WA stud cattle breeders have been out and about in the Eastern States purchasing top stud sires recently.
Under the Simmental banner, the annual Woonallee Elite Production sale at Furner, South Australia encouraged return WA support, with Kevin and Janice Hard, Naracoopa Simmentals, Denmark purchasing the 826 kilogram, 21-month-old black coated Woonallee Moonshine (P) for a tidy sum of $17,000.
Out of a heifer and sired by Webb Uppercut H0613, the young bull was well-muscled and structured with EBVs ranking in the top 1pc of the breed for EMA and retail beef yield.
Naracoopa stud principal Kevin Hard said he had operated during the sale with his eye on that specific bull because of a number of factors.
“Moonshine is an outcross to a bull we bought at the sale two years ago,” Mr Hard said.
“So we’ve now got some ET heifers from that bull and were after an outcross bloodline to mate with those young heifers and this bull was exactly what we were after.
“He’s thick, muscly and has an excellent temperament which is something I chase every time I’m looking at a bull.
“The figures were good all the way through with the carcase traits standing out as well as the milk and medium birthweight figures on him.”
Mr Hard said he was very happy with the purchase and thought it was good value buying for a quality sire.
Another WA purchase was made at the Woonallee sale with Elders Bunbury securing an $8000 black bull with Lewis Farms bloodlines for GS Batley & Sons.
Woonallee Mockingbird (P) was a deep-bodied son of LFE Beer Money with above breed average growth figures and carcase traits.
The highlight of the Woonallee sale was the setting of a new Australian Black Simmental record price of $52,500 with the top-priced bull, Woonallee Messiah M170 (P) purchased by Lewis Farms, Alberta, Canada.
Moving onto Limousins now headed to WA, the standout genetics, data and phenotype available at Maryvale Limousins once again enticed WA breeders to their annual on-property sale at Kapunda, South Australia where Great Southern Limousin stud breeders Kevin Beal, Shannalea stud, Albany and Max Farley, Lonaker stud, Albany, secured the $10,000 top-priced bull.
Described as an absolute standout bull, Maryvale Magnificent M619 was in lot one, weighed in at 842kg and posted the highest eye muscle area and fat scans, as well as the second highest intramuscular fat scan in the catalogue.
It ranked in the top one per cent of the breed for its milk EBV and had growth figures in the top 5-10pc of the breed.
Mr Beal said the bull was a real stud sire with excellent balance and structure that was very long and deep, while displaying softness and a quiet temperament.
“Magnificent has outstanding EBVs and will bring outcross genetics to our breeding herd,” he said.
Returning to the sale after purchasing Maryvale Hammertime at the sale top price four years ago, Mr Beal said Hammertime had performed well.
Another WA buyer at the Maryvale sale was Kevin Nettleton, Unison stud, Boyanup, who returned to the sale on the back of purchasing the top-priced bull and female at Maryvale last year and landing a stylish TMF Westwood sired heifer at auction for $5500 this year.
Mr Nettleton said Melt was a soft Westwood heifer which would complement the Westwood genetic lines in his herd.
“She is in the top 5pc growth and carcase weight with a pedigree full of top sires including Westwood, Earthquake, Tobias and Packleader,” Mr Nettleton said.
“Melt has been mated to Morrisvale Lumberjack whose pedigree includes bloodlines which have had a very positive influence on our herd already.”
