THE Muir family's faith in offering ready-to-work yearling bulls was again rewarded at its annual Mordallup Angus yearling bull sale at Boyanup last week, recording a near-perfect clearance and solid prices throughout.
Return buyers, who know the performance of Mordallup bloodlines, and a handful of new buyers, who showed they were keen to inject the bloodline into their programs, chased the bulls strongly right through the sale and pushed prices to a sale high of $30,000.
The Muirs presented a top line of 72 well-grown yearling bulls, featuring new and trusted bloodlines.
The impressive catalogue of bulls offered through Nutrien Livestock received 2335 views on AuctionsPlus and when the sale got underway there were 50 registered buyers at Boyanup, while a further 36 registered to bid online on AuctionsPlus from Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.
With strong interest in the catalogue, especially from those in physical attendance, bidding throughout was solid and - with most bulls having multiple buyers operating on them - all the Nutrien Livestock selling team, led by auctioneer Tiny Holly, had to do was add up the bids.
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It wasn't only in the stands around the ring where bidders were active, they were also active on AuctionsPlus.
Throughout the sale there were 12 online bids placed by three bidders on 10 lots.
But, in the end, there were no bulls sold to online bidders, as they were continually beaten by bidders at the sale.
When the final bull left the ring, following just one and three quarter hours of selling, the Muirs recorded their second best result in the stud's history.
Solid buying support resulted in 71 of the 72 bulls offered selling to 34 different buyers for an average of $12,324, which was back $2992.
In comparison, in last year's sale the stud offered and sold 76 bulls to a top of $32,000 (twice) and an average of $15,316 to achieve its best ever result.
Despite the prices being back on last year, Mr Holly said it was still an excellent sale from start to finish.
"The sale was solid from the word go and there was competitive bidding right the way through the sale," Mr Holly said.
"There was excellent return buying support from buyers that know what these bulls do in the paddock and also a handful of new orders.
"Along with the strong local buying support, we also saw very good buying activity from Eastern States accounts - which helped put a solid floor in the market.
"Despite the average being back on last year's record result, everyone walked away happy and, in saying that, the average achieved today was above pre-sale expectations.
"The final result certainly reflected the quality of bulls on offer.
"It was a super line-up of yearling bulls and their age must be considered when comparing to other sale results.
"The offering was a credit to the Muir family in terms of their presentation and breeding.
"They not only had a great shop front in terms of their appearance but they also have an excellent genetic background with proven pedigrees to back them up.
"They certainly all showed the traits of muscling, softness, length and depth the Mordallup stud is renowned for."
Just as happy with the final sale result was Nutrien Livestock, Bridgetown and the Muir's agent Ben Cooper.
He said the final sale result was an outstanding one for the Muirs and reward for the effort they put into their breeding herd.
"It was a terrific line-up of bulls, which were all true to type in terms of the Mordallup stamp," Mr Cooper said.
"It was certainly an even line-up of bulls and the prices throughout the sale reflected the team's evenness.
"Again it was great to see many loyal, longtime clients operating in the sale on the back of performance they are seeing from the Mordallup genetics in their herds.
"It was also pleasing to see Australia-wide participation in the sale, with genetics being spread far and wide to NSW, Tasmania and Victoria."
The result was set up on the back of 17 bulls selling for $15,000 or more which included one selling at the $30,000 top price and another three selling at $25,000 or more.
The sale started when the $30,000 top price was recorded after Mordallup Pindi T97 entered the ring in lot three.
The style, thickness, and depth of the 662 kilogram, early March 2022-drop bull was clear for all to see and as a result buyers were quick off the mark, with Mr Holly taking an opening bid of $10,000.
From then there was only one way for the price to go before the Dewar family, Ardcairnie Angus stud, Guilderton, had the final bid at $30,000 on the smooth youngster, which is by Mordallup Moorook M51 (sired by SAV Harvestor 0338) and out of Mordallup Ruth K196, which is a granddaughter of SAV Density 4336 on its paternal side and Braveheart of Stern on its maternal side.
Ardcairnie co-principal Joe Dewar said they were chasing a bull from one of the stud's homebred sires because Mordallup had one of the most consistent female herds you will see.
