Munda Reds Droughtmaster peaks at $38,000

The State's largest individual bull sale saw a substantial catalogue of 164 Droughtmaster bulls on offer from Munda Reds principal Mike Thompson and family, stud managers Ben and Olivia Wright and the Munda Reds' team.

Quality and consistency featured in the large sale team of extensively measured, tested and Breedplan recorded Munda Reds stud bulls and Mundabullangana commercial herd Droughtmaster bulls and reflected their significant investment in leading Australian Droughtmaster genetics since 2011 and the growth of the Munda Reds breeding program with numerous Munda Reds-bred sires featuring in higher-priced bull pedigrees.

The Thompson family again generously donated the sale proceeds from its first commercial bull offered to Telethon, which sold for $18,000 to eclipse last year's total raised.

The ongoing dry conditions throughout large expanses of the WA's pastoral and grazing regions was always going to take a toll on the sale, but with some generous buyer incentives from sale sponsors to assist buyers through a challenging period, Munda Reds pressed ahead with a significantly increased sale team to give its clients a greater selection of bulls to fill their requirements.

Another large crowd of buyers, guests and industry representatives turned out for the sale and enjoyed the warm hospitality from the Munda Reds' team.

While seasonal conditions and a subdued beef market saw a number of previous buyers absent from the buying register, a large cross section of areas was represented in the buying gallery from the Kimberley, Pilbara and Gascoyne, the northern ag region to southern ag areas as far as Esperance and interstate to Queensland and Northern Territory.

The sale was also interfaced on AuctionsPlus, with interest throughout the country but unfortunately there was limited online bidding activity.

For large parts of the sale, buyers were prepared to bid up on stud bulls of choice and these sold well, which led to one of the selling season's highest averages for stud bulls, however it came at the cost of reduced clearance of stud bulls at auction with buyers particularly selective on double polled genetics.

There was a strong clearance of the heavily increased commercial bull numbers with buyers generally operating at value in this section.

After two and half hours of selling, guest auctioneers Dane Pearce and Trent McKinlay, Nutrien Ag Solutions stud stock, Rockhampton, Queensland, and the Nutrien Livestock WA selling team, had sold 132 of 164 bulls (80 per cent at auction) to gross more than $1 million, at an overall average of $7803.

While more bulls sold this year, values were well down on last year's bolter of a sale which had a total clearance of 116 bulls averaging $12,228 overall.

Broken down, 53 of 80 Munda Reds stud bulls (66pc) bred at 'Glencoe', Gingin, sold at auction for a healthy average of $11,509, albeit down $1961 on last year's average of $13,470 from 84 bulls.

In the commercial line-up, 79 of 84 herd bulls (94pc) bred at Mundabullangana station, Port Hedland, sold under the hammer to average $5316, down $3653 on last year's sale where 32 bulls averaged $8969.

Interest on the overlooked stud bulls was positive for Munda Reds and it was reported at the end of the day, a 91pc clearance rate of the 164 bulls was achieved with stud bulls still averaging a respectable $10,272 after the post sale negotiations.

Nutrien Ag Solutions stud stock auctioneer Trent McKinlay, Rockhampton, Queensland, said the Munda team presented a very good quality line of bulls which was even and consistent from start to finish.

"They have invested strongly in genetics from leading Queensland studs for many years and you can see the improvement from this investment in the bulls every year," Mr McKinlay said.

"The stud's bulls are just getting better and better.

"Compared to the stud's past two sales the market was back which was no doubt a result of the bad seasonal conditions across most of WA and cattle prices being back on previous years.

"Most of the bulls sold to properties in the northern parts of WA, but like the past couple of years we did see good buying support from Queensland stud and commercial breeders again."

With prospective stud sires found right throughout the sale catalogue, return Munda Reds stud buyer Paul Laycock, High Country Droughtmaster stud, Toogoolawah, Queensland, found his new stud sire in lot 15 with Munda Holy Smokes 4521 and was prepared to pay the sale's $38,000 top price for its services.

The impressive honey coated double polled early February 2022-born bull was sired by a Garthowen Velocity 2 son, Munda Eight Ball 19-3551, and was out of a Wajatryn Industry D5 daughter, Munda Becky 16-1137.

Tipping the scales at 814kg, Holy Smokes was among the heavier bulls in the catalogue and measured raw data of 91pc morphology, 1.06kg average daily weight gain (ADG), 10mm P8 fat, 8mm rib fat, 119cm2 eye muscle area (EMA) and 5.9pc intramuscular fat (IMF).

Mr Laycock collected a further four bulls at the sale to be used commercially, including three consecutive red double polled bulls by another Garthowen Velocity 2 son, Munda Commander 17-1643, costing $7000, $10,000 and $12,000, and later in the sale a PH bull by an Oasis A Hudson son Munda Done Good for a steal at $6000.

Mr Laycock said their top purchase, Holy Smokes, strongly represents the type of Droughtmaster they want to breed and he will be used in their stud breeding program.

"He has good length and a good muscle pattern as well as a good temperament and conformation," Mr Laycock said.

"He is a really good all round package and will be a new bloodline for our herd.

