid of $10,500 for lot 42 which is in the top 1pc of the breed for the domestic index and continued on to buy an additional three to average $8375.
Return buyer Jarrahlea, Boyup Brook, also secured four quality sires to average $9625 and to top at $10,250 paid for the Sure Fire son in lot 81.
Local operations from the Esperance area knew quality when they saw it with Wallbrook Farms and Ned's Corner Trading both securing a Sure Fire son at $10,000 and $10,250 respectively, while Wes Graham, WJ & FJ Graham, Esperance, bought a Lawsons Incredible H803 son for $10,500.
Two further bulls sold to Northcliffe and Boyup Brook for $10,000 apiece.
The volume buyer on the day was Henwood Family Trust, represented by Brad Reid and Akira Kelly who travelled from Victoria.
Mr Reid said they have been using Lawsons genetics for a long time.
"Lawsons are really at the forefront of the breed," Mr Reid said.
"We had a feeling the sale in Victoria was going to be strong, so we thought we'd come over and snag a few bargains but it was tough today."
Mr Reid and Ms Kelly were the losing bidders on a number of lots during the sale but managed to secure a total of seven Lawsons sires from across the catalogue at an average of $5536 and a top of $7000.
Due to the stiff competition only two other buyers managed to buy more than five bulls on the day, including last year's top price buyer Quintarra Farms and Ucarty Holdings, which bought six bulls apiece at averages of $7667 and $6667 respectively.
There was also a large contingent of South West-based producers present during the sale with 11 accounts managing to secure a purchase including some of the higher-priced lots previously mentioned, several of those accounts were represented by Independent Rural Agents principal Colin Thexton.
In the end the South West representatives averaged $8083 between themselves with Lawsons genetics headed to Manjimup, Pemberton, Boyup Brook, Northcliffe and Cowaramup.
Elders auctioneer Don Morgan said despite buoyant cattle prices the result was above expectations.
"The bulls presented extremely well and had fantastic figures to back them up," Mr Morgan said.
"Buyers realised they'd have to travel a long way to find better quality.
"Overall it was a fantastic sale with strong support throughout and the result is a credit to the hard work put in by the Lawsons team."
Lawsons Angus stud principal Harry Lawson was pleased with the result of the sale and thanked the Lawsons team members for their efforts as well as returning and new clients for their support.
"We really appreciate such solid support from such a wide and diverse range of progressive farmers," Mr Lawson said.
"And because of our focus on producing bulls well suited to commercial operations - particularly focused on calving ease and efficiency.
"It's heartening to hear of the positive results our genetics are producing for our clients.
"We really enjoy the interaction with our clients and having that accountability for the performance of our bulls so it's fantastic to see 80-90pc of the people here today are returning clients and we look forward to working with the newcomers in the future."
