A NEW $23,000 State record auction top price and the highest average for the sale were major highlights in an otherwise sale of mixed results at the seventh annual WA Charolais Bull Sale at Brunswick last week.
It was certainly a sale of two extremes with some vendors experiencing real highs, while others found the going a little tougher when it came to clearance.
The first half of the sale was solid with multiple buyers operating on many of the bulls but as the sale proceeded and buyers began to fill orders, it became tough going for the selling team.
When the final hammer of Elders auctioneer Don Morgan fell, 20 of the 32 bulls (63 per cent) had been sold under the hammer at an average of $6663, which is now the best recorded in the sale’s seven year history.
The averaged jumped $1022 on last year’s result when vendors sold 23 from 39 bulls (59pc) offered at an average of $5641.
Both Elders auctioneer Don Morgan and Landmark South West livestock manager Michael Rose agreed it was a good line-up of bulls and the final result was not due to the quality of the offering, but a lack of buying support.
Mr Morgan said the top end of the sale was extremely strong which resulted in the average being up on last year.
“The bulls with good muscling and softness sold well and then if they were backed up by better figures, buyers certainly chased them,” Mr Morgan said.
“While the bulls that sold, sold well, the clearance was disappointing and I did think presale it would be a little stronger than it was.”
Mr Rose said buyers were very selective and prepared to pay good money for the top bulls they really wanted.
“There was good competition on the top bulls with a number of bidders operating on them,” Mr Rose said.
“However while the top end of the market was good and we saw a few bulls sell extremely well overall, the clearance was disappointing and this was not a reflection of the quality of the offering rather a lack of buying support.
“The bulls presented in great condition.”
With strong interest from a number of buyers on the second bull to enter the ring from the Yost family’s Liberty stud, Toodyay, it didn’t take long for the $23,000 record to be set.
When the 1040kg Liberty Major General M38 (P) (AI) (R/F) entered the ring in lot two, Mr Morgan called for $20,000 but buyers failed to bite.
Mr Morgan eventually took an opening bid on the polled, red factor at $14,000 and when he did a flurry of other bids were directed his way.
With a number of prospective buyers bidding on the upstanding sire, the price quickly rose and surpassed the $20,000 mark.
In the end it was return Liberty buyer of 15 years Dean Ryan, Central Stockcare, Bullsbrook, who had the final bid at $23,000 on the bull which was sashed the junior interbreed champion bull at the 2017 IGA Perth Royal Show.
Mr Ryan, who with his wife Kate, also runs Minnie Creek station, north Gascoyne Junction, said Major General was an exceptional bull.
“He has a great head, good feet, a massive butt and plenty of length,” Mr Ryan said.
“He is also ranked fourth in Australia on his figures.
“I came with the intention of buying him and I knew I would have to pay for him.
“He is a real herd improver.”
Mr Ryan was also attracted to the bull’s red factor because of the way he intends to use Major General.
“I will use him over Droughtmaster and Santa Gertrudis commercial cows both naturally and in an AI program at our Badgingarra property to breed bulls to use at the station and calves for the supermarket trade,” Mr Ryan said.
“The bulls we breed will be used over Droughtmaster and Santa Gertrudis cows on the station to produce calves which we background at Badgingarra before going through the feedlot at Gingin and sold to various markets while the calves from Badgingarra are weaned straight into the feedlot at Gingin before being sold into the supermarket trade as milk-tooths with a 260kg dressed weight.”
The Ryans diversified to using Charolais genetics in their herds following the suspension of the live export trade in 2011 giving them more options when it came to marketing their cattle.
Mr Ryan said the Charolais breed gave them good weight in their calves and also produced a flat back animal which was suitable for the local market.
Not only was the son of Rangan Park Redemption E42 easy on the eye with its structure, softness and length, it also had the EBVs and scan figures to match.
For its EBVs it is in the top one per cent of the breed for 200, 400 and 600-day weights (+25, +62 and +71) plus carcase weight (+45), top 5pc IMF (+0.9) and top 10pc milk (+12).
Its scan data showed numbers of 9mm for P8 and rib fat, 136cm2 EMA and 4.9 IMF.
The next best price in the Liberty team was $9750 and this was the third top price in the sale.
Achieving the price for the stud was Liberty MarsBar M44 (P) (R/F) when it was knocked down to the losing bidder on the day’s two top-priced lots Trevor Kanny, Bonegilla Grazing, Walkaway.
Mr Kanny said while he was losing bidder on the two top-priced bulls beforehand, he was still very happy with his purchase of MarsBar.
“He is a nice, stretchy bull with good bone and conformation,” Mr Kanny said.
Marsbar, will go into theoperation’s sire battery to cover the 260 Angus-Santa Gertrudis cross breeders.
While a few of the Charolais infused heifers are retained for breeding, the majority of the March to May-drop calves are weaned into the family’s own feedlot in December and fed for 80 to 90 days before being sold direct to processors at 500 to 530kg.
MarsBar was a late March 2016-drop polled red factor son of Liberty Just Ramblin Along and out of a Liberty Below Zero daughter.
The 876kg bull (November 27) scanned 7mm for rib and rump fats, 128cm2 EMA and 4.6pc IMF and recorded +20, + 42 and +56 to rank in the breed’s top 5pc for all weight intervals, top 10pc for mature cow weight (MCW) (+55), carcase weight (CW) (+29) and IMF (+0.7).
