STRONG support from return buyers who know the performance and quality they get from an Angus bull from the Muir family's Mordallup stud, Manjimup, pushed prices to a high of $18,000 at the stud's annual yearling bull sale at Boyanup recently.
After having a reduced crowd at last year's sale due to it being held in the middle of the COVID-19 lockdown, this year the buyers were back in the stands and were happy to show their faith in the Mordallup bloodline.
In the sale the Muir family presented a top line of 72 well-grown yearling bulls featuring new and trusted bloodlines and the buyers were quick to pounce on the bulls they had ticked in the catalogue.
The impressive catalogue of bulls offered through Nutrien Livestock, which received 3328 catalogue views on AuctionsPlus, attracted 45 buyers registered at the sale, while another 33 registered to bid online on AuctionsPlus from Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and WA.
By the end of the sale on the back of the support from the buyers in the stands and also on AuctionsPlus all the important sale figures - gross, average, and number of bulls sold, were up on last year.
Under the gavel control of auctioneer Tiny Holly, the solid buying support saw 65 of the 72 bulls sell under the hammer for an average of $7446.
In comparison to last year's sale where the stud sold 55 bulls from 56 offered at an average of $7082, this year there were an additional 16 bulls offered and 10 more sold, while the gross rose $94,500 and the average lifted $364.
The clearance for the sale was also further improved post sale with three bulls being snapped up by buyers and this helped lift the gross to a round $500,000.
Mr Holly said overall it was a solid selective sale where buyers certainly had their limits.
"The Muir family presented a quality line-up of bulls and the offering received strong support from long term buyers that know the performance and quality of the bulls, which was pleasing to see," Mr Holly.
"The bulls were presented in their working clothes which buyers are saying they want, but at times they were very selective.
"The figures on the bulls were good throughout but they were sometimes overlooked by buyers.
"Values were probably lower than expected given how other sales have played out this season.
"Compared to other sales it was a buyer's market and slightly disappointing given the current position of the cattle market and how the season is unfolding."
Mordallup agent Ben Cooper, Nutrien Livestock, Bridgetown, said it was a solid sale for the stud without being spectacular, with both the average and the number of bulls sold being up on 2020.
"It is a unique sale in its own right, in terms of being a complete yearling offering and producers are still getting used to that," Mr Cooper said.
"It is still really developing as a sale given its nature.
"Compared to other Angus sales this year it lacked a bit on the top end, but I think overall it was a pretty even sale, with prices consistent throughout.
"It was good to see a sizeable draft of bulls (22 head) go to Eastern States' buyers looking for new bloodlines in particular the homebred Mordallup blood which is a credit to the Muir family."
The sale's $18,000 top price eventuated early in the sale when the stylish 682 kilogram Mordallup Cowboy Up R44 entered the ring in lot seven.
Mr Holly took an opening bid of $10,000 on the long, deep youngster and from there the price quickly rose as a number of interested parties placed their bids.
In the end it was Tomasi Grazing manager Kevin Owen, Karridale, who outlasted the competition, to secure the late February 2020-drop son of USA sire HA Cowboy Up 5405 and a SAV Angus Valley 1867 daughter, Mordallup Dainty M7, at the $18,000 price tag for the Karridale-based operation, which has been buying from the stud for many years.
The upstanding youngster not only had eye appeal but it also had a solid set of figures in the catalogue.
It ranks in the top 10-15 per cent of the breed for 400-day weight (+101) and feed efficiency (NFI-F) (-0.14) and top 20-25pc for gestation length (-6.3), birthweight (+3.0), 200-day weight (+54) and scrotal size (+2.5).
Mr Owen said he inspected the sale team on-farm prior to the sale and picked out Cowboy Up R44 straight away.
"I really like everything about him, he is a cracking bull," Mr Owen said.
"He has volume, softness and structural correctness.
"I think he will breed very good females."
The bull will be a new bloodline for the Tomasi Grazing herd and will be used over a big line of second calvers with the aim of breeding some top replacement females for the operation's self-replacing herd.
Mr Owen said if Cowboy Up R44 worked there it could step up and be used in the operation's nucleus herd where they breed bulls for in herd use in future years.
The operation is in its final weeks of calving down 520 females for 2021 having started on March 1 for two months.
Mr Owen said the operation was in the process of building and cleaning up the herd and as a result was keeping about 100 replacement heifers a year.
"Our aim is to run between 550 to 600 breeders in the future," Mr Owen said.
Also along with increasing its breeding herd the operation has also changed in recent years how it markets its calves.
"We used to sell them as weaners but now we keep them and run them through to yearlings," Mr Owen said.
"Our aim is to wean the calves at about nine months of age in December and then sell them the following spring in September/October.
"When we weaned last year's calves at nine months they averaged 420-430kg and topped at 500kg."
Mr Owen's buying didn't stop with the sale's top-priced bull - he was also carrying a buying order for a couple of Victorian buyers based in the South Gippsland area, organised by repeat buyer Shane Harris, Harris Farms, Leongatha, who visited the Mordallup stud leading up to the sale.
During the sale Mr Owen purchased 16 bulls for the two accounts at an average of $8000.
Five of these bulls, which were purchased at a $10,000 average and included the sale's $12,500 third top-priced bull are headed to Mr Harris's property.
Going to Mr Harris's account at $12,500 was Mordallup Ammaroo R167 that was catalogued in lot one.
Mr Harris said Ammaroo R167 was a magnificent bull.
"He has a great skin, a really good head and a good outlook," he said.
"But most importantly he has a really strong pedigree, I select my bulls on pedigrees and not figures.
"I was impressed with his dam when I saw her, she is a ripper."
