THE sun was certainly shining on the Murray family's Tullibardine Angus and Murray Grey on-property bull sale north of Albany last week when a top price of $10,500 was the cherry on top of a very positive clearance result.
With the 2020 bull selling season feeling the impact of water shortages across the Great Southern and South West, the sale of 34 from 41 bulls offered under the hammer at Tullibardine was a great result and was improved further by post sale negotiations.
This year's offering of Tullibardine sires featured 31 Angus sires and 10 Murray Grey sires, with the top-price honour this year going to the Angus breed.
In the Angus yarding, the sale of 27 bulls under the hammer posted an average result of $6019, up substantially from the Angus result of $4846 last year when 26 were sold while the Murray Grey yarding saw seven bulls go to new homes under the hammer for an average of $5429, up from $5333 last year when 12 bulls were sold.
Combined, the sale average of $5897 represented a solid increase from the $5000 average set at the 2019 fixture.
Bob Pumphrey, Landmark, said it was an outstanding result for the Murray family and the Tullibardine stud.
"It was a good clearance at auction and more were sold privately afterwards which further improved the result," Mr Pumphrey said.
"The bulls were once again presented in fantastic condition and sold well in the current market."
Angus
Kicking off the sale this year was the Angus breed and it quickly became evident that a sleek, even line of cattle was being presented to buyers as bull after bull paraded into the selling ring.
Landmark auctioneer Tiny Holly didn't have to coax bidders very much before the action was flowing but it was the fourth bull into the ring which had everyone perking up in their seats.
February 2018 born Tullibardine Penthouse P1 weighed in at 902kg and sired by Millah Murrah Reality K61 was the stand out on the day, drawing an opening bid of $6000 and a closing bid of $10,500, making it the top-priced bull of the day.
Buyers Deby and Graeme Pyle, Pyle Bros, South Stirlings, were returning Tullibardine clients and were glad to snap up the top-priced bull.
"He has beautiful thickness, length and depth," they said.
The couple said they mostly selected on visual traits and there was nothing to fault their selection.
"We run three lines of cattle in our operation, an Angus line, a Poll Hereford line and an Angus-Hereford cross but we think this bull will go to work within the Angus mob," they said.
Penthouse P1 had EBVs including -3.9 gestation length (GL), +50, +91 and +120 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights, +110 mature cow weight (MCW), +74 carcase weight (CWT) and +6.4 eye muscle (EMA).
The second top price in the Angus yarding and equal overall second top price was Tullibardine Pot Luck P64 in lot 15, valued at $8500.
Bought by RA Bentink, Denmark, the March 2018 born calf tipped the scales at 906kg and had length and style to go with all that weight.
This was another son of Millah Murrah Reality K61 and had EBV figures including +50, +91 and +120 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights, +117 MCW, +5.0 scrotal, +7.4 EMA and +1.8 retail beef yield.
Another Tullibardine Angus sire was knocked down to the Bentink account for $4000, making it a duo on the truck headed to Denmark.
Narrikup-based producers Stewart and Sheena Smith bought a couple of Tullibardine Angus bulls as well, on the back of positive results they've had with the genetics in the past.
"We've always liked the temperament and ease of calving of the Tullibardine bulls," they said.
"But more recently in some feeding trials we've done as well as in the Gate 2 Plate Challenge heifers of ours which were sired by Alistair's bulls have done really well.
"That's the bottom line, the calves produced by these bulls grow really well."
The Smith family paid a top of $8000 for Tullibardine Pitch Black P31, sired by Tullibardine Laid Back L50, and had excellent growth figures of +59, +108 and +143 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights, as well as +130 MCW and +1.1 retail beef yield.
Others to buy duos of bulls from the Angus catalogue included EI & BJ Lynch & Sons, Mt Barker, EP & TJ Johnston & Sons, Millbrook, MW & KJ Severin, Albany and DJ & BE Bell, Redmond.
Murray Grey
In the Murray Grey yarding, there was a selection of 10 beautiful grey and silver bulls for buyers to choose from which topped at $8500.
Silver-coated Tullibardine Preston P142 was the top-priced Murray Grey sold on the day, hammered down to the Mt Barker Community College that persevered after the bidding was opened at $5000.
The March 2018 born calf was sired by Melaleuca Jeep J52 and weighed in at 900kg.
It had figures including +37, +63 and +79 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights, +75 MCW, +1.8 EMA and +1.9 retail beef yield.
Attending the sale on behalf of the school was farm manager Jay Rowles who said they were looking to increase the frame in the Mt Barker Community College's Murray Grey stud.
"Tullibardine has a good track record so this bull will go to work within our stud as a supplement to the AI program we run," Mr Rowles said.
"We don't have a lot of Tulllibardine genetics so we're excited to see what this bull can do for us, particularly when it comes to carcase and growth traits."
Second top-price in the Murray Grey yarding was $6000 paid by NJE Grazing, Albany, for the silver-coated March 2018 born Tullibardine Prophet P109.
Weighing in at 790kg, the bull had figures including +26, +44 and +66 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights, +2.6 EMA and +1.1 retail beef yield.
Other buyers in the Murray Grey catalogue included GE Bell, Narrikup, Lake Muir Prime Beef, Lake Muir and Larussa Assets Pty Ltd, Gingin.
Speaking after the sale, stud principal Alistair Murray said he was really happy to sell the majority of the bulls he had offered at good value.
"I was really pleased with the evenness of the bulls we were able to present this year and glad to see returning as well as some new clients here to support our sale," Mr Murray said.
