HISTORY was made at last Friday’s Lawsons Angus Albany yearling bull sale when for the first time a Helmsman-style bull sale was conducted completely electronically on the AuctionsPlus system.
Buyers in attendance at the sale made use of mobile phones, laptops and iPads to conduct their bidding, while those who couldn’t make the sale were also able to bid from the comfort of their home offices.
Instead of an auctioneer’s rostrum, two flat screen TVs were set up in the sale shed to show bids on bulls taking place in real time.
It also meant buyers at the sale were able to walk out of the shed to inspect the bulls in the sale pens as the auction ran and place bids from those sale pens on their electronic device as required.
This is the third year the sale has used the AuctionsPlus system, but in the past it was held in conjunction with physical bids taken at the sale itself.
Lawsons Angus Albany representative Bevan Ravenhill said while last year’s sale was successful, its four-hour duration prompted a change.
“We acknowledged that last year’s sale went too long and this was due to us taking both physical bids at the sale and writing them on a whiteboard as well as receiving electronic bids via AuctionsPlus,” he said.
“This year we decided to try running the sale completely electronically and I think our loyal buyers totally embraced the concept.
“We have a positive buying group that are moving with the times in terms of buying yearling bulls and using the latest technology to do so.
“We are pleased with the uptake of this technology by our clients and the positive feedback we had from it.”
Buyers more than embraced the new concept with a total of 71 people logging on to the sale and 20 active bidders taking part in the action to see a top price of $13,000 set and a $5444 average for the 58 bulls sold under the hammer in an hour and 20 minutes.
While it was always going to be hard to match last year’s fantastic result where there was a 100 per cent clearance of 77 bulls on offer at a remarkable average of $8542, those involved were still clearly content with the overall result.
In a pleasing result for the vendors, buyer activity following the sale saw all bulls sold and record a total clearance.
Colin Thexton, Independent Rural Agents, Pemberton, was the selling agent for the sale and is also a long-term supporter of the AuctionsPlus system.
He said it was an outstanding sale and acknowledged the pioneering move by the Lawsons team to conduct the first full AuctionsPlus-only bull sale in Australia.
“The presentation of bulls on offer was outstanding and there was good support from the buying community,” he said.
“I think moving to a full AuctionsPlus sale was a natural progression for the stud with their clients becoming increasingly comfortable with the system in recent years.
“The value of the bulls was realistic in today’s market and the figures on the sale team were second to none.”
Given the electronic nature of the sale, there were no buyer names provided for this report, but there was a mix of bidders in attendance at the sale and those that were bidding were from across Australia.
The top price bull sold for $13,000 and is headed to a Northern Territory buyer.
This bull, Lawsons Prophet N1719, was a GAR Prophet son with the well-known Lawsons Bartel E7 represented on the dam’s side.
Its performance figures were chart bending, with a below breed average mature cow weight of +88 and a domestic index of +$134 that was in the top 1pc of the breed.
The 502 kilogram bull had a 400-day weight of +99, which was in the top 5pc of the breed, while its heavy grain index of +$173 was also in the top 5pc.
As you would expect, this bull was clearly in demand from several buyers with 37 bids placed on it for the duration of the sale, the most of any bull offered.
GAR Prophet sons were in demand at the sale with the $11,250 second-top priced bull also by this sire.
The bull, Lawsons Prophet N1682, was purchased by the Richardson family, Kentdale Grazing Co, Denmark.
N1682 was one of the heavier bulls in the catalogue weighing in at 580kg and had one of the highest marbling EBVs in the team at 3.9, which was in the top 5pc of the breed plus it was in the top 10pc of the breed for heavy grain index at +$150.
Previous buyers of Lawsons genetics, Andrew Richardson said the bulls were working well in the family’s mostly Angus commercial herd.
“We liked the fact that this bull represents a new bloodline for our herd and that is what initially attracted us to him,” Mr Richardson said.
“He has good growth, softness and a nice frame on him.
“We like buying yearling bulls, it gives you an extra year of genetic improvement within your herd and if you look after them they do well for you.
“We don’t put them to a lot of cows and treat them the same as we would our heifers.”
The Richardsons bought three bulls in total, paying $4000 for lot two and $4000 for lot five.
Next best in the price stakes was the bull in lot 26, which sold for $9000.
This bull, Lawsons Sure Fire N1665, was sired by GAR Sure Fire and out of Lawsons Bartel E7 L124.
It weighed in at 554kg and was described in the catalogue as a bull that could take a herd to whole new level.
N1665 recorded the highest domestic index figure in the sale team of +$138, which was in the top 1pc of the breed and it also had the equal highest heavy grain index of +$151, which was in the top 5pc of the breed.
Its EMA of +8.3 also placed it in the top 5pc of the breed.
The bull was clearly highly thought of by the Lawsons team with the stud retaining semen marketing rights on a 50pc revenue sharing interest with the buyer.
Lot 28 was also in high demand during the sale selling for $8500.
This bull, Lawsons Sure Fire N1713, was another Sure Fire son that was out of a Lawsons Incredible daughter.
The bull was ranked second in the sale for domestic index (+$151), which was top 1pc of the breed and was ranked third for heavy grain index at +$173 – placing it in the top 5pc of the breed.
Another Sure Fire son in lot 27 attracted plenty of interest selling for $7500.
This bull, Lawsons Sure Fire N1582, had a domestic index of +$151, which was in the top 1pc of the breed, while heavy grain index of +$175 was the equal highest in the team and in the top 5pc of the breed.
It also had the third highest 400-day weight in the catalogue at +100 and was in the top 10pc of the breed for EMA at +7.9.
Four bulls sold for $7250 and these included three GAR Prophet sons found in lot 20, 22 and 23, while a Lawsons Incredible H803 son in lot 56 also found some admirers to make that value.