AFTER last month's Elders Boyanup Supreme Springing Heifer Sale, the focus for Elders has shifted to its unjoined first-cross heifer offering at Boyanup next week.
The first-cross, unjoined heifer and store sale this Friday, January 21, will be a must for producers looking for replacements for this year's mating program.
On offer in the sale's unjoined heifer section will be 215 quality, first-cross, unmated, bucket-reared females, which all come highly recommended.
The event will feature 1800 head all up and is set to start at 1.30pm.
Elders, South West livestock manager Michael Carroll said the January store sale was perfect event to secure cattle, especially if farmers were in the market for unjoined, first-cross heifers.
"The Elders South West team has put together an outstanding line-up of first-cross heifers and as they are the feature of the sale, they will lead it," Mr Carroll said.
"With the recent strong sales of PTIC first-cross heifers this line-up of heifers will provide the perfect opportunity for producers to restock after selling mated heifers or for those looking to replace cull cows.
"The majority of the heifers on offer are Angus-Friesians and a large number of these will be ready to mate this coming season.
"All of these first-cross heifers are bucket reared, guaranteed unmated (GUM) and fit to breed.
"Also included, will be a good line-up of beef steers and heifers and a good selection of dairy steers which will range in age from three to 24 months.
"The sale will finish with a run of quality South Devon and Angus-South Devon PTIC heifers and older breeders."
Angus-Friesian first-cross heifers will make up the majority of the first-cross heifer yarding and these will range in age from 12 to 20 months.
There will also be 27 Murray Grey-Friesians and three Shorthorn-Friesians on offer from the 12 vendors featuring in the first-cross heifer run.
The annual selected drafts of first-cross, unjoined females, will come from mainly the Harvey and Brunswick areas and have been inspected by members of the Elders South West livestock team for quality and soundness.
Not only will the quality be unquestionable, so will their future breeding status of the heifers as each animal has been vet-checked as guaranteed unmated and fit to breed.
The biggest vendor in the first-cross heifer run will be JP Giumelli & Sons, Ferguson, with an offering of 60 Angus-Friesian heifers from its dairy operation.
The owner-bred heifers are sired by Little Meadows Angus bulls and range in age from 16 to 20-months-old.
Elders, Boyanup and Dardanup representative Alex Roberts said they were a very good line of well-grown, well-bred heifers which will be ready to join this season.
"They are very quiet and in good forward condition," Mr Roberts said.
The Duggan family, P & T Duggan, Cowaramup, will also be among the bigger vendors in the run with Angus-Friesian heifers.
The Duggans have nominated 24 sweet black, owner-bred heifers from their sizable dairy operation.
The 16-18mo heifers, which are very quiet, are sired by Monterey Angus bulls.
Elders, Margaret River agent Alec Williams said the heifers on offer from the Duggan family were well grown for their age and would be suitable to join in 2022.
"They are good feminine types," Mr Williams said.
They have had two 7in1 injections and were also drenched and received a B12 and selenium treatment in early December.
Also offering numbers will be repeat vendors the Parravicini family, RJ & G Parravicini, Harvey.
The family will offer 20 Angus-Friesian heifers from their dairy enterprise in which they run a rolling herd of about 200 Friesians based on Australian bloodlines.
The extremely quiet, owner-bred heifers are 14-20mo and are sired by Winavon Angus bulls.
The heifers, which come from a very well-bred Friesian herd, show good conformation and structure but still have plenty of softness and femininity.
Manjimup producers O & K Luzny will also have a good-sized draft of Angus-Friesian heifers in the run.
The Luzny family has nominated 22 heifers aged 16-20mo.
Also offering 10 or more Angus-Friesian heifers in the run will be S & S Macdonald, with 11 heifers (16-18mo), while FE & PA Parravicini & Son has nominated 10 heifers (14-16mo)
As in previous years Murray Taylor, Uduc Brook Farms, Harvey, will again be the major vendor when it comes to heifers that aren't black.
This year Uduc Brook Farms will offer 25 owner-bred Murray Grey-Friesian heifers from its operation which is milking 300 Friesians based on Australian bloodlines.
The extremely quiet heifers are sired by Young Guns Murray Grey bulls and out of Friesian heifers.
The Uduc Brook Farms offering will consist of 10 heifers in the 16-18mo age bracket and 15 head aged between 14-16 months.
Mr Taylor will also present five owner-bred Angus-Friesian heifers which are by AI Angus sires and aged 16-18mo.
Both the Taylors' Murray Grey and Angus heifers spent the winter at Chittering, growing out before returning to their Harvey property in December.
They had been treated with 7in1 twice and also Multimin.
Other vendors offering first-cross heifers that won't be black will be CA Panetta, Harvey and Ashvale Pastoral.
The Panetta family will offer two Murray Grey-Friesian heifers alongside six Angus-Friesian heifers which are all 16-18mo, while Ashvale Pastoral's offering will consist of three Shorthorn-Friesians (10-12mo) which will be offered together with four Angus-Friesian heifers (12-14mo)
Along with the quality lines of first-cross, unjoined heifers there will also be a good line-up of store cattle in what will be the company's first store sale for the year at Boyanup.
