Mortlake-based Te Mania Angus hit a sale high $45,000 as it sold 162 bulls under the hammer to average a very healthy average of $11,290 in what Edward Gubbins describes as a ‘bloody tough season’.
Edward says with western Victoria still crippled by protracted drought it didn’t slow demand as buyers from five states battled to get a share of the sale catalogue.
Even better, he says there was a large list of new clients across the sale, confirming the stud’s commitment to both genomics and phenotype to ensure balanced genetic diversity and progress.
Edward says Lot 45, Te Mania Umbo U104, an ET conceived son of Te Mania Rambo R624, out of our prominent maternal line Te Mania Jedda Q1456, was one the standout bulls in the catalogue.
“Other long-term clients supporting us strongly included Morella Pastoral at Goondiwindi in Queensland – they took home 14 bulls to a high of $16,000 (four times), with a gross of $170,000 and an average of $12,143,” Edward adds.
“Aldingham Station at Winton in Queensland got eight under the hammer to a high of $14,000 , with a gross of $106,000 and average $8,833. But the truck heading north finished up with an even dozen aboard as Roger Henwood also snapped up all four of the bulls that had passed in,” he says.
But according to the Roberts-Thomson family (TRT Pastoral Group) of Victoria and King Island, Tasmania, the absolute star of the show was their purchase.
Lot 45 – Te Mania Umbo U442 – was described as a “stylish and strong ET conceived son where the Rambo and Mojo bloodlines have blended well and with nearly a full suite of Te Mania Angus blood for the past three generations together with maternal prominence where the past two generations have contributed 151 progeny to our herd”.
As far as James Roberts-Thomson was concerned, the young sire simply “could not be faulted”.
“Normally with any bull there are a couple of compromises for what you want, but this one, his phenotype, his figures- he was head and shoulders above everything else, and that’s saying something because this was a great set of bulls on offer from Te Mania Angus,” James adds.
“We are really, really happy and we will be even happier to get him home – we know he will put our herd in good stead going forward,” he says.
He says while “the average was slightly softer” the demand and the competition and raft of new buyers was a “testament to the depth of our breeding program”.
“We think the season also sparked the huge business through AuctionsPlus, which put a huge floor in the sale, as we suspect many people who would normally have been at the sale were home feeding out and managing stock, so they jumped online instead,” Edward explains.
“Bulls went everywhere except WA and the NT, and to some big commercial and major stud clients, which we appreciate as confirmation we are delivering the genetics the industry wants,” he says.
