By HOLLY McALISTER, THE LAND
BUYERS from three States bid competitively at the Te Mania Angus stud’s spring bull sale held last Tuesday, August 13, at Walgett.
The Gubbins and McFarlane families offered 91 bulls at this year’s sale and 90 were knocked down during the sale for an average of $5927 and top of $15,000, with the passed-in bull sold privately following the auction.
Stud principal Hamish McFarlane said he felt the clearance was fantastic considering the current climate. “It was a very solid sale with good support from buyers in the local area and from regional NSW,” he said.
“The bulls presented in good, ready to work order and we very much appreciate the continued support we get at the Walgett sale despite the tough season the region is experiencing at the moment.”
The top-priced bull – Te Mania Gassior G404 – was sold to Daryl and Grant Ford, of the Ford Cattle Company at Tea Gardens near Newcastle. The 24-month-old bull had growth figures of +41 for 200-day weight, +77 for 400-day weight and +98 for 600-day weight, with an estimated breeding value (EBV) of +3.7 for birthweight. Weighing in at 720kg, the bull was a son of Tewharetoa Regent
D145 from Te Mania Unlimited cow Te Mania Barwon C1053.
The Fords also bought the second and third top-priced bulls for $13,000 and $12,000 respectively, snapping up a fourth bull for $9000 and an average of $12,250 overall. Grant Ford said this was their second time at the Walgett sale though they have been using Te Mania bulls in their straight Angus operation for a while. “The Te Mania bloodlines have been performing very well for us, building up a good female line as well as performing in the weaner and feedlot markets we target,” he said. “We were looking for bulls with good temperaments, softness, correctness and marbling to produce easy doing cattle.”
Mr McFarlane said they had received a lot of interest in Regent sons since buying the bull in 2005. “At this year’s autumn and spring bull sale we offered our first draft of Regent sons and they met solid demand,” he said. “This sire brings a lot to a breeding program aimed at turning off cattle to the high quality food service industries such as feedlots.” The Fords paid the second top price of $13,000 for Te Mania Garran G334, a son of Te Mania Daiquri D19 from Te Mania Mittagong C548. Also 24 months old, the bull weighed 690kg and had EBVs of +4.3 for birthweight and +96 for 600-day weight.
Brian and Belinda Duddy, Duddy Management Pty Ltd, “South Callandoon”, Goondiwindi, have been attending the Walgett sale for a few years and this year secured the largest draft of bulls, paying to a top of $5500 and averaging $4500 for 11 sires.
Minnamurra Pastoral Company director David Reid and general manager Dennis Power bought nine bulls at the sale, averaging $8111 and paying from $7000 to a top of $11,000. Mr Power said the bulls would be going to the company’s Mudgee property “Cortina” to be used over a female herd that is the basis of Minnamurra’s new Pure Angus pasture-fed beef brand launched about six months ago. “We were looking at low birthweight bulls with high growth figures,” Mr Power said. “For about 15 years now we’ve been running a pure Te Mania blood herd.”
Peter McSwan, the manager of Brenda Station at Goodooga on the NSW and Queensland border, has been buying Te Mania bulls for about 10 years and secured seven bulls this year for an average of $5857 and top of $7000 three times. “The Te Mania bulls have been doing very well in the conditions at Brenda Station,” Mr McSwan said. “These bulls will go into a Santa Gertrudis/Angus and Angus herd – we breed the Santa-crosses for the European Union market.”
Another buyer on the border was Phil Tonkin, “Nilgie Park”, Mungindi, who bought six bulls for an average of $5250, paying to a top of $6500. Being a repeat buyer, Mr Tonkin said Te Mania bulls he had bought in previous years were performing well and were adaptable to the conditions in that region. This year about 800 Brangus and Angus cows would be joined at “Nilgie Park”, with about 70 per cent of the herd being straight Angus, something Mr Tonkin said he was moving towards. Five bulls were knocked down to long-time Te Mania client Michael O’Brien, “The Brigalows”, Carinda, to a top of $9000 and average of $7500.
The sale was conducted by Clemson Hiscox and Company, Walgett, with Paul Dooley, Tamworth, at the rostrum.