Return Liberty buyers Kim and Kerrie Dunnet & Co, Nannup, were again good supporters of the stud purchasing two bulls at $6250 and $4000.
They bid $6250 for a son of Liberty Just Ramblin Along, Liberty Masterpiece M61 (P), which had figures of +20 and +60 for 200 and 600-day weight (top 5pc) and +36 400-day weight (top 10pc).
Kaloorup producers TG & VE Wrigglesworth also bid strongly on the Liberty bulls securing two at $6250 and $4000.
The Wrigglesworths bid to $6250 for the 910kg Liberty Maui Jim M63 (P) which was a son of Liberty Just Ramblin Along with growth EBVs of +17, +33 and +60 for 200, 400 and 600-day weight.
By the end of the sale the Liberty stud had cleared eight bulls from its offering of 11 at an average of $7750.
The second top price in the sale was set at $16,000 when fellow Charolais stud breeders Barry and Dot Bell, Bardoo stud, Elgin, were the final bidders standing on the 1016kg Venturon Motivate M8 (AI) (P) offered by the Thompson family’s Venturon stud, Boyup Brook.
Mr Bell said Motivate was a very structurally correct sire and they were drawn to Motivate because it was homozygous polled.
“We have been going down the polled path for a few years and you get there quicker if you use homozygous polled bulls,” Mr Bell said.
“He is an exceptionally long bull and is showing good muscle structure without being overfed.”
The Bells will not be the only Charolais stud using Motivate in their next breeding program as they have already sold semen to the Palgrove stud, Queensland.
Motivate is sired by a Charolais breed legend, Winn Mans Lanza 610S and had scan figures of 8mm for P8 and rib fat, 136cm2 EMA and 6.2 IMF.
Along with Motivate, the Venturon stud had another five bulls on offer in the sale but unfortunately a lack of buying support saw them clear only one of the five at $4000.
The stud’s only other bull to sell was Venturon Masterkey M15 (P/S) and it was purchased by Jenour & Son, Bunbury, with the help of Landmark Boyup Brook agent Jamie Abbs.
The 896kg Masterkey is a son of Venturon Keystone K14 and is in the top 5pc of the breed for 200 and 600-day weight (+21 and +56) and top 10pc for 400-day weight (+36).
The Ellis family’s Kooyong stud, Coolup, defied the sale’s trend to record a total clearance of their team of seven bulls to average $5321.
The stud’s top-priced bull stepped into the ring in lot 17 with the Yost family’s Liberty stud the new owners with a $8500 bid.
Kooyong Mike M33 was an early April, 2016-drop low birthweight son of Kooyong Jurien ranking in the breed’s top 25pc for BW with well above average growth figures.
Robin Yost said Mike provided another low birthweight option for their heifers.
“He has two good sires in his pedigree in Bluegrass and Lancer but with different bloodlines on the maternal side to the bulls we have used,” Ms Yost said.
“He has reasonable growth figures, a beautiful soft skin type with thickness and a sirey type head.”
Return buyers HT & KM Winterbottom, Geraldton, were a major influence for the stud securing two Kooyong bulls.
They paid $5500 for the 933kg Kooyong Magnum Force M44 which is sired by Kooyong Eric E5 and is a trait leader for growth and $5250 for a son of Kooyong Jones J42, Kooyong Maddox M23 which is above breed average for all growth traits.
Kooyong Morton also made good money in the Kooyong run when it sold for $5000 to G & B Cooper, Donnybrook, while the Gillam family, Gabyon Pastoral Co, Dongara, secured the first of their two bulls for the day paying $4250 for Kooyong Magnum.
The Dunnets took their tally of bulls for the day to three when they also purchased a Kooyong sire at $4000.
The Bellevue stud, Bellevue, offered a team of four bulls in the sale and sold two under the hammer both at $4000.
The Gillam family’s second purchase for the day was Bellevue Mack M52 (P) (TW) in lot 10 at $4000.
The 1030kg Mack is sired by Bellevue Jellybean and scans of 127cm2 EMA, 3.1 IMF and 5mm P8 fat.
The second Bellevue bull to sell at $4000 was the 790kg Bellevue Masio M39 (P) (R/F) (TW) in lot 30 when it was knocked down to P & SA Tomlinson, Albany, who left the bidding to Westcoast Wool & Livestock representative Bill Kingston.
Masio is a son of Bellevue Joker J7 and it sold with scan figures of 6mm P8 fat, 120cm2 EMA and 3.4 IMF.
The Downunder stud, Wooroloo, offered two bulls and sold one under the hammer for $6000 to the Kanny family, Bonegilla Grazing.
The bull will join the Liberty bull they purchased in the operation’s sire battery covering its Angus-Santa Gertrudis breeders.
The polled, early May, 2016-drop, high growth moderate framed son of Liberty East Wind ranks in the breed’s top 1pc for 400-day weight (+44) and top 5pc for 200 (+19) and 600 (+60) day weights, MCW (+61) and CW (+32).
The Boyup Brook-based Wundam Glen stud had two bulls on offer in the sale.
Both failed to attract any interest during the auction but before the day was finished the stud’s lead bull, Wundam Glen Magnum M5 (P) had found a new home, selling privately for $5000 to PE & DI & SA Hopkins.
The stylish May 2016-drop Magnum had a birthweight of 42kg and now weighs 892kg with scan figures of 9mm P8 fat, 8mm rib fat, 133cm2 EMA and 5.1 IMF.