THE Tullibardine Murray Grey stud herd now has a new home at Katanning following its sale last month.
The sale of the herd saw the Wise family, Southend stud, Katanning, WA, purchase 50 pregnancy-tested-in-calf (PTIC) cow and calf units and eight PTIC heifers from Tullibardine stud principals Alastair and Jenny Murray, Albany, WA.
The Tullibardine Murray Grey stud is one of the oldest in Australia, having been established by Mr Murray's mother Margaret in July 1966 with Angus cows which she used to breed up to purebred.
The original bulls used in the stud when it was established came from The Glen stud, Victoria, while a few purebred Murray Grey cows were purchased from the Smit family's former Koojan Hills Murray Grey stud, Kojonup, WA.
Today the Tullibardine herd is based on its own bloodlines, along with the Monterey bloodline, which have had an influence for many years.
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Mr Murray said it was a big decision to sell the herd given the history of the stud, but he asked his mother about selling it and she agreed.
"The Murray Grey breed has had its ups and downs over the years but in the main it has been quite successful for us and we still believe there is a place for the breed in the cattle industry," Mr Murray said.
"The decision to sell it was based around us wanting to cut down our workload and focus just on the Angus stud.
"We put out the feelers at the end of September to see if anyone was interested in buying it and the Wise family came to us within a few days with an offer which we accepted.
"We are very happy to see the stud is going to a young and enthusiastic breeder and the herd is going to keep going under the guidance of the Wise family."
Southend stud principal Kurt Wise said he was very happy to have been given this opportunity to incorporate these fantastic females into the Southend herd.
"On first inspection I was very impressed with the herd and could easily see the depth of breeding that was there," Mr Wise said.
"It is an impressive herd with a consistent type, a great depth of breeding, sound structure and great capacity.
"I am looking forward to incorporating these great females into our herd.
"It is going to be very exciting times for our family and the Southend Murray Grey herd going forward with the addition of these females.
"I would like to thank Alastair and Jenny for the opportunity to purchase the stud and Pearce Watling from Elders who played a major role in negotiating the sale."
The purchase of these females will take the Southend stud breeder numbers to 250 head.
The sale comes on the back of the Murray's winning the junior interbreed bull title at this year's Perth Royal Show with a Murray Grey sire.
The win marked the first time the Murrays had claimed an interbreed title at the show in more than 30 years of showing at the event.
When it comes to the 2020-drop Tullibardine Murray Grey bulls, the Murrays will offer them alongside their Angus bulls at their on-property sale on Wednesday, February 16, 2022.
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