"We recently purchased 16 heifers from the National Droughtmaster female sale and the plan is to get some semen out of him before he comes across and AI him to these heifers.

"As it will mean we can get some calves on the ground by him quicker, otherwise it will be a 12 month wait as we are pulling our bulls out of our cows now."

Mr Laycock said while the different breeding season was a challenge and it meant they had to wait an extra 12 months to get calves on the ground, it wasn't all bad and one of the reasons they don't mind purchasing from Munda Reds.

"When they come over they get a good nine months to settle in and adjust to their new environment before going with the cows," he said.

The other four bulls purchased by the Laycocks were selected to use in their commercial breeding herd to breed replacement females.

"They are four good tidy bulls and I think they were great value for money," Mr Laycock said.

He said they liked buying from Munda Reds as they had a good relationship with the Munda team and they were very good to work with.

"We trust each other and they stand behind their product," Mr Laycock said.

"The bulls we have purchased the past two years have done the job we have needed them to do without an issue.

"They have adapted really well to our country and conditions."

High Country currently joins 500 stud breeders a year alongside 300 commercial Droughtmaster females which are joined to Droughtmaster bulls to breed replacement females, as well as Simmental and Charolais bulls that are used for terminal sires with their progeny sold as weaners to buyers in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

Another return stud buyer John Atkinson, Glenavon Droughtmaster stud, Yaamba, Queensland, didn't let the opportunity slip to snare a highly touted sire described by Munda Reds as difficult to let go.

Through the bidding of Kim Goad, Mr Atkinson paid the sale's $31,000 second top price for Munda Hound Dog 22-4978, a powerful soft red PH bull by a Kapalee Game Changer son, Munda Django 18-3178.

Out of a Hamadra Gatsby daughter Munda 2370, the mid-May 2022 born bull weighed 788kg with one of the highest ADG in the sale team of 1.37kg, along with other raw data of 9mm for both fats, 118cm2 EMA and 5.4pc IMF.

Mr Atkinson said he had picked a couple of bulls out from the catalogue and viewed videos of them before talking to Mr Thompson, Mr Wright and Mr Goad to get their opinions on his selections.

"I trust their judgment and Kim told me he believed this was the best bull in the yarding in his opinion," Mr Atkinson said.

"This bull stood out to me as it had an excellent muscle pattern and a beautiful head.

"He also has a good loose skin but still has a tidy sheath.

"He is the fifth bull we have purchased from the stud and like coming back to the stud to buy as they breed tough cattle.

"These bulls have a good breeding program behind them as the stud has purchased some top bloodlines over the years.

"They are also slightly different in their bloodlines to what is available in Queensland."

International buyer Thapelo Setlalekgosi, 3in1 Agric Consultancy Pty Ltd, Gaborone, Botswana, representing the government of the Republic of Botswana, was losing bidder on the two top-priced bulls, but it didn't stop him from securing three double polled bulls at the sale.

He first paid $11,000 for a 818kg low birthweight and gestation length Lisgar Dallas 14972 son in lot nine and raised the bar paying $14,000 for the following bull, a SC Glencoe 17-5318, son which was the heaviest bull in the sale team at 846kg.

But it was the gem found deep into the sale catalogue in lot 73 where Mr Setlalekgosi raised his sights even further and paid the sale's $19,000 third top price.

The mid-April 2022 born double polled bull was by Glenavon Tornado and out of a Kapalee 15-2544 daughter Munda 2665.

It tipped the scales at 720kg and recorded 1.16kg ADG with scans of 9mm fats, 120cm2 EMA and 5.9pc IMF.

The three bulls form part of a Republic of Botswana government incentive to fast track the growth and production of the country's beef breeding herd through artificially breeding programs using top genetics, which has seen Mr Setlalekgosi and his advisery team travelling the State and privately purchasing bulls and heifers from a number of studs earlier this year, including from Munda Reds.

Mr Setlalekgosi said the three new Droughtmaster bulls would be collected and used in purebred Droughtmaster embryo programs, with the embryos and semen offered to farmers at very affordable prices.

"We look for bulls that carry themselves well with a lot of meat," Mr Setlalekgosi said.

"We mustn't forget these are beef bulls and we are looking for something beefy.

"The bulls are not high or short on their legs, they're in between which means their offspring will walk all day in the paddocks in tough conditions.

"And we want the sheath as close to the stomach as possible because we have a lot of thorny vegetation which can cause damage."

Mr Setlalekgosi said Munda Reds hosted Republic of Botswana president Mokgweetsi Masisi and a number of his ministers in September last year, who inspected the Munda Reds cattle and were very impressed with what they saw.

Rob Jowett, Warrawagine Cattle Company, Warrawagine and Wallal stations, Port Hedland, has been a stout supporter of the Munda Reds stud in recent years and this year was no exception.

Mr Jowett amassed a team of 34 stud and commercial Munda bulls spending just shy of $300,000 at an overall average of $8809 to be the sale's most influential buyer.

His haul included 19 stud bulls costing all values from $6000 to a top of $16,000, twice, to average $11,053 and 15 commercial bulls averaging $5967.

