NSW and Victorian syndicate buyers pushed prices to $130,000 at the Lawsons Angus Spring Bull Sale last Friday, resulting in the six figure stud sire prospect making its mark in history as the top-priced Australian all breeds yearling bull sold at auction.
Overall, Lawsons Angus sold all 100 bulls on offer to a top of $130,000 and averaged $10,700. In the breakdown 74 bulls were sold at Claremont, Yea, Victoria, while the remaining 25 were sold remotely from Vince and Debbie Rheinberger's Boorowa property.
The $130,000 bull was Lawsons Rocky R4010 purchased by a syndicate consisting of Gilmandyke Angus, Orange, Dunoon Angus, Holbrook, Knowla Livestock, Moppy and Kelly Angus, Yea, Vic.
Sired by GAR Momentum and out of Lawsons Judd P4005, the 13-month-old was described as a breed changing bull with phenotype, balance, temperament and an exciting data set by Mr Rheinberger who runs a cooperator herd for Lawsons.
Boasting an impressive intramuscular fat (IMF) figure of +5.3 that sat him in the top one per cent of the breed, he was also ranked in the top 1pc for Angus Breeding ($162), Domestic ($139) and Heavy Grain ($198) Indexes, top 2pc for Heavy Grass Index ($144), and within the top 5pc for milk (+26) and eye muscle area (+10.9).
Harry Lawson of Lawsons Angus said Rocky R4010 is one of the unique bulls that have come to the top himself, combining figures, nine generations of artificial insemination sires and an elite dam.
"I only get excited about one bull in every 1000 or so, and he is the most exciting prospect since Momentous four years ago," he said. "Not many bulls in the Angus breed have nine generations of AI, and with Momentum, (Paringa) Judd J5, (GAR) Prophet and (Ayrvale) Bartel E7 - it is a pretty powerful pedigree, of the most-widely used, well recognised performance bulls, in one package.
"He is exceptional for calving ease, high growth to moderate cow size... he doesn't give up performance, and he is a breed changer in terms of carcase potential."
Gilmandyke Angus stud manager, Peter McNamara, echoed the vendor's comments saying Rocky R4010 combines good phenotype, thickness, important calving ease and carcase traits, which will help them maintain structure while improving their genetic progress with positive carcase data.
James Laurie of Knowla Livestock said they were delighted to secure part of the bull. "He is a unique individual - when you look at the data, most bulls need to be protected for something, but he doesn't need protecting, he is really strong across the board," he said.
The new record comes just two weeks after Millah Murrah set the previous benchmark when they sold Millah Murrah Rolls-Royce R275 for $110,000 to Heart Angus.
Lawsons Get Cracking R5100, a 15-month-old son of Alloura Get Cracking G10 with a +4.9 IMF figure, was the $16,000 second top-priced bull sold to Ridgemount Pastoral, Glen Innes.
Lawsons Montalto R5104 was sold for $15,000 and bought by a NSW corporate account, and Warbrook, Tooma, bought three bulls to a top of $14,000 for Lawsons Ashland R5028.
The largest volume buying of the day was TRT Pastoral, King Island, Tasmania, which bought 15 bulls.
The Mason family, Meadow Flat, secured 10 bulls, paying to a top of $13,000 for Lawsons Reliant R5167.
Nangwarry Pastoral, Naracoorte, SA, bought five GAR Ashland sons including the $14,000 Lawsons Ashland R4032, and long-term client Linton Park Pastoral, Ballarat, Vic, bought five bulls to a top of $13,000.
The sale conducted by Dairy Livestock Services.
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