At The Grove, Condamine, Queensland, last week, records hit a new high with $58,000 paid for their feature Shorthorn bull, The Grove KO182 (P).
An new average record was also set after 127 bulls sold setting an average of $8425.
There were 50 successful purchasers from three states – Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia - and an influx of several new buyers.
One such first-timer was the Trafalgar Farming Company at Dirranbandi, QLD, which bought a dozen bulls for a $5083 average.
The majority of the catalogue was sold using the electronic Helmsman system with a handful of bulls auctioned by Geoff Maslen of GDL at Roma, QLD, which included the $58,000 top-selling bull.
In the breakdown 87 Shorthorn bulls averaged $9282, 11 yearling Shorthorn bulls averaged $8005, 11 yearling Durham Black bulls averaged $6682, six Durham Black bulls averaged $5583 and a 12 Durham Reds averaged $5667.
Sandy Munro, Weebollabolla Shorthorn stud, Moree, bid the $58,000 record money for The Grove KO182 (P), a low birthweight son of Weebollabolla Goodar G105 (P) with curve-bending growth performance which was also the highest indexing bull at $83 for the MSA-B2 index.
Mr Munro described KO182 as a powerful phenotype bull with outstanding figures with exceptional thickness throughout. At two years of age he weighed 950 kilograms, scanned 12mm (rump) and 8mm (rib), measured 42 centimetres for scrotal circumference with an eye muscle area (EMA) of 132 centimetres squared and 6.1 per cent for intramuscular fat (IMF).
Mr Munro also outlaid $25,000 for another son of Weebollabolla Goodar with similar high ranking market index values and explosive growth performance with similar raw data. The $21,000 top-selling yearling Shorthorn bull, The Grove LO140 (P,) was also Moree bound and also featured Weebollabolla blood on his sire line being a grandson of Weebollabolla Theodore T85.
Mick and Patrick Gibson, Gibson Family Partnership, Dalby, QLD, paid $22,000 for The Grove KO391 (P), a quality red son of The Grove Tide-Rip E667 (P) which weighed 945kg and scanned 7.2pc for IMF.
Regular buyers, Campbell and Roz Brownlie, Brownlie Grazing Company, Condamine, QLD, put together another quality of nine Shorthorn bulls for a $10,277 average.
Another repeat buyer was John Brownlie, Deepwater Farming, Deepwater, Meandarra, who was also active on the elite end of the Shorthorn draft selecting six bulls for a $11,833 average. Agents were Landmark and GDL, Roma, QLD.
