Texas Angus stud buys Prime Angus' top-priced bull at sale

Before Prime Angus stud's spring bull sale kicked off on Friday, stud principal Colin Flanagan said it was a big event for the operation as they started to see bulls come through that reflected their new priorities.

Former South Australians, Mr Flanagan, and partner Pat Ebert, took over the stud three years ago and this was their fifth on-property sale.

"Our aim now is to breed bulls that keep growing," he said.

"It's a big supply chain, right through to the killing station, and every part of the system has to make money, so we want to breed bulls that make everyone money.

"We changed the whole program to focus on growth for age and structure."

The stud offered 30 mostly 18-month-old bulls at the sale, in which all 30 sold to a top price of $24,000.

The sale averaged a healthy $10,333.

The top-priced bull of the sale was Lot 16, Prime Beast Mode S111, who was snapped up over the phone by Texas Angus stud, Warialda, NSW.

Being unable to see the bull in person, Texas stud principal Ben Mayne said they relied on videos, a catalogue full of estimated breeding values and the experienced eye of Ray White GTSM's Michael Glasser, who has auctioneered many of Texas's own bull sales and "knows the type of bulls we're trying to breed".

"To us, this bull was the stand out of the catalogue," Mr Mayne said.

"He had a good balance of EBVs, the right phenotype and was structurally correct.

"He will complement our cows really nicely."

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He said Prime Beast Mode would be used to back up an extensive artificial insemination program planned for later in the year.

This was the first bull Texas has purchased from Prime but both studs have an existing relationship, with Prime having purchased progeny from Texas before.

"Col's a good cattleman and you know he breeds good cattle," he said.

The July 2021-drop bull was sired by Baldridge Beast Mode B047 - whose sons were popular in the catalogue on sale day - and out of Adrossan Wilcoola J136.

It recorded EBVs of +3.4 birth weight, +63 200-day weight, +104 400-day weight, +130 600-day weight, and an eye muscle area of +9.8.

The biggest volume buyer of the day was the Church family, Pine Lodge, who purchased six bulls - five for $7000 each and the sixth for $9000.

The family was represented by three generations of Darren, Rob and Mikayla Church, with the family having purchased bulls from the stud for a number of years, and quite often in bulk.

Darren Church said they had been increasing numbers in their herd over the years, hence buying so many bulls at the sale.

He said they were particularly pleased by the ease of calving that resulted from using Prime bulls, which was what brought them back year after year.

"We typically pick bulls with a low birth weight so we can get more live calves on the ground," he said.

While Mr Flanagan admitted the sale was "tough going" at times, he was pleased with the result of the sale and was looking forward to what was to come for the stud as they continued their focus on growth.

He said bulls were snapped up locally and to areas like Warrnambool, Currie, Tas, and up in NSW to Texas.

He was grateful rain kept away on sale day after receiving 30 millimetres the day before.

Ray White GTSM director and auctioneer James Brown said it was a healthy auction, which reflected how other bull sales had been going.

Mr Brown said buyers kept returning to Prime to buy because they knew they were buying quality stock.