Seven out of the top 10 Victoria and Tasmania's best cattle studs for 2023 recorded a 100 per cent clearance rate at their on-property bull sales last year, as one stud sold a bull for almost a quarter-of-a-million dollars.
Interstate buyers and return clients propped up the 2023 autumn and spring bull-selling season, despite prices declining year-on-year across the board due to seasonal conditions and a softening cattle market.
Stock & Land has ranked Victoria and Tasmania's top 40 beef studs by highest sale average price, and the results are impressive.
Western Victorian stud Banquet Angus at Mortlake topped the list for the highest sale average in 2023, while only a single Hereford stud and one Tasmanian enterprise made the top 10.
In order to qualify for Victoria and Tasmania's best cattle studs for 2023, beef studs had to record a minimum 80pc clearance rate at the final knock of the gavel and offer a draft of 30 or more bulls on sale day.
Profiles on the top 10 studs are listed below, and a table of the top 30 studs is at the bottom of this story.
Find out which studs ranked highly in Victoria and Tasmania's best cattle studs for 2022 here.
1. Banquet Angus, Mortlake
Sale average: $16,948
The Branson family of western district stud Banquet Angus has reaffirmed itself as the best-performing cattle stud after topping the Victoria and Tasmania's best cattle studs for a second consecutive year.
The Mortlake stud recorded a total clearance of 98 bulls at auction to a top price of $55,000, and a total clearance of 116 pregnancy-tested-in-calf heifers to a top price of $3750.
Banquet Angus stud co-principal Stephen Branson said he was "over the moon" with the results received at the stud's February on-property sale where bulls averaged $16,948.
"It was a fantastic result across the board given the recent shift in beef markets and commodity markets," he said at the time.
The top-priced bull was bought by Gippslanders Peter and James Blyth, Blyth Bros, Fernleigh Angus, Warragul.
2. Yarram Park Herefords, Willaura
Sale average: $15,820
Renowned stud Yarram Park maintained its dominance as one of the leading beef seedstock operations in Victoria and Tasmania in 2023, and was the only Hereford stud to poll inside the top 10.
The February 2023 sale recorded a near-perfect clearance, with 50 of 54 bulls sold at auction to a top price of $36,000 to average $15,820.
The Willaura stud is run by Antony and Sybil Baillieu and seven full-time staff.
The two top-priced bulls were bought by fellow stud breeder, Newcomen Hereford stud principal Barry Newcomen, Ensay, and western district clients Leon Wheeler and Donna Eichler, Wallacedale.
A minute silence took place prior to the sale after the unexpected death of respected Australian Hereford breeder and Yarram Park general manager Jeremy Upton a month earlier.
3. Banquet Angus, Mortlake
Sale average: $15,531
Two first-time cattle buyers from Tasmania who were eager to ensure they did not go home empty-handed were the stars of Banquet Angus' spring on-property bull sale.
The Mortlake operation was the only stud to make it into Victoria and Tasmania's best cattle studs for 2023 twice after topping the list with their February 2023 sale.
The top bull was sold for $42,000 to David and Vivienne Young, Londavra Angus, St Marys, Tas, who also bought the second highest-priced bull at the sale for $30,000.
"I'm glad that we have bulls going to Queensland and Western Australia in particular," Banquet Angus stud co-principal Hamish Branson said.
The stud was started by Stephen and Noeleen Branson in December 1991 with 50 females from Mrs Branson's family's Kingfield stud.
4. Te Mania Angus, Mortlake
Sale average: $15,075
Mortlake stud Te Mania defied the odds of a challenging cattle market and softening beef prices to record a total clearance of 160 bulls at its September auction.
The top-priced $110,000 bull was the dearest bull knocked down at auction in Victoria in 2023, falling short of the $240,000 record set by Tasmanian stud Landfall Angus.
A syndicate of four studs including Buringal Grazing Co, Nundle, NSW, Clunie Range Angus, Coolatai, NSW, Mandayen Angus, Keith, SA and Bongongo Angus, Coolac, NSW, paid the top price.
Te Mania Angus was in the south island of New Zealand in 1928 and established in Australia by Andrew and Mary Gubbins with the importation to Australia of two young sires and 58 females.
It spans 1500 stud females and 400 recipient cows and is managed by Tom Gubbins and Hamish McFarlane.
5. Merridale Angus, Tennyson
Sale average: $14,820
Merridale Angus has elevated itself into Victoria and Tasmania's best cattle studs for 2023 after the Collins family recorded a total clearance of 39 bulls at auction in March.