"We are trying to improve the consistency and depth in our female herd so we wanted a bull with a strong and deep pedigree which one of the homebred sired bulls gives you," Mr Dewar said.
"We inspected the bulls a couple of months ago and thought the Mordallup Moorook M51 sons were a very consistent line and all were true to type.
"So we decided to go down that line and this bull just stood out among the group.
"He is a smooth bull with plenty of muscle and weight as well as good growth figures.
"We think he should breed females that will wean heavy calves."
Along with being impressive on the eye, Pindi T97 also had a safe set of estimated breeding values (EBVs), including +0.1 for calving ease direct, -3.8 for calving ease daughters, -2.6 gestation length (GL), +6.3 birthweight (BWT), +55, +95 and +132 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights, +117 mature cow weight (MCW), +17 milk, +2.9 scrotal size (SS), -5.7 days to calving (DTC), +68 carcase weight (CWT), +7.8 EMA, +0.5 rib fat, +0.4 P8 fat, +0.6 retail beef yield (RBY), +0.3 IMF, +0.09 feed efficiency (NFI-F) and +15 docility (DOC).
With these figures, Pindi T97 ranks in the top 20-25 per cent of the Angus breed for 600-day weight, MCW, DTC and SS and top 25-35pc for 200 and 400-day weight and EMA.
It has index values of +$192 for Angus Breeding and +$341 for the Angus Breeding Low Feed Cost.
Mr Dewar said they would AI Pindi T97 to a wide selection of heifers and older females this season to make the most of it and to see where it clicks best in their herd.
The second top price was $28,000 bid by Vern Mouritz, VR & ET Mouritz, Hyden, for Mordallup Lazarus T32 in lot five after bidding again kicked off at $10,000 on the long, deep sire.
Mr Mouritz said Lazarus T32 was a good bodied, well-structured, clean bull with excellent balance.
"He also has a moderate birthweight and good milk which makes him suitable for both heifers and cows," Mr Mouritz said.
"He is just a really good all round bull."
The 644kg, late February 2022-drop, AI-bred bull, is a son of Taimate Lazarus L12 and out of a Mordallup Moorook M51 daughter - and it was just one of the three Lazarus L12 sons in the team.
On the EBVs front, it ranks in the top 15-20pc for rump fat, rib fat and claw set and top 25-30pc for GL, DTC, NFI-F and leg angle.
Mr Mouritz said Lazarus T32 would be a new bloodline for their herd and because of this they would use the bull naturally over about 80 second and third calvers and see what its progeny was like.
Along with purchasing the second top-priced bull, the Mouritz family, which has been buying from Mordallup since the early 1990s, went on to purchase another 10 bulls from the line-up for between $10,000 and $18,000 - finishing with a team of 11 at an average of $15,000, making them the day's volume buyer.
Mr Mouritz said they have continued to return and buy from Mordallup for such an extended period because they like the depth of body and thickness the Mordallup cattle have.
"Their female herd is probably one of the best in Australia, as it is extremely consistent and - as a result - their bulls breed excellent replacement females," he said.
"When we get the bulls home, they acclimatise to our conditions and perform extremely well in our breeding herd of 1500 females - producing calves that perform extremely well in our feedlot.
"In the feedlot our steers and heifers average 2.5kg/day weight (gain) in the feedlot.
"It's this performance that encourages us to continue to buy Mordallup sires and also to buy top bulls from the line-up.
"We can certainly see the value in investing in good genetics, as we know they will improve the performance of our herd in the long run."
Claiming the third top price at $27,000 was Mordallup Pindi T162 in lot four when it was sold to Fieldrange Pty Ltd, Boyup Brook.
The 654kg, mid-March 2022-drop Moorook M51 son, which showed plenty of thickness and presence in the ring, ranks in the top 9pc for RBY and top 17pc for NFI-F.
Nutrien Livestock's Mr Cooper, who purchased the bull for the Boyup Brook operation, said Pindi T162 was a good example of the Moorook M51 bloodline.
"We were chasing the Moorook M51 bloodline and this bull ticked all the boxes," he said.
"He is a good, thick, meaty, very stylish bull.
"He will be used in an AI program over third and fourth calvers, with the aim of breeding replacement females."
