REDS were on the rise at the second annual WA Consolidated Red Angus bull sale on-property at Kingslane, Benger, last Monday.
For the second year running, Kingslane, Jutland Park and Magic Valley Red Angus studs presented their bulls in one location, ensuring buyers were spoilt for choice.
The bigger offering of 51 Red Angus attracted 22 registered buyers to the sale.
The sale matched last year's clearance of 31 sires across the three studs to a higher gross of $166,250 up $9500, a higher average of $5363, up $307 and a higher top price of $8750 compared to the 2016 top of $7000.
Representing the Red Angus Society council, New South Wales producer David Hobbs said all three drafts presented on the day positively reflected the Red Angus breed, and went on to put his money where his mouth was, securing a Kingslane sire for himself.
Mr Hobbs said there was plenty of softness, depth and length in the cattle offered and Elders auctioneer Nathan King agreed when he took his place on the rail.
Mr King said while buyers were selective with their purchases, it was good to see a clearance similar to last year at a higher average.
Top price honour was this year awarded to Jutland Park when Josh, Ben and Peter Holmes, PJD & ML Holmes & Co, Broomehill, clapped eyes on the March 2015-born sire in lot eight.
Jutland Larry Z7JL7 enticed competition from opposite ends of the stand but in the end it was the Broomehill operation which went the distance to $8750.
Not difficult to admire, the young bull is out of the original Tinkerbell family, sired by Jutland Floyd and had the figures to back it up.
In the top one per cent of the breed for rib and rump at +1.4 and +1.8 respectively, Jutland Larry also had a low birthweight of 42 kilograms, +0.6 IMF (top 10pc), +1.2 scrotal (top 15pc), +1.8 EMA (top 20pc) and growth figures of +23, +35 and +52 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights.
Ben and Josh Holmes said the young sire would bring a lot of softness to their Broomehill herd.
"We like his frame and thickness of body," they said.
"And the low birthweight was important too.
"We'll be using the bulls we've bought today for crossing over Charolais breeders, both heifers and cows and we think these bulls will do a good job."
The Holmes operation currently runs about 400 breeders and is looking to increase numbers in the future, with its new purchases set to play an important role.
Backing up their top price purchase, a further two bulls joined Larry on the truck, taking their purchases to an average of $6500.
They purchased Jutland Lexus Z7JL20 ranked between 5-10pc for 200, 400 and 600-day weights and Kingslane Lamont JWCL60 which had growth rates in the top 1pc for 200, 400 and 600-day weights.
The second top-priced bull of the sale was from the Kingslane offering and also bested last year's top when lot 19 was hammered down at $7500.
A son of Red Six Mile Game Face, Kingslane Logan JWCL15 was bought by Landmark Harvey representative Ralph Mosca on behalf of last year's equal top price buyer Preston Downs Farming, Esperance.
Major flooding in the Esperance area meant the buyers were unable to be present in person but were nevertheless determined to secure a sire, sending Mr Mosca along to secure some quality Red Angus genetics.
Mr Mosca said the moderately-framed Kingslane Logan fit the bill because of the low birthweight figure in the top 20pc at 31kg and would be suited for heifer matings.
Kingslane Luther JWCL44, a Jutland Gareth son, joined Kingslane Logan, taking the Esperance operation's average to $6500.
Another operation from the Esperance area secured a top price gong when GT LB RG & JS La-Grae, Salmon Gums, secured the top-priced Magic Valley sire at $5000.
Magic Valley Lawson L34 is a Jutland Judd son, featuring an eye-catching dark red coat.
It had a birthweight of 35kg, 200, 400 and 600-day weights in the top 25pc and a mature cow weight in the top 20pc.
It was joined by one more Magic Valley sire to head to Salmon Gums when the La-Graes bought the very next lot for $4000 with growth weight figures and a mature cow weight in the top 15pc.
The volume buyer on the day was Dival Noms, Toodyay, which took home two Kingslane sires and two Magic Valley sires at $4000 apiece.
Eneabba-based operation AJ & JR Elliot secured two Jutland Park sires and a Kingslane sire at an average of $5917 and top of $7000, while a Pinjarra outfit paid an average of $5333 for three Kingslane bulls and a Capel enterprise secured three Kingslane bulls at an average of $5667.
Denmark producer L Sharp & Son bought two Jutland Park sires for good money, and KA Sewell, Warradarge bought two from Kingslane.
The vendors were happy with the results of the sale.
Jutland Park stud principal Guy Jellicoe said all three vendors offered quality bulls.
"Buyers knew what they wanted and paid accordingly," Mr Jellicoe said.
"It was also nice to see both return and new buyers present during the sale."
Kingslane stud manager Rob Italiano agreed.
"It was a tough but good sale, with quite a few new clients," he said.
"I noticed buyers were very particular with what they wanted, particularly in terms of low birthweights.
"People used to buy a bull for their cows and a bull for their heifers, but I think these days producers are after a dual-purpose bull which is something for me to work on at Kingslane, but also for the Red Angus breed to work on more generally.
"But we're happy with how the sale went, especially given it's only the second on-property sale we've had and we're looking forward to the future."