Gin Gin Speckle Park sells to $15,750

The stud was founded in 2011 but Mr Trainor and his family and the stud has been a labour of love ever since.

In the early days of the stud Mr Trainor conducted a very strict culling program to ensure the breeders in the stud were up to standard to ensure its long-term future.

With small property at Gingin and the need to expand the stud's breeding program, Mr Trainor has in recent years formed a breeding partnership with Arley Farm, Brunswick and it is this partnership which enabled him to confidently host the stud's inaugural sale.

In the sale, which was also interfaced on AuctionsPlus, the stud offered 14 bulls, two PTIC heifers, six semen straw packages (five straws per package) and two embryo packages (five embryos per package) under the hammer of Elders auctioneer Nathan King.

The offering of 14 bulls was the first and by the end of the run, seven had sold under the hammer for the day's $15,750 top price and at an average of $9286.

Claiming the $15,750 top price tag was Gin Gin Ragnor R21 (ET) in lot four when it sold to Sam and Nicola Tonkin, Whicher Range stud, Abba River, who purchased with the support of Elders, Busselton representative Jacques Martinson.

Mr Tonkin said they had previously purchased females from the stud and Ragnor was a good looking bull which caught their eye the first time they saw its picture in the catalogue.

"We came to the sale with him as our number one pick and when we saw him in the flesh we were equally impressed," Mr Tonkin said.

"We also liked his pedigree which contains New Zealand bloodlines and he also has a good set of estimated breeding values (EBVs).

"Hopefully he will breed some quality females for us."

The Tonkins run a small stud herd of 11 breeders alongside 50 Speckle Park-Angus cross and Angus breeders which are all joined to Speckle Park bulls.

Mr Tonkin said they decided to go down the Speckle Park line because they were establishing their herd, everything seemed to be Angus and they wanted a point of difference.

"We also like that Speckle Parks have good temperament, a low birthweight, good marbling and good feed conversion," Mr Tonkin said.

"We have found them to be easy doing and throughout the year they appear to hold their condition better than the pure Angus.

"Our aim is to get up to a purebred herd of 60 commercial Speckle Park breeders."

The March 2020-drop, ET-bred bull is by Maungahina Legacy L260 and out of Gin Gin Lucy L14.

In the ring Ragnor showed plenty of depth, length and thickness and this eye appeal was matched by a good set of figures.

It has EBVs of +3.2 birthweight, +22, +39 and +50 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights, +0.6 eye muscle area, +28 carcase weight and +0.6 retail beef yield.

Losing bidder on the top-priced bull was the Howard family, Kamarah Speckle stud, Wannamal.

The next best price for a bull was $12,250 for Gin Gin Ryder R20 (ET) bid by a Victorian buyer operating on AuctionsPlus.

The ET-bred Ryder is by Maungahina Legacy L260 and out of Gin Gin Lassie L4.

The well-balanced, all round sire has EBVs of +2.9 birthweight, +22, +39 and +51 for 200, 400 and 600-day weight, +0.6 eye muscle area, +29 carcase weight and +0.7 retail beef yield.

Cowaramup producers TJ & RD Garstone, who also purchased with the support of Mr Martinson, paid the third top bull price of $9000 for Gin Gin Redemption R24 in lot two.

The soft, deep, April 2020-drop bull is by Gin Gin Ned Kelly N105 and out of Gin Gin Lucy L14 and has EBVs of +0.7 birthweight, +13, +26 and +37 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights, +0.6 eye muscle area, +24 carcase weight, +0.1 rib fat and +0.1 rump fat.

The other four bulls to sell in the sale under the hammer all sold at $7000 and were shared between four different buyers - Lavender Farm Co, Williams; Arley Farm; the WA College of Agriculture, Harvey and Stocksfield, Harvey.

After the bulls, two PTIC heifers were offered but neither received a bid under the hammer.

However by the time the sale was finished one of them Gin Gin Ruby R2 (ET) had found a new home selling for $10,000 to a South Australian buyer based at Crystal Brook.

The 2020-drop heifer is by Maungahina Legacy L260 and out of Gin Gin Lucy L14, making it a full sister to the sale's top-priced bull.

Ruby is PTIC to Gin Gin Ned Kelly and due to calve in early March.

Up next were six semen packages, two each from Gin Gin Ned Kelly, Gin Gin Hulk and Unlimitedspots Future 20F and buyers only showed interest in Unlimitedspots Future 20F semen with both these packages of five straws each selling at $1250 a package ($250 per straw) to a South Australian buyer operating on AuctionsPlus.

The sale rounded out with two embryo packages (five embryos per package) sold for $7500 each ($1500 per embryo).

Both packages contained embryos sired by Maungahina Legacy L260 and out of Gin Gin L10.

The first package was purchased by a Victorian buyer on AuctionsPlus while the second was secured by Arley Farm.

Elders stud stock manager Tim Spicer said overall it was a positive result for the stud's inaugural sale with buying support received from both local and interstate buyers (South Australia and Victoria).

"There was a good crowd in attendance which included 14 registered buyers in the shed and they were joined by up to 25 registered bidders/viewers on AuctionsPlus at times," Mr Spicer said.

"Buyers were selective in their purchasing during the sale which showed with the clearance rate however with a couple of registered stud buyers in the shed they created competition on the top bulls resulting in them selling at good values.

"While the clearance rate under the hammer was a bit disappointing it did improve post sale as buyers looked over the animals again and purchased."

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