A tidy profit at the Blue Ribbon Bull Sale

A Red Angus bull has sold to a $7500 top price at a renowned all-breeds sale in the Great Southern.

The annual Landmark Great Southern Blue Ribbon Bull Sale was held at the Mt Barker Regional Saleyards last Tuesday, offering 60 bulls from eight studs to kick-off the bull selling season.

Fifty-one bulls sold to a $4770 average at the auction, hosted by the Albany Region Cattle Association, to mark a decrease of $1278 per head on last year’s sale when 42 bulls sold for an average price of $6048.

Landmark southern livestock manager Bob Pumphrey lauded the sale result and praised the quality of bulls on offer.

“The bulls were well presented,” he said.

Graeme Smith, of Albany, offered the sale-topper, Kildarra Profit P11 (AI), which was secured by the Harding family, of Elleker.

Phil Harding said the family, who have only recently turned their vegetable green thumbs into hands-on beef production, were eager to develop their beef operation.

“We have an established Sweet Valley Produce business, but are realising that our start-up cattle enterprise will entail less work,” Phil Harding said.

“I selected the bull as an outcross sire to go over our herd of 110 females, including Angus cows and some Kildarra blood Red Angus heifers.”

Mr Harding said Profit, which was sired by Jackpot J20, showed early growth, thickness and good muscling.

The sale produced five $7000 equal second top-priced bulls out of the Angus, Simmental and Charolais catalogues.

Youngs Siding-based Mason Valley Angus stud offered 20 bulls with 16 selling to an average price of $4547 and a top-price of $7000 for MV Rockmount P38, to Albany account The Dale Trust.

Mason Valley Rockmount P38 was sired by Stevenson Rockmount and recording Estimated Breeding Values of +50, +86 and +111 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights.

Mason Valley stud co-principal Darren Burrow said the standout Rockmount son had a great barrel.

“I was pleased with this year’s line-up and that 16 bulls of the 20 we offered found good homes,” he said.

Two other Angus studs offered bulls, with Albany-based Ponderosa offering and selling all five bulls to a top of $5000 and average price of $4500.

Albany-based Ballawinna sold all five of its bulls to a top of $5250 and average price of $4250.

Setting the highest average sale price at the Blue Ribbon sale, at $5473 for nine bulls sold, the William Bay-based Naracoopa Simmental stud’s line-up included three black-skinned bulls and eight traditional coloured types.

First-time buyers of Black Simmentals, the Hortin family, who trade as FV Hortin & Sons, of Kronkup, were keen to put a bit more “humph” into their commercial calves.

Zak Hortin said Simmentals had changed over the years, adding that “they are softer and have lower birth weights”.

The Hortins, who run 800 commercial cross-bred females, secured two Webb Tank K090 sons for $7000 each.

Webb Tank was purchased by Naracoopa for an Australian Black Simmental record price of $27,500 in 2016.

Naracoopa stud co-principal Kevin Hard said his offering of three K090 sons came with docile temperaments, class, style and balance with slick coats.

WA College of Agriculture-Denmark offered and sold two Inlet Views Simmental bulls to a top of $5000 to account R H Norman & Son, of Busselton.

From the Charolais single vendor catalogue, Newdegate-based Quicksilver stud sold two equal $7000 top-priced bulls with one to Talawa Grazing, at Mt Barker and the other to Torbay account PR & SM Marshall.

Both bulls were sons of sire PPC Sudden Impact.

Quicksilver offered nine bulls with seven sold to the sale’s second highest average price of $5143.

From the single vendor Limousin catalogue, Albany-based Shannalea stud offered and sold three bulls to a top of $4500 for the stud’s Prime Time, which sold to Kevin Armstrong, who trades as Willow Bank, at Harvey.

Shannalea stud principal Kevin Beal said Prime Time, which was black-skinned, was an embryo import from Canada and was polled with a deep body and was well muscled.