Scott York, Billa Park Simmentals, Dulacca with his top priced $32,000 bull called Lucrana Legend (P).
By Jane Lowe, QCL
Strong competition between stud buyers at this year’s Lucrana Simmentals bull sale resulted in a top price of $32,000 when under bidder Noel Mobbs, Gowrie Gold Park Simmentals pushed Scott and Claire York, Billa Park Simmentals to the high bull price.
Solid bidding from Queensland and New South Wales commercial breeders saw the average at $7066 achieved at last Friday’s sale with many beef producers looking to improve their herd’s genetics.
A total of 46 bulls sold during the sale from 48 bulls offered to have a clearance of 96 per cent.
Andrew Moore and Karen Britton, Lucrana Simmentals, Texas were very please with the sale results.
“It was an exciting time to be involved in the beef industry and it’s pleasing to receive the prices we are achieving,” Mr Moore said.
“There has never been a better time to invest in good cattle genetics.”
The bulls offered were by ten different natural service and artificial insemination sires with over 80pc of the bulls offered being polled.
Scott and Claire York were pleased to end up the successful bidders of Lucrana Legend (P) who is a 924kg son of Lucrana Hunter. The Legend bull will take up residence at the Billa Park Simmental Stud at Dulacca as the latest addition to their sires and will work within the 400 stud female herd.
“We’re always on the lookout for a dynamic new stud sire,” Mr York said.
“While we have found our own Churchill line-of-sires by far our most successful over the years, we recognise the need to constantly expand our genetic base through purchasing new stud sires of varying pedigrees.
“Legend was a standout at the sale for us and the bull ticked all the boxes including great skin, hair type, softness, mobility, polled head and calm temperament.”
Noel Mobbs went on to purchase the second top price bull Lucrana Larrikin (P) (ET) (AI) who weighed 910kg and scanned 4.9 Intramuscular Fat percentage.
Lucrana Larrikin is a polled embryo transfer calf from Lucrana Elsa who is the leading production female in the Lucrana Simmentals stud herd.
Chris Strahle, Clerkness, Bundarra, NSW purchased a total of eight bull to average $6250 and will put them over his commercial Brahman/Charolais cows. Mr Strahle is a repeat buyer and first purchased Lucrana bulls at their first sale six years ago.
“We’ve been buying Lucrana bulls ever since the first sale because they are good quiet bulls,” Mr Strahle said.
Rocky Crossing Pastoral Company purchased a total of five bulls to average $6000.
A first for Lucrana was to offer a line of four yearling Black Simmental bulls from their recently established Black Simmental breeding program.
The black bulls averaged $6125 during the sale.
Mr Moore said he looked forward to the future plus challenges of developing their own Black Simmental type bull and compared them with the existing traditional Simmental herd, which have done so well for them in the past. Lucrana purchased the St Pauls Black Simmental herd as the foundation of their new Black Simmental venture.
During the sale a total of 18 heifers sold to average $1633.
Auctioneer Robbie Bloch said it was a very pleasing sale result with a large number of repeat buyers supporting the sale and coming from all over Queensland plus New South Wales.
“The rising two-year-old bulls seem to met stronger market demand compared to the 18-month-old bulls with large numbers selling into Queensland,” Mr Bloch said.
Agents: C.L Squires & Co.
Repeat buyer Chris Strahle, Clerkness, Bundarra, NSW with auctioneer Robbie Bloch, C.L Squires & Co.