Merridale stud co-principal Peter Collins said his genetics stacked up and commanded strong prices at several weaner sales in the first quarter of 2023, giving clients the confidence to return and buy bulls again.
The top bull of the sale was the brother of the two top-priced heifers, which sold for $30,000 to large-scale livestock breeder Hewitt Cattle Australia.
The stud spans 320 hectares and is based mainly on Merrigrange bloodlines, while Mr Collins runs a commercial cattle enterprise and a 350-cow dairy alongside the seedstock operation.
6. Landfall Angus, Launceston, Tas
Sale average: $14,647
Tasmanian stud Landfall Angus claimed the honours for selling the top-priced bull at auction across Victoria and Tasmania in 2023, after one future sire was knocked down for almost a quarter-of-a-million dollars at Launceston.
The stud's 45th sale attracted national headlines after a bull was snapped up for $240,000 by Dunoon Angus stud, Holbrook, NSW.
The bull broke Tasmania's record for the highest-selling Angus bull, which was $75,000 in 2019, and highest-selling bull overall, being $82,000 for a Hereford bull.
The March sale recorded a 98pc clearance after 230 of 235 bulls sold to average $14,647, while the stud recorded a total clearance at its spring sale when 251 bulls sold to a top price of $40,000 to average $11,374.
The Archer family settled at Landfall on the eastern banks of the Tamar River in northern Tasmania in 1876, with the purchase of 400 hectares.
7. Pathfinder Angus, Gazette
Sale average: $14,324
Western Victorian stud Pathfinder Angus maintained its top 10 position in Victoria and Tasmania's best cattle studs for 2023 after a 100pc clearance at its March on-property sale.
An undisclosed NSW bidder paid the top price through AuctionsPlus, while the sale averaged $14,324.
"We can't keep them all, we like to offer one or two top-notch sires, and he was one of them," Pathfinder Angus stud co-principal Nick Moyle said.
Several days earlier at Naracoorte, SA, Pathfinder hit a top price of $30,000 and average of $14,183, just shy of the Victorian figures.
8. Boonaroo Angus, Casterton
Sale average: $14,040
Nineteen bulls sold for more than $20,000 at Boonaroo Angus in February after a gallery of interstate buyers packed the on-property sale.
The Casterton stud recorded a total clearance of 123 bulls to a top price of $30,000.
The top-priced bull was bought by Peter Coote, Kalangadoo, SA, in a sale that Boonaroo Angus stud principals Shane and Jodie Foster said the sale offered bulls for everyone's budget.
"That is what we aim to do, to make sure many people go home with a bull," Mr Foster said.
The mixed-farming enterprise, which also includes a White Suffolk and maternal ewe division, was started in the late 1960s after the purchase of 120 hectares and now 1620 hectares of owned and leased land.
9. Lawsons Angus, Yea
Sale average: $13,110
A neighbour swooped in to purchase the top-selling bull at the autumn on-property sale at Lawsons Angus in March.
Glendaloch Pastoral purchased the top-priced bull for $24,000, fending off bidders from King Island, Tas, Flinders Island, Tas, mainland Tasmania, Queensland, NSW, SA and Victoria who had their eyes on the prized sire.
Lawsons Angus stud co-principal Harry Lawson, Yea, said the top-selling bull, the first lot of the sale, had a perfect balance of numbers and phenotype.
"He was just a top bull," he said.
10. Adameluca Angus, Kyneton South
Sale average: $12,030
A Gippsland bull buyer walked away with a bull named Slingshot after securing the top-priced $35,000 Adameluca Angus bull in February.
John Sunderman, Pinora Angus, Heyfield, bought the top-priced bull at the Kyneton South on-property sale where 34 of 40 bulls offered sold to average $12,030.
Adameluca Slingshot S50 attracted the interest of prospective buyers from across the country.
Adameluca Angus stud principal Sam Trovatello said he was "over the moon" with the results.
"The top-priced bull from the day has set a new sale record for us, which is a fantastic result," he said.
Victoria and Tasmania's best cattle studs for 2023
Listed by highest to lowest sale price average.
Additional reporting by Philippe Perez, Andrew Miller and Jess Sharp.
Bryce Eishold
Bryce is a senior journalist with Australian Community Media's Stock & Land where he reports on all aspects of agriculture. Bryce is also the president of the Rural Press Club of Victoria. Email Bryce at bryce.eishold@stockandland.com.au.
Bryce is a senior journalist with Australian Community Media's Stock & Land where he reports on all aspects of agriculture. Bryce is also the president of the Rural Press Club of Victoria. Email Bryce at bryce.eishold@stockandland.com.au.
