Springhills Angus sale peaks at $20,000

(Under the hammer results)

Offered: 24

Sold: 19

Top: $20,000

Gross: $128,500

Average: $6763

A new chapter for the Wallace family's Springhills Angus stud at Boyup Brook started last Monday when it hosted its first open sale.

Having held invitation-only sales in the past, this year the Wallaces bit the bullet and opened up the sale to all.

Given market and seasonal conditions, they couldn't have asked for a better result.

A good turnout of buyers, many of whom know the Springhills product and have bought from the stud in the past, were active, pushing prices to a stud high of $20,000.

With the catalogue having a range of bloodlines and bull types, the 22 registered buyers were busy from the start, which resulted in the Nutrien Livestock selling team - led by auctioneer Austin Gerhardy - selling 19 of the 24 bulls offered at an average price of $6763.

Nutrien Livestock, Boyup Brook agent Jamie Abbs said it was a good result for the Wallaces for their first open sale given seasonal and market conditions.

"This is the first open sale the stud has had, as prior to this their sales were invitation only," Mr Abbs said.

"We decided to open it up this year as their clientele has grown over the years.

"The bulls presented very well today and showed excellent quality and temperament.

"They were a credit to the Wallace family.

"While buyers were selective, I think to achieve close to an 80 per cent clearance, a top price of $20,000 and an average of more than $6700 was a strong result given conditions this year."

Leading the charge and selling for the stud's $20,000 record top price was Springhills T6 (AI) in lot five.

Mr Gerhardy took an opening bid of $6000 on the AI-bred bull and from there the price quickly moved skyward as two buyers went bid for bid.

Eventually it was Rhodes Pastoral's farm manager Michael Wright and cattle manager John Curtain who outlasted the competition to secure the growthy, well-rounded sire at $20,000.

The early March 2022-drop bull is by Blackrock F3 and out of Springhills R68, which is a daughter of Millah Murrah Compliment L67.

Mr Curtain said T6 was a nice all round bull and similar to what they breed.

"I saw him at the stud's open day and took a liking to him, so I went away and did some research," Mr Curtain said.

"He has everything.

"He stands up well, has a good temperament, a good birthweight and good fat scans.

"Our program revolves around breeding quality females and selling them as PTIC heifers, and we believe this bull is ideally suited for that job.

"We will use him over our maiden heifers when they are joined at the end of June."

T6 had an actual birthweight of 31 kilograms and weighed 808kg on January 9.

At scanning at the end of November, the bull had scans of 11 millimetres P8 fat, 10mm rib fat, 118cm2 EMA and 6.9 per cent IMF.

Along with buying the top-priced bull, Rhodes Pastoral, which runs 850 Angus breeders, also purchased a second bull at $8000.

It went to $8000 for Springhills T91, which is by Little Meadows Quest Q50 and out of Koojan Hills J234.

The deep-bodied bull had a 44kg birthweight and weighed 838kg in January.

It had scans of 10mm for P8 and rib fat, 125cm2 EMA and 5.8pc IMF.

Mr Curtain said they had been purchasing from Springhills for the past five to six years and they were very happy with the results they were getting from the stud's bulls.

"They have great performance and temperament," Mr Curtain said.

Springhills T8 (AI) also made an impression on buyers and made a five-figure sum when it sold at the sale's $10,000 second top price to return buyers of three years, the Johnston family, trading as MM & MJ Johnston, Boyup Brook and Busselton, who were losing bidders on the top-priced bull.

The early March 2022-drop bull, which had a birthweight of 33kg, is by Millah Murrah Q166 and out of Springhills Q116, which is a daughter of Millah Murrah Compliment L67.

It had scans of 12mm for both P8 and rib fat, 123cm2 for EMA and 6.2pc for IMF.

The Johnstons picked T8 because they were looking for a bull to use over heifers and they believe T8 was a good heifer bull which also had good growth.

T8 wasn't the only bull heading to the Johnston's property, as they purchased another three bulls for an average price of $7125, to make them the day's volume buyers.

Also in their purchases were two Coonamble Junior M240 sons at $7500 and $5000 and a Millah Murrah P38 son at $6000.

Jim Johnston said they like buying from Springhills because their bulls have good temperaments and breed progeny that perform.

The Johnstons run 350 Angus breeders, which calve in March, across their properties at Busselton and Boyup Brook and they sell their calves as weaners to feedlots in December.

Kirup producer Chris Wringe, trading as MJ Wringe & Son, was another multiple lot buyer at the top end of the market.

Mr Wringe purchased Springhills T68, which was a son of Little Meadows Quest Q50 at $7500 and Springhills T23, which was by Millah Murrah Command P14 at $7000.

Mr Abbs was also active, purchasing bulls for a number of clients, including Springhills T58 in lot one at $6000 and Springhills T126 in lot 10 at $5000 for KJ & SM Gardiner, Catterick.

Other buyers included Bobs Plain Agriculture, Pinjarra, which purchased a bull at $6500, and Daneholme Farms, Boyup Brook, which purchased two bulls both at $5000.