The 650kg, thumping Ammaroo R167 is by Mordallup Renown P42 and ranks in the top 7pc for NFI-I (-0.29), top 8pc retail beef yield (RBY) (+1.8) and top 13-31pc for 200, 400 and 600-day weights (+57, +97 and +122).
Mr Harris said they had returned to buy at Mordallup in 2020 and this year after observing the performance of their cows bred by Mordallup bulls they bought eight years ago.
"We bought from the stud eight years ago and the daughters of these bulls, which are now six to seven years old, have proven to be really good mothers," Mr Harris said.
"Our cows that are sired by Mordallup bulls are out performing a big percentage of our cows that are by AI bulls.
"All the bulls I purchased were chosen for their strong pedigrees and I was impressed by their dams when I inspected them in the paddock, they were all outstanding."
Along with the $12,500 bull Mr Harris also collected two other bulls for five figures in his team of five.
The first was a 626kg Braveheart of Stern and Mordallup Ruth K186 son that ranks in the top 3pc for gestation length, top 13pc for RBY and top 14pc for rump fat at $10,500, while the second was a 590kg son of Mordallup Gidgee K216 and Mordallup Beauty H303 that ranks in the top 5pc for mature cow weight at $10,000.
The Harris family runs a commercial breeding herd of 800 breeders which calve from September 1, alongside a small stud herd of 40 breeders.
The other 11 bulls purchased by Mr Owen for the Eastern States are heading to commercial producers Ross and Matt Marriott, South Gippsland, who purchased from the stud for the first time last year.
Mr Harris, who also organised the bull purchases for the Marriotts, said they came back buying in 2021 after the performance of the bulls they purchased last year.
The team heading to the Marriotts ranged in price from $5000 to $9500.
The second top price in the sale was $13,500, bid by Darren Wolfe, H Wolfe & Co, Bornholm, for Mordallup Beastmode R15.
The thick, deep, 546kg, AI-bred bull is by Baldridge Beast Mode B074 and ranks in the top 5pc of the breed for RBY, top 6pc EMA, top 15pc calving ease direct, top 20pc birthweight, top 22pc gestation length, top 18-30pc for 200 and 400-day weights and top 14pc for the domestic index.
Mr Wolfe, who runs a 220-head Angus cow herd, said he was looking for a bull with a low birthweight and high gestation length and Beastmode R15 ticked those boxes.
Return buyers Mark and Peta-Jane Harris, Treeton Lake, Cowaramup, were good supporters at the top end of the sale, securing three bulls to a top of $11,500 and an average of $9167 with the support of Nutrien Livestock, Boyanup agent Chris Waddingham.
Topping the team heading to Treeton Lake at $11,500 was Mordallup Stunner R22, which is by Musgrave 316 Stunner and out of a first calving heifer (Mordallup Georgette P3).
The AI-bred, 620kg easy doing, stylish bull was not only easy on the eye but it also had some top figures to match ranking in the top 2pc for rib (+2.9) and rump (+3.2) fat, top 9pc birthweight, top 12pc calving ease daughters, top 13pc gestation length and top 17pc calving ease direct.
The other two bulls purchased by Treeton Lake were by homebred sires.
It paid $9500 for a Mordallup Gidgee K216 son that is in the top 2pc for RBY and top 4-7pc for 200, 400 and 600-day weights and $6500 for a Mordallup Density K210 son which had a birthweight of +3.8.
Mr Waddingham said the $11,500 and $6500 bulls were chosen specifically as heifer mating bulls.
"They both have a low birthweight and a good gestation length and they will be joined to Treeton Lake's 2022 sale heifers," Mr Waddingham said.
"We were chasing really good heifer mating bulls to alleviate any potential issues for the buyers of the heifers in the future.
"The third bull was purchased to put growth and power back into the cow herd."
Currently the Harris family has 250 Angus breeders that started calving on March 1 and they aim to sell their weaner steers in December.
In terms of their heifers they retain and mate them before selecting any replacements.
The heifers which aren't kept as replacements but are suitable to be sold as breeders are then marketed as two-year-old PTIC heifers at the annual Nutrien Livestock Mated Beef Heifer sale at Boyanup in January each year.
There were another three bulls in the sale to sell at $10,000 or more.
Two of these bulls were by Musgrave 316 Stunner - with return buyer Bev Strang, BM Strang, Donnybrook, paying $10,500 for a 600kg son which is in the top 4-9pc for 200, 400 and 600-day weights as well as top 6pc for carcase weight, while CW & J Vermeulen, Walpole, went to $10,000 for a 615kg son that ranks in the top 8pc for carcase weight and top 11-23pc for 200, 400 and 600-day weights.
The other bull to sell at $10,000 or more formed part of a team of six purchased by Mr Cooper at an average of $7000 for a repeat buyer to the stud based at Boyup Brook.
Mr Cooper went to $10,000 on Mordallup Bakadjoo R60, a son of Mordallup Moorook L141.
There were three other multiple lot buyers in the sale including return buyers of 20 years the Neill family, Giant Valley Beef, Denmark, who picked up four bulls to a top of $6500 and an average of $5625.
Dan Neill said they continued to return and buy bulls from Mordallup for their 450 head Angus breeding herd because they liked the consistency and the breeding in the Mordallup stud.
"I know the background of breeding lines and we really like the strength of the herd," Mr Neill said.
Others to purchase multiple bulls were Reenmore Grazing, Bridgetown, which averaged $5667 across a team of three and Yondalee Farm, Boyup Brook, which paid $9000 and $5000 for its selections.
When it came to the AuctionsPlus registered bidders they placed 24 bids online across 13 lots which resulted in six bulls being knocked down to AuctionsPlus at an average of $7583 and to a top of $9000 twice.
Five of these six bulls sold to a long-term buyer in Victoria, while the sixth bull was purchased by a WA operation.
