*140 of 155 bulls sold to $37,000, av $7,414
*48 of 50 females sold to $6500, av $4345
Tasmania’s Landfall Angus stud broke the auction record for the state's top-priced bull twice at its recent autumn sale.
Landfall, Launceston, first broke the record by selling lot three, Landfall Mojo M45 (A1) for $32,000 to Kansas Livestock, Tamworth, NSW.
The record fell again less than 20 minutes later when Lot 23 Landfall Reality M116 sold for $37,00 to Connorville Station, Cressy.
“I suppose it was a case of having two really good bulls in the one offering,” Landfall’s Frank Archer said.
Landfall held the previous record, of $24,000.
Mr Archer said this year’s sale was similar to last year, with 140 bulls out of 155 sold on the day.
“Our program is really commercially oriented,” Mr Archer said.
“We breed cattle that perform in all natural environments, in Australia.
Buyers who came to Tasmania, to see what Landfall had to offer, “are pretty happy with what they see.”
“We are always seeking continual improvement.
“The Angus bull market is really competitive, and we are always looking for a point of difference to offer.
“I think the main point of difference is the integrity of our program - what you see at Landfall is what you get.”
Connorville Station, Cressy’s Roderic Connor said Landfall Reality would be used in the operation’s stud, or elite, herd to produce commercial bulls.
Sired by Mataliki Reality 839, the July 2016 bull had Angus Breedplan estimated breeding values (EBV’s) of a birthweight of +5.4 kilograms, a 200-day weight of +55kg, a 400-day weight of +94kg and a 600-day weight of+129kg.
He had EBV’s of a +2.8 millimetre rib, +2.0 rump and an eye muscle area (EMA) of +5.1 square centimetres.
‘This one’s sire has some of the great figures we are looking for and produces some consistently great breeding cows,” Mr Connor said.
“Reality was particularly sound and met all our prescriptions, figures wise.
“If there was any weakness, it was only tiny.”
The bull’s dam, Landfall Archer K56 (AI) had also produced good heifer and cow lines.
Mr Connor said he wasn’t expecting the price to rise so quickly but was prepared to go a little higher than what he eventually paid.
“I had to come back into the market and buy another bull and I knew one bidder was on it.”
He said bulls had been sold in the 1970’s and 1980’s for tens of thousands of dollars.
“If you put it in 70’s and 80’s terms it makes it damned good value,” Mr Connor said.
“If you had to buy a whole whack of commercial bulls, you would pay $8000 to $10,000 each.
"If you're going to buy one for $35,000 for an elite herd, or stud stock, I wouldn't say it was extreme, although I would certainly say it was expensive.
“I was prepared to keep going.
“How much further? Very little.”
Roberts Ltd Jock Gibson said the company was expecting interest in several of the bulls, on offer.
“But while we were expecting some good sales, we weren’t exactly expecting $37,000,” Mr Gibson said
Mr Gibson said a big crowd, from South Australia, Victoria and NSW, as well as the Bass Strait islands and Tasmania, attended the sale.
“King and Flinders Islands are always strong at that sale,” Mr Gibson said.
“Most of them are repeat buyers who have been coming back for years, to buy Landfall genetics.
“They like the cattle, they perform well for them, and they keep coming back.”
Of the 140 bulls, 57 went to mainland buyers, 47 to King and Flinders Islands and 37 stayed in Tasmania.
King Island operations, DB Harvey bought two bulls for $19,000 and $16,000, while
TRT Pastoral took 14, to a top of $10,000.
Flinders Island’s Tiree Trust took 14 bulls.
Mr Gibson said there was spirited bidding on AuctionsPlus for the females.
He said 35 of the 48 female lots went to Victoria and NSW.
The top price of $7000 was paid by DW & JC Reid, Bambra for a two-year-old heifer.
RD & DJ Belcher, Bolong, and Bowmont Angus, Tatyoon, each paid $6500 for heifers.
The auction was conducted by Roberts Limited.
I