It was a highly active day of trading at the Turanville Shorthorns annual bull sale held on-property near Scone last Thursday.
Operating under a Helmsman auction, the sale reached a $21,500 top and achieved an average of $12,420 - a stud record in their 14 years of on-property sales.
Stud principal Doug Robertson said that the 100 per cent clearance rate was "very pleasing to see and reflective of the strong position of the current market."
RELATED READING: Turanville Shorthorns 2020 sale report
The top price of $21,500 was paid for Turanville Crusher Q92 by long-term supporters The Grove Shorthorns of Condamine, QLD.
Weighing in at over 900 kilograms, with a scrotal circumference of 42 centimetres, the son of Turanville Bonecrusher H102 was a clear standout in the catalogue for his performance and constitution, whilst being a heifer's first calf.
The equal second top price of $20,000 was reached three times on the day.
Turanville Q94 was the first offering of the new Turanville Durham Reds composite program, integrating Red Angus genetics over Shorthorn females in order to produce functional commercial animals with the benefit of hybrid vigour.
His outstanding raw data and combination of muscle expression and softness saw him also go to the top-priced bull buyers, The Grove, Qld.
Also making $20,000 was Turanville Minister Q79 purchased by repeat stud client Gillian Leeds of Leeds Shorthorns, Broome, Jerilderie. A son of Turanville Senator L6, he was in the top 10 per cent for calving ease direct and gestation length, with a soft and well-rounded composition.
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Turanville Crusher Q70 was the third bull to reach the $20,000 mark, with the well-muscled Bonecrusher son being picked up by Rob Cropper of Greenhills Pastoral Company, who also purchased two further lots for an overall average of $17,500.
Other notable purchasers included stud clients Weebollabolla Shorthorns who took home Turanville Oscar R29 for $19,000. A 17-month-old son of The Grove K749, he was in the top 15pc for the MSA-B2 index and was the heaviest bull in his cohort.
Volume buyers included Ben McNaughton of St Aubyns, Walcha who took home four lots, while Max Ireland of Prairiefields, Walcha purchased three lots.
In light of the current COVID-19 restrictions, 2021 saw the first year of online selling at the Turanville sale, with the auction being interfaced on the Elite Livestock Auctions platform.
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Mr Robertson credited the online integration as a great success with 44pc of the lots sold going to online bidders. These included Norrie Pastoral Company, as well as new clients Warwick Knight of Coonabarabran and Linden Gunn of Walcha.
In addition to the demand for high-performance and carcase-driven sires, there was also strong interest for bulls with safe calving traits, with a number of these lots fetching well above the sale average.
"We've always put a lot of work into our performance recording around birth weights and gestation lengths, so we're confident these bulls will go out and do the job for their new owners," Mr Robertson said.
"With calving-related traits being available including gestation length, calving ease and birth weight, the high EBV (estimated breeding value) accuracy and commercial safeness of these bulls for use over heifers is something we really pride ourselves on."
The Helmsman board was overseen by Stuart Sheldrake of McGrath Upper Hunter.
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