MILWILLAH Angus stud reached new heights at its 15th annual on-property bull sale held at Clover Hill, Young on Friday with the sale top price of $130,000 tripling last year's result.
Overall the Caldwell family sold all 106 bulls on offer for a $25,726 average, up over $9000 from the 2020 sale average of $16,599 with 30 extra bulls sold.
The 100 per cent clearance was driven by stud and commercial buyers looking to add bulls packed full of meat, backed by maternal strength and structural soundness, to their programs.
Victorian buyer Sam Trovatello of Adameluca Angus, Kyneton South could not let the opportunity to add Milwillah Slideshow Q102 to his program, making the bold bid of $130,000 over the phone to secure the outstanding sire prospect.
Following the Milwillah program for a number of years, Sam Trovatello said the bull comes from a great breeding program they have had previous success with.
"This bull comes from an outstanding herd... We've had great success with Milwillah Elsom H283 progeny in the past," he said.
"We admire the overall performance of the bull, the carcase quality, perfect structural score for feet and legs, and his good spread of data. We were looking for a bull with power, good bone and length.
An outcross to the Adameluca herd, they believe he will provide an outcross that will complement their cow herd and a number of breeding programs.
"We will put him over a broad range of cows, using him in AI and naturally. We hope to get 50-60 calves on his first serving, and will look at selling semen down the track," Mr Trovatello said.
A son of S Powerpoint WS 5503 and first calf of Milwillah Barunah N250, the two-year-old weighed 900 kilograms and presented with figures ranked in the top 5pc for 200-, 400- and 600-day weight and carcase weight.
Also selling for six figures was the lead off bull, Milwillah Blackout Q822, which sold for $100,000 to Richard and Lynne Crookes of Yallambee Angus, Berrima.
Also by S Powerpoint WS 5503, the two-year-old weighed 960kg and was out of Milwillah Mittagong D171 who's sons have averaged $53,000.
Yallambee stud manager David Croker said he was a good option for their program that has both black Angus and Red Angus stud cattle, along with 200 commercial cows.
"He is a very complete bulls with lots of muscle and power, good bone, perfect structure," Mr Croker said.
"He is a bull that will do wonders for our program, he has a good number set, is backed by a good female line and will work well to improve what we are going within our program.
"(Because he is a red gene carrier) we will use him across both the herd, over stud black and Red Angus females and commercial cows."
The $85,000 third top-priced bull was Milwillah Quilpie Q812 purchased by Rod Smith, Kriden Investments, Forest Reefs who is a previous buyer of sale-topping bulls at Milwillah in the past.
Mr Smith is building a large high quality Angus herd in the Central West of NSW, focusing on bulls with maternal strength and cow making ability.
Quilpie Q812 was the second son of Milwillah Lowan L208 to sell at auction, the first being the 2019 sale-topper, Milwillah Nardoo N155 which sold for $63,500. Nardoo N155 sons averaged $48,000 in 2021.
The first four lots averaged $91,250. The first twenty $40,600.
Yearling bulls reached an $80,000 high-price on two occasions, and averaged $31,588 for the 17 yearling bulls sold, while 89 two-year-old and 18-month-old bulls averaged $24,494.
Milwillah Remington R1017 was the first yearling to be knocked down for the $80,000 price tag, to Callandoon Angus, Springsure, Qld. Remington was a yearling bull weighing 620kg, by S Powerpoint WS 5503 from elite donor dam Milwillah Barunah K26.
The second to make $80,000 was Milwillah Rimfire R1023, a full flush brother to Remington R1017 from donor Dam Milwillah Barunah K26, purchased by Absolute Angus, Trafalgar South, Vic. Stud principal Mr Pisa had been following the Milwillah program for a few years, and emphasised the importance of adding elite cow lines to his program.
Yearling bull Milwillah Renagade R1033 wasn't far behind, knocked down for $60,000 to Warri-Willah Angus, in conjunction with Buchan Station, Buchan. Victoria.
Sam Hayden of Warri-Willah Angus said that Renagade will be used over stud heifers at Warri-Willah and across the large commercial heifer program at Buchan Station to lift intramuscular fat (IMF) and ensure calving ease is instilled throughout the broader herd.
Mr Hayden emphasised the importance of adding Renagade's dam line to his family's large commercial operation, with Barunah L181 being a flush sister to the dam of previous yearling high sellers; Barunah K26.
The largest volume buyers were Ulladulla Pastoral, Holbrook which bought 12 bulls.
Returning to buy from the Milwillah stud for the fifth year, Ulladulla Pastoral runs a self-replacing spring calving Angus cow herd of around 1500 breeders.
Purchasing a mix of heifer and cow bulls, Elders agent Tim Wright who was buying alongside Ulladulla Pastoral manager Nigel Robards said they were looking for a specific criteria.
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"They needed to be breed average of above for 200-, 400- and 600-day weight, have above breed average eye muscle area, an IMF of +2 or above and positive rib and rump fat figures, whilst maintaining the Ulladulla type and structural integrity" Mr Wright said.
"Calves are traditionally sold through to feedlots at around 430kg, but this year we sold them earlier through private sales or on Auctions plus as prices were appealing" Nigel said.
"What the Milwillah bloodlines have done for our female herd is phenomenal. Since we started, our quality has jumped, and our cull rate diminished. In a time when a quality functional female is in high demand this is crucial for the overall profitability of our cattle operation." Mr Robards said.
Ulladulla Pastoral is a self-replacing herd, all the heifers are joined for a nine-week joining and are split into three calving groups at pregnancy testing.
"This tightens our calving and stages it for management purposes, by doing this we are also putting further selection pressure on the herd to continue driving the fertility, as calving groups are identified and ranked accordingly"
Other volume buyers were the Kemp Family, Blackall, Qld, the White Family, Roma, Qld, the Bragg Family, Scone, the Roundtree Family, Young, and the Alcorn Family, Harden. All taking home four to five bulls for large scale commercial Angus operations.
Elite Livestock Auctions recorded 108 buyers and 462 viewers logged into the Milwillah Angus sale with bids placed on 76pc of the offering. Overall online buyers purchased 20 lots.
The sale was conducted by Elders and Nutrien with Andrew Wishart, Nutrien as the auctioneer.
Full report in next week's The Land newspaper.
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