Lawsons Angus
209 of 212 bulls sold to $14,000, av $5100
LAWSONS Angus sold some 40 more bulls at their Glenburn on-property sale last Friday compared to the same sale last year.
The stands were full of Victorian and interstate buyers, who under cover from the heavy rain, saw a total of 209 of 212 bulls sold at auction, with the passed in lots sold immediately after the sale.
This impressive clearance rate was supported by Tim Grenda who bought 63 bulls for Fucheng, a Chinese company that has a farm in Bendigo and a 40,000-hectare property in Westmar, Queensland. Mr Grenda said the company purchased 4500 heifers at weaner sales across Victoria in a bid to grow the herds. He said they are moving towards having 10,000 breeders in Queensland, and it is to this northern operation that the Lawson Angus bulls are heading.
Other buying support came from other interstate buyers, including from Tasmania and its islands – Flinders and King.
The minibus full of King Island beef producers included long-time Lawsons supporter Robert Payne, who bought the top-priced bull – lot 22 Lawsons Prophet K967.
Mr Payne said he liked the sale-topper’s balanced figures, weight for age and phenotype, which he said meant he would produce easy doing, soft calves. The June 2014-drop, 740-kilogram bull was by Gar Prophet and out of a two year-old Bartel daughter. K967 was one of the highest growth bulls of the sale draft and had Breedplan estimated breeding values in the top five per cent of the breed for 600-day weight and intramuscular fat, and in the top 10pc for Heavy Grain Index and eye muscle area.
Mr Payne bought a total of three bulls, av $10,667, which he said would get a run with some of his 1200 Angus breeders in spring. The operation targets MSA graded product.
Harry Lawson was pleased the stud held its average price so clients were able to budget for the bulls they wanted.
“Around $5000 a bull works out to be $30 a calf,” Mr Lawson said.
