A FULL clearance, a $14,000 top and an average of more than $6000 is an excellent result in any sale, but to do it in an inaugural on-property bull sale is no easy feat.
But that is exactly what the Arkle Angus stud achieved in its first on-property bull sale last week at Munglinup.
The Cowan family acquired the Cherylton Angus stud herd (cows and weaner bulls) in January 2020 and moved it to Munglinup to start their Angus stud program.
This sale marked their first offering of bulls and they couldn't have been happier with the results.
Along with prices hitting a high of $14,000 another two bulls sold for more than $10,000 in the sale, which was conducted by Elders in conjunction with Nutrien Livestock and also interfaced on AuctionsPlus.
On the back of 20 registered buyers at the sale from mainly the Esperance region and another 18 registered logged in and operating through AuctionsPlus from WA, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania, the stud cleared all 24 bulls offered under the hammer for an average of $6375.
Elders, auctioneer Nathan King said it was a really good first up sale result for the stud with a full clearance and solid prices throughout.
"The prices were steady though some bulls received plenty of competition while others were good buying," Mr King said.
"There was a good range of genetics in the catalogue including those from leading studs like Millah Murrah and Coonamble.
"The stud has a great base behind it and I think we are looking forward to what will be presented by the stud in the future including the progeny by Millah Murrah Paratrooper P15 which the stud purchased for $160,000 in 2019."
Achieving the sale's $14,000 top price was Cherylton Q74 in lot 9 when it created a bidding frenzy among buyers.
Eventually after some quick back and forth between interested buyers and the Elders selling team, Q74 was knocked down to first time buyers of the bloodline John, Val, Rodney and Tanya Locke, Adina Grazing, Merivale.
John Locke said they haven't purchased bulls of this bloodline in the past but they went to the Arkle field day and liked what they saw.
"We picked a couple of bulls out and this bull was one of them," Mr Locke said.
"He has a good set of well-balanced figures, including good calving ease traits which we look for.
"In addition to his good set of figures he is a nice thick bull, with a good structure and good legs."
The upstanding, deep-bodied, June 2019-drop bull is sired by Millah Murrah Klooney K42 and out of an EF Complement 8088 daughter.
Not only did Q74 impress with its phenotype, it also had a good spread of estimated breeding values (EBVs) across the board.
It ranks in the top five per cent of the breed for rump fat (+1.9), top 10pc for calving ease daughters (+8.2) and gestation length (-7.9) as well as top 20pc for calving ease direct (+7.9), EMA (+7.8) and rib fat (+1.6).
Its growth EBVs are +44, +82 and +101 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights.
Q74 will join the Locke's sire battery which is joined to 2500 Angus breeders for a March/April calving.
Mr Locke said they aimed to sell their steer calves to lotfeeders from nine months old through to yearling age.
"We weigh everything out, so once they make the weight they go," Mr Locke said.
Already this season the Lockes have seen 240 steers go on the truck in January at an average weight of 347 kilograms.
Not far behind Q74 in the price stakes was another Klooney K42 son, Cherylton Q96 when it was purchased by losing bidders of the top-priced bull Mark and Graham Darlow and family, Darlow Pastoral Co, Condingup, at $13,000.
Mark Darlow said Q96 was a nice thick and deep bull, with good feet and legs.
"He also has a good set of figures with a low birthweight, moderate growth and positive fats," Mr Darlow said.
"We also liked his bloodline, we have been looking at the Klooney bloodline for a while and tried to buy a son a couple of years ago but missed out so we thought we would have a go at this sale.
"By all reports the progeny by Klooney are turning out really well and they are the style of cattle we are trying to breed, so we were quite keen to get some Klooney genetics."
The AI-bred, July 2019 born bull ranks highly in the fertility, calving ease and maternal EBVs traits with figures of +9.8 calving ease direct (top 5pc), +7.0 calving ease daughters (top 14pc), +2.7 birthweight (top 16pc), +23 milk (top 6pc) and -8.3 days to calving (top 5pc).
In addition to these it is in the top 16pc of the breed for rib fat and top 26pc for rump fat.
The Darlows didn't just take home Q96, they also purchased two more bulls Cherylton Q106 and Cherylton Q77 during the sale both at $7000.
Q106 is by Cherylton N27 and ranks in the top 20pc of the breed for all growth EBVs with figures of +55, +97 and +131 for 200, 400 and 600-day weight while Q77 is a son of Millah Murrah Klooney K42 and it ranks in the top 15pc of the breed for EMA (+8.5) and retail beef yield (+1.4).
The three bulls will join the operation's sire battery to be used this joining season among 1070 Angus breeders for calving which starts at the beginning of March.
Its heifers calve over six weeks and its mature cows for nine to 10 weeks.
Calves are then weaned in December and then the steers and heifers surplus to requirements are sold in mid-January to a Wheatbelt lotfeeder.
This season the 434 steers they sold averaged 340 kilograms curfewed when weighed in early January.
The third bull in the sale to hit five figures was Cherylton Q238 in lot 20 when it sold at $11,000 to NW Knowles, Kojonup.
The ET-bred, September 2019-drop bull is a son of LD Capitalist 316 and Millah Murrah Brenda J23 and it ranks in the top 3pc of the breed for calving ease direct (+11.0) and calving ease daughters (+10.0) as well as top 4pc net feed intake (-0.35), top 12pc birthweight (+2.4) and top 20pc retail beef yield (+1.2).
The volume buyer in the sale was Harry Davies, Harry Davies Trust, Esperance, who put together a team of eight bulls to a top of $5250 and an average of $4625.
Mr Davies said he attended the stud's field day and was impressed by both the quality and temperament of the bulls and therefore decided to go and buy at the sale.
"I was really impressed by the temperament of the bulls, it is exceptional," Mr Davies said.
"I wasn't planning on buying as many bulls as I did but with what the prices were and the quality of bulls on offer I decided to purchase a few more and turn off some older ones at home.
"I was chasing both bulls for heifer matings and for mature cows to breed replacement females."
The team purchased by Mr Davies consisted of four Klooney K42 sons, as well as bulls sired by Coonamble L56, LD Capitalist 316, Koupals B&B Identity and Sydgen Enhance.
There were only two other multiple bull buyers in the sale and these were Chimney Creek, Jerramungup and Carbarup Pty Ltd, Cranbrook.
Chimney Creek paid $7000 for a Klooney K42 son that ranks in the top 1pc for rump fat, top 3pc rib fat and top 5pc milk and $5000 for a Coonamble L56 son which is in the top 3pc for 200 and 600-day weight and top 5pc for 400-day weight, carcase weight and net feed intake.
Carbarup Pty Ltd, buying through Elders, Albany representative Nigel Hawke, purchased two Klooney K42 sons, both at $5000.
