LANDMARK will kick off this season’s female sales next week when it hosts its South West Premium PTIC First-cross Heifer Sale at Boyanup.
The sale, scheduled for Thursday, December 6, commencing at 11.30am, will be a must for anyone looking for quality, mated, first-cross heifers.
For this sale the Landmark South West team has put together an exceptional line-up of 400 bucket-reared, PTIC first-cross females with their whole breeding lives ahead of them, from vendors stretching from Albany to Yarloop.
Angus-Friesian heifers will dominate the yarding with 348 head set to feature, but for those looking for something other than Angus there will also be 12 Murray Grey-Friesians, 26 Shorthorn-Friesians, 11 Angus-Montbeliarde-Friesians and three Montbeliarde-Friesians on offer.
In terms of joinings, 300 of the heifers on offer have been mated to Angus bulls with the other 100 mated to Limousin.
The line-up will also include 50 heifers that have been mated by AI and bull backed up.
The quality of the offering cannot be questioned, as the females on offer have all been inspected by Landmark commercial manager Darren Chatley and Landmark South West livestock manager Matt Watts.
When it comes to pregnancy and health status, this can’t be questioned either as all the heifers have been pregnancy tested within 30 days of the sale and have been ear-notched tested Pestivirus free.
Mr Watts said the heifers on offer this year were of outstanding quality and would present very well for sale, coming out of paddocks which still had plenty of spring growth in them.
“When we inspected them we were impressed by the strong, even lines of well-grown, feminine heifers which displayed excellent temperaments put forward by the vendors,” Mr Watts said.
“They are certainly showing plenty of bloom and condition.
“Growers intending to purchase replacement first-cross females for their cow/calf production herds, will not be disappointed with the superb line-up Landmark will present in the first mated first-cross sale of the season and therefore I encourage anyone looking for mated first-cross heifers to attend the sale.”
Leading the offering will be a very special Angus-Friesian heifer, the Black Dog Ride charity heifer, Clementine 1 and all of its sale proceeds will be donated to the Black Dog Ride.
Clementine 1 was donated to the Black Dog Ride cause by the Scott family, Tasca Holdings, Gundagai dairy, Boyanup and has been prepared for the sale by Peter and Judy Milton, Dardanup.
Mr Milton said they picked the heifer up just after it was weaned in March 2017 and it was picked out by two Iluka Resources employees (the company is a big supporter of the Miltons’ work which supports the Black Dog Ride).
Over its time with the Miltons, the heifer has been to mine sites in the south of the State, Parliament House, the IGA Perth Royal Show, schools, Lions Club meetings, shopping centres and barbecues on the beach, all with the aim of helping to start the conversation and raise the awareness of the importance of mental health in people of all ages.
Clementine 1 was AI’d to a Limousin sire by Landmark Breeding’s Steve Mountford on May 10.
It was then run with a Limousin bull at the Nettleton family’s Unison Limousin stud, Boyanup, as a back up to the AI program.
Clementine 1 is due to calve from February 16 to May 11.
Landmark Breeding donated its services and semen for the AI program and as part of the sale Landmark will also waive all selling costs to ensure all the money Clementine 1 makes goes to the Black Dog Ride.
Clementine 1, however, won’t be the only heifer in the sale bred by the Scott family, Tasca Holdings, Gundagai dairy.
They will be one of the volume vendors in the sale with an offering of 57 Angus-Friesian heifers from its herd of 1000 milkers.
The smooth, black beauties are sired by Cherylton Angus bulls and are back in calf to Cherylton sires, selected for low birthweight, moderate to high growth and a short gestation length.
The line is due to calve from January 27 to April 3.
The biggest vendors in the sale will be Ian, Brad and Steve Noakes, IA & HE Noakes, Karridale, who will present 55 Angus-Friesian heifers and five Angus-Montbeliarde-Friesian heifers.
The owner-bred, quiet heifers, which were bred from the family’s herd of 600 milkers, carry Diamond Tree and Esslemont Angus bloodlines and will be 2.5 years old when they calve.
Both lines are PTIC to Diamond Tree Angus and Jutland Park Red Angus bulls and are due to calve from January 31 to April 5.
Also offering up a big draft of Angus-Friesian heifers will be Neville, Elaine and Garry Haddon, NL & E Haddon, Yoongi Downs dairy, Busselton.
The Haddons will present 52 Angus-Friesian heifers which have all been bred and raised in their dairy operation that milks 1400 cows.
The well-grown, 26-30mo heifers are sired by mainly Blackrock and Bangadang Angus bulls while a small number are AI-bred by Lawsons Dinky Di.
The quiet, bucket-reared heifers are PTIC to low birthweight Bangadang bulls and are due to calve from February 1 to June 3.
Regular vendors of PTIC first-cross heifers EP & DK Gardiner, Brunswick, will also be one of the bigger vendors.
The Gardiners offering will consist of 50 Angus-Friesian heifers which were purchased in from well-known dairy operations.
The line is PTIC to a Lysgorran Limousin bull and are due to calve from February 1 to March 31.
Coming in from the Cookernup area will be 29 Angus-Friesian heifers from Kevin, Eilleen and Leigh MacDonald, KM, EJ & LK MacDonald.
The extremely quiet heifers were purchased in from Landmark’s feature unjoined sale last season and especially prepared for this fixture.
They were joined to a Willendaise Limousin bull and are due to calve from February 2 to April 3 at which time they will be about 2.5yo.
Other sizeable drafts of Angus-Friesian heifers will be offered by AM & BJ Eatts, Northcliffe and The Southden Trust, Albany.
The Eatts family will offer 32 heifers joined to an Angus bull which are due to calve from January 24 for 10 weeks, while the Southden Trust will present 33 heifers mated also to an Angus bull with a 10-week calving starting February 1.
For producers looking for grey heifers there will be a line of 12 Murray Grey-Friesian on offer from Gelorup operation Kelly-Brae.
The operation will also offer six Angus-Montbeliarde-Friesians and three Montbeliarde-Friesians.
All the heifers were purchased in, grown out and joined for this fixture.
They are all PTIC to Cherylton Angus bulls and are due to calve from January 20 to March 10.
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The sale will also feature a small offering of Shorthorn-Friesian heifers from two vendors with both drafts mated to Angus sires.
JA & GF Van Hazendonk, Northcliffe, has nominated 11 heifers in this section, while Carogre Family Trust, Bridgetown, will present 15 head.
All females in the sale will be tagged with Landmark management sale tags, with lot/pen number and individual number displayed on the front of the tag, for ease of identification for buyers in future years.
Catalogues will have been sent via post to past and new buyers and are also available from the Landmark Bunbury and Manjimup branches for interested producers.
Prospective buyers can also view videos of the heifers on offer in the sale on YouTube by searching ‘Landmark Livestock’.