In addition to buying Pindi T162 the Boyup Brook-based enterprise, which runs 220 composite breeders, also purchased another three bulls during the sale to finish with a team of four at an average of $14,250.
Rounding out the top four selling bulls was Mordallup Powerpoint T27 in lot 67 when it sold at $25,000 to Nutrien Livestock, Boyanup/Capel agent Chris Waddingham, who was carrying a buying order for first-time buyer GL & RK Dickson, Nannup.
He picked the bull out on the day of the sale and Powerpoint T27 was typical of the bulls the Mordallup stud has historically bred.
"He is a big, powerful, strong, well put-together bull with good feet," Mr Waddingham said.
"He also had very good growth and carcase figures which we were chasing.
"I thought he was the best bull in the catalogue and I think he may have been overlooked due to his birthweight figure (+8.6) - but this is not a concern to my client."
The powerful and thick 702kg bull is a son of S Powerpoint WA 5503 and out of Mordallup Enna R100.
The February 2022-drop, AI-bred youngster ranks in the top 1pc for 200, 400 and 600-day weights as well as MCW, top 3pc for CWT and top 7pc for NFI-F.
Shane and Claire Harris, Harris Farms, Leongatha, Victoria, made the trip across to the sale this year and not only purchased bulls for their own herd but they also held orders for a number of other buyers.
For their herd the pair purchased a Mordallup Renown P42 son, Mordallup Ammaroo T260, which ranks in the top 9-17pc for 200, 400 and 600-day weights as well as top 5pc for MCW and NFI-F, at $18,000 and a Mordallup Confirmed R6 son, Mordallup Doolya T98, which is in the top 1pc for RBY,at $16,000.
They also purchased single sires for Mountain Valley Angus, Coolatai, NSW; Doonagatha, Sandy Point, Victoria, and Quarterway Angus, North Scottsdale, Tasmania.
For Mountain Valley Angus, they went to $19,000 for a Mordallup Moorooka M51 son, which is in the top 9pc for RBY, while they picked up a Mordallup Thunder H131 son that is in top 10-20pc for 200 and 400-day weights at $18,000 for Quarterway Angus and a Mordallup Skydiver Q405 son at $10,000 for Doongatha.
But the biggest order they had was for fourth year buyers the Marriott family, Murroka Pty Ltd, South Gippsland, Victoria, who relayed bidding instructions over the phone to the pair.
The Marriott family, which runs 3700 mainly Angus and Angus cross breeders finished with 10 bulls at an average of $11,500 and to a top of $19,000 paid for a Moorook M51 son, Mordallup Pindi T96, which showed good depth and size in the ring.
Matt Marriott said he created a list of bulls to select from based on bloodlines and looking at the videos online and then he just got the Harrises to look over them.
"I was chasing the bulls by the stud's homebred sires because they are more consistent in their performance," Mr Marriott said.
"You look at the Mordallup herd and they have pedigree upon pedigree and have been breeding a consistent type for 60 years.
"Their homebred sires feature strongly in the stud's pedigrees and over the years their cattle have continued to perform and improve.
"When I inspected the cow herd last year, it impressed me and that is what has given us the confidence to buy from the stud.
"I have not seen a cow herd like it in the Eastern States, they are powerful breeders so we have the confidence that their bulls will breed on.
"We come to WA to buy as there are very few cattle in the Eastern States like the Mordallup cattle we can buy that suit our grass finishing operation."
Another reason Mr Marriott has such confidence in the Mordallup stud is because, over the years they have been buying, they have purchased about 40 bulls and very few have disappointed them.
"This gives us confidence I can buy a wide selection from the stud and they will perform irrespective of where they are catalogued and their EBVs," he said.
"The Mordallup cattle appear to have higher weights, high fat cover and high fertility at a younger age.
"The bulls we have had have bred progeny with good weight and carcase composition which is what we want for our set up."
Local buyers to have an influence in terms of numbers and prices, included Tomasi Grazing, Karridale and Frank Teisser, Applecross, which each purchased two bulls at a $14,000 average, while One Chain Grazing, Catterick, averaged $13,500 across two bulls.
Arcobaleno Plains, Jurien Bay, went home with five bulls at an average of $7200 and Giant Valley Beef, Denmark, purchased three at a $12,333 average.
