AMID green hills that are synonymous with the Mudgee region in years gone by, the White family's Coffin Creek Angus stud smashed previous years records for their ninth annual bull sale on Thursday.
The largest crowd seen on-property with over 65 attending and 85 bidders on AuctionsPlus made co-principal Jack White conscious that it made filming every bull and getting good photos well worth it.
With 100 per cent clearance of the 37 bulls on offer, the top price of $24,000 was a stud top, breaking the previous record from 2016 at $16,000. The average was also broken with a high $11,811 over the total draft compared to 2016's $9032.
Home-bred Coffin Creek Joker Q25, took the top price and sold to Betty and Maria Roche, Arden Angus, Adelong.
With Millah Murrah Tex bloodlines, the Coffin Creek Joker J202 son had a remarkable birth weight of 37 kilograms and currently weighs one of the sales heaviest at 710 kilograms. His raw data at 14 months of age includes an eye muscle area (EMA) of 113 square centimetres, intramuscular fat (IMF) of 6.2 percent and a scrotal size of 42 centimetres.
Recovering from the bush fires and needing more to build their stock back up and looking for a quality bull to compliment new cows they have recently purchased, Maria Roche did not have any of the Coffin Creek bloodlines.
"He is a bull with presence, and so very quiet," Maria said.
"This line of bulls is so even, they will go far in the future.
"These bulls are extremely cheap for what they are, I am very impressed.
"We breed commercial bulls and will see what he breeds. Then we will potentially have a line of heifers and cows to sell on as well."
Betty Roche started breeding Angus cattle in the 1980's. She feels that you need to always buy the best bull you can afford and then slowly build upwards.
There was a staggering 29 of the 37 bulls taken home for over $10,000 with the second top price $21,000 who was purchased via the online platform.
Coffin Creek Q90, a Revenue M4 son who posted a strong 103 square centimetres EMA and 6.5 per cent IMF is headed to James and Felicity Carr, Funny Hill, Binda.
Jack White felt blown away with the results.
"We had a lot of repeat clients and also new clients," he said.
"Seeing repeat buyers who are happy with their calves and the bulls and are willing to pay a bit more this year was a highlight for us.
"We are trying to send lines of bulls out into the commercial industry where it can be seen how good the cattle are.
"We are focusing on fleshing, softness, weight and structure in our cattle so it is nice to see those traits rewarded in a market that is very hot at the moment.
"The bulk of the bulls went to commercial buyers but there were also studs who made purchases,
"It was nice to see the top priced bull being a home bred bull,
"It was extremely humbling, it backs up what we believe in the breeding program we have here, it was nice to see the recognition."
The sale was conducted by McDonald Lawson, Mudgee with Paul Dooley manning the rostrum.
Please see The Land newspaper Thursday 27th August for the full report.