Included in the yarding will be beef steers and heifers, dairy steers, first-cross steers, plus a good run of breeders.
In the beef steer and heifer run, the largest vendor will be Norsca Holdings, South Hampton, with 60 SimAngus calves (six steers and 54 heifers).
The 8-14mo calves are sired by Bonnydale Black Simmental bulls and out of Angus cows.
The steers will weigh from 300 to 320 kilograms while the heifers will range from 300-420kg.
Other bigger vendors of beef steers and heifers will be DK Tucker, Capel and Stirling Bros.
The Capel enterprise will offer 35 Angus and Murray Grey steers weighing 380-400kg.
The 16-18mo steers were purchased in and grown out by the Tucker family.
Stirling Bros has nominated 30 Charolais cross calves (15 steers and 15 heifers) aged 12-14 months.
The steers will weigh 350-400kg, while the heifers will range from 340-400kg.
Vendor Melvin Hettner, Kojonup, has nominated 25 Murray Grey bulls and 25 Murray Grey heifers which are all 7-10mo.
In the first-cross steers and dairy steer run, WL Olsthoorn, Dardanup, will be the largest vendor offering 100 Frieisan poddy steers.
The 7-9mo steers were purchased in the main as day-old calves and reared by the Olsthoorn.
Other bigger Friesian poddy steer lines will be offered by Chara, which will present 40 steers (3-4mo), while regular monthly vendor Negus Enterprises, Tutanup, will offer 30 steers (4-6mo) and AD & E Rowe, has nominated 40 steers 8-14mo.
DK Tucker will offer 31 Friesian steers aged 10-12mo.
Cookernup and Capel-based Hayes Farms will also feature strongly in the Friesian steer pens, with owner-bred steers which will be offered both liveweight and appraisal.
The offering will consist of 63 steers aged 12-15mo which will weigh 400-480kg and 24 steers aged 10-12mo.
There will also be some older lines in the liveweight offering.
The biggest vendor in these descriptions will be Newbrook Investments, Alexandra Bridge and Busselton, which will offer 70 steers aged 16-18mo.
Elders, Nannup and Busselton agent Terry Tarbotton said the Newbrooks Investments' steers were purchased in and grown out and were in store condition.
Other bigger vendors in these pens will be Fortuna Farms, Busselton, with 35 steers (16-18mo) and T & S Deruyter, Nannup, with 35 steers (20-22mo).
Mr Tarbotton said the Fortuna Farms' steers were in forward condition and would weigh 400-450kg, while the Deruyter steers would be more than 500kg.
"Both lines were purchased in and grown out," Mr Tarbotton said.
Another regular vendor on the vendors list with heavy Friesian steers will be Dudinalup Pastoral, Nannup.
It has nominated 30 steers aged 22-24mo, which will be 550-600kg.
In the first-cross steer offering a line to look out for will be 21 Angus-Friesians from F Moriarty, Ferguson.
The 18-20mo steers, which are all one ear-mark, were purchased in and grown out.
Mr Roberts said the steers were good forward stores and will weigh about 450kg.
"They will be ideal for finishing on grain or grass," Mr Roberts said.
The sale will conclude with a run of breeders, and 40 PTIC South Devon and Angus-South Devon heifers from the Creek family, Creek Farms, Mayanup, will be a highlight.
The well-bred heifers with 40 years of South Devon breeding behind them will be a highlight of both the breeder offering and the sale.
The Creek family will offer 20 South Devon heifers and 20 Angus-South Devon heifers as part of a herd dispersal.
Vendor Richard Creek started farming at Mayanup in 1979, immigrating from England and introduced South Devon bulls shortly afterwards into the mixed breed herd on the property.
Mr Creek said he decided to go down the South Devon line because in England his father used to buy-in store cattle and he was impressed with the South Devon steers he used to buy.
"I have continued to run the breed because they are very docile, the females are good milkers and trials have indicated that their growth rates are as good as any other breed," Mr Creek said.
"When we started we purchased our original bulls from the Thompson family's Nardlah stud at Broomehill and since then we have used bulls from the Eastern States and AI programs to breed the herd up to pure South Devons.
"We got up to about 300 breeders five years ago but are now back down to about 120."
When selecting bulls for the herd Mr Creek has chosen bulls with positives, good soft muscling and good temperaments.
In recent years the Creeks have joined some of their females to Angus bulls to add some hybrid vigour to their herd.
This year the family sold two-thirds of its calves off their mothers at 7mo and they averaged about 340kg liveweight.
Mr Creek said the heifers were only on the market because he had decided to sell his breeding herd as he was handing the farm over to his son.
"If we weren't selling the herd these heifers would have been retained as replacement breeders," Mr Creek said.
The heifers were joined to low birthweight Little Meadows Angus bull for two cycles and then backed up with a South Devon bull.
They are due to calve from early March through to the end of April.
The balance of the Creeks' breeding herd is being offered by private negotiation on the property through Elders, Bridgetown representative Deane Allen.
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