But it was the lead commercial bull that was perhaps Mr Jowett's most memorable purchase of the day where his winning $18,000 bid secured him the Telethon charity bull for the third consecutive year, where all proceeds are generously donated by the Thompson family to Telethon.

The Telethon charity bull was a quality double polled 2023-drop bull by Munda Reds 1037, testing 83pc morphology.

It weighed 748kg with scans of 13mm P8 fat, 11mm rib fat, 117cm2 EMA, 5.7pc IMF and 41cm scrotal (SC).

Mr Jowett said he liked supporting the cause and admired what Mr Thompson did with it.

"It is a great cause and it is a fantastic contribution from Mike for Telethon," he said.

Mr Jowett said he was selecting double polled bulls with high fertility to go out and join his 15,000 Droughtmaster breeders on Warrawagine and Wallal stations.

"High fertility and morphology is crucial when we are selecting bulls and being double polled is a must," Mr Jowett said.

"A good underline is also something we take into consideration due to the spinfex country we have on the stations.

"When it came to the stud bulls they had to have high growth rates.

"I was also looking for some different bloodlines to what we have had in the past as well."

Mr Jowett said he had been running Droughtmasters for 27 years and has continued with the breed as the cattle are good doers in their country.

"They have to be able to do well on the ordinary feed and grasses we have on our stations, be heat tolerant and walk long distances and the Droughtmasters breeders have certainly ticked those boxes," Mr Jowett said.

"The breed also gives us some market flexibility when it comes to selling our cattle.

"We can sell them into live export or they can go south for the domestic market.

"The majority of our cattle are sold into the live export market out of Broome, going to Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia."

The enterprise sells its male progeny as bulls to live export, while heifers surplus to breeding requirements are sold at 15 months in April/May.

In the past the enterprise has sold heifers as breeders to producers in the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.

Mr Jowett said the season had been terrible up to the beginning of March, with neither of his stations receiving any rain since the wet season started in November.

"It's a bit better at Warrawagine after we received 200mm in March but nothing at Wallal," he said.

Another volume buyer at auction was Ethel Creek and Marillane station manager Richard Gratte, Newman, who finished with a team of 16 stud and commercial bulls, costing an overall average of $8156.

Mr Gratte showed he wasn't afraid to bid up on his selections, with his four stud bulls costing from $10,000 to $16,000 for an average of $12,750 while the 12 commercial bulls sold to the section's highest price of $9000 (excluding the Telethon bull) at an average of $6625.

He said it was the second time the station had bought from Munda after buying last year.

"I was looking for double polled bulls with good bone and frame and a tight sheath," Mr Gratte said.

"We have been using Droughtmaster bulls on the station for about 25 years and we like the do-ability they have in a hard environment.

"We finish all our calves on the stations with half being marketed through live export while the other half are sold into the local market."

Currently there are between 5500 to 6000 Droughtmaster-Shorthorn breeders running on the two stations and they are aiming to move towards a pure Droughtmaster herd.

"Our breeding numbers are down a bit on where I would want them to be and this is the result of dry seasonal conditions," Mr Gratte said.

"Last year at Marillane we got 50mm of rain for the year and at Ethel Creek we got 200mm.

"The season at the moment at Ethel Creek is good as we have had 300mm of rain since January, but it is not as good at Marillane, as we have only had 130mm there."

Nutrien Livestock pastoral agent Daniel Wood represented a couple of bigger accounts.

He built a team of 20 commercial bulls at good value for $4500 each on behalf of Glen Gold, Alice Springs and seven commercial bulls costing to $8000 at an average of $6357 for return buyers Davis River Pastoral Partnership, Newman.

Fitzroy Crossing pastorialists Gogo station secured 11 commercial bulls also at value for $4500 each, before setting its sights on the overlooked stud bulls following the sale, adding a further 10 bulls, finishing with a team of 21 bulls.

Other notable accounts were return buyer KD Power Pastoral Pty Ltd, Busselton, finishing with five bulls (including two bulls following the sale) and paying to a $14,000 top price for a 704kg double polled Oasis A Hudson son, along with $12,000 deep into the sale in lot 69 for a 728kg double polled bull by a Kapalee Game Changer son, Munda Escapade 19-3566.

Minch Pastoral, Gingin, averaged a healthy $12,333 for a team of three stud bulls, paying to $13,000 twice for sons of Kapalee Ajay 15-2144 and SC Western 17-5243 at the front-end of the sale.

Bonney Downs station, Nullagine (south of Marble Bar), collected seven bulls at the sale at value to average $5071 across the team of two stud and five commercial bulls.

Other interstate accounts were Jumba Holdings, Charters Towers, Queensland, with six stud bulls averaging $6667 and the Farmer family, SC Droughtmaster stud, Yaamba, Queensland, who paid $15,000 for a new stud sire Munda Hold My Beer 22-4693.

The 756kg double polled late February 2022 born bull was by their own sire SC Western 17-5243 and out of a Garthowen Velocity 2 daughter, Munda 20-4116 with scans of 11mm P8 fat, 10mm rib fat, 118cm2 EMA, 5.4pc IMF and 40cm SC.