2022 top bull sale results for Victoria, Tasmania

Victorian and Tasmanian beef studs have reaped the rewards of buoyant cattle prices, remarkable seasonal conditions and strong interest from interstate demand to record one of their best bull-selling years on record. Stock &amp; 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 2022, 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 2022, beef studs had to record a minimum 80 per cent 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 50 studs is at the bottom of this story. Sale average: $20,625 Western district stud Banquet Angus has topped the list for Victoria and Tasmania's best cattle studs for 2022 after recording the highest sale average result for any stud across the two states in 2022. The Mortlake stud recorded a total clearance of 32 sires at the 2022 Banquet Angus spring bull sale in September to record a sale average of $20,625. The seedstock enterprise is owned and operated by the Branson family who sold 132 bulls across two sales at Mortlake last year. The stud beat its previous top-priced record at the spring on-property sale in September 2022 when one bull sold for $65,000 to Mountain Valley Poll Herefords and Angus, Coolatai, NSW. Sale average: $18,800 Iconic stud Yarram Park was the only Hereford stud to make the top 10 in 2022, and one of only seven high-performing Hereford studs in the top 40 highest average price list for last year. The Willaura stud is owned by Antony and Sybil Baillieu and managed by Jeremy Upton. In February 2022, the stud sold 60 of 65 bulls offered to record Victoria's second highest stud average of $18,800 for 2022. The top-priced bull, Yarram Lottery R162, was bought for $58,000 by Neville and David McClure, Mooree Partnership, Mooree, NSW, while a semen share was secured by Glendan Park Herefords, Barfold. "We were hoping for a good sale and the result has truly astounded us," Mr Upton said at the time. Sale average: $18,437 Mortlake stud Te Mania Angus was the third highest-averaging Angus stud in Victoria and Tasmania for 2022 after it sold its entire draft of 165 Angus bulls to record an autumn sale average of $18,437. The western Victorian stud also sold Victoria's most expensive bull - for a whopping $130,000 - which was $40,000 more than the second top-priced bull sold in Victoria in 2022. The stud, which was founded in the South Island of New Zealand in 1928, now spans more than 1500 stud females and 400 recipient cows and is managed by Tom Gubbins and Hamish McFarlane. In 1971, Te Mania Angus was established in Australia by Andrew and Mary Gubbins with the importation to Australia of two young sires and 58 females. The autumn sale grossed $3.042 million while the top-priced bull was bought by Shane and Jodie Foster, Boonaroo Angus stud, Comdale, near Casterton. Sale average: $17,940 Banquet Angus was the only stud to appear twice in the top 10 list for best bull results for 2022. Days after celebrating its 30th anniversary, the stud welcomed new and return clients to its Mortlake complex where a total clearance of 26 females sold to $20,000, while 114 commercial females sold to strong demand. The stud also sold 101 bulls to a top price of $62,000 for Lot 46 to average $17,940. "Our focus has always been to be commercially relevant, but to see the stud interest here today has just been phenomenal," Banquet Angus stud principal Stephen Branson said after the February 2022 sale. The top-priced bull was secured by a syndicate including Dennis Hayward, Glenlock Angus, Everton, and the Hall family, Quarter Way Angus, Scottsdale, Tas. Sale average: $17,161 The Foster family of Boonaroo Angus popped the corks in February 2022 when their average jumped $7000 year-on-year as two bulls sold for the equal top price of $34,000. Boonaroo Angus stud principals Shane and Jodie Foster, Casterton, said they were thrilled with the total clearance of 124 bulls to record an average of $17,161. The Fosters sold their bulls via video for the first time, while Lot 1 set the tone for the auction after it surpassed the top price of the 2021 sale. 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. Sale average: $16,246 Buyers from three states were the driving force behind an impressive average increase at the Pathfinder Angus on-property bull sale in February. The Moyle family sold its complete consignment of 118 Angus bulls to record an average of $16,246, more than $5000 higher compared to the 2021 result. The Gazette stud sold its top-priced $50,000 bull to Goolagong Angus stud principal Heath Tiller, Crystal Brook, SA, who has bought bulls from the Moyle family for the last six years. "He's one of the best bulls I've come across and I can't wait to get him home and put to use and get calves on the ground," Mr Tiller told Stock &amp; Land after the purchase. The stud was founded in 1986 with a base of elite cows from The Basin Herd and now comprises more than 3500 cattle spread across seven properties in SA and Victoria. Sale average: $16,072 North-east Victorian stud Lawsons Angus joined the list of decorated beef studs which sold 100 per cent of their seedstock consignment during the 2022 bull selling season. The Yea stud held its 52nd sale in late March and sold 153 bulls to record an average of $16,072. Lawsons Angus stud co-principal Harry Lawson said a crowd of about 150 people watched the sale. "The clients that support us are genuinely really good, smart farmers - anything from people with a very small herd to the established bigger herds," he said. The-top priced bull was Lot 140, Lawsons Quantum R238, who was bought for $40,000 by Shane and Jodie Foster, Boonaroo Angus, Casterton, who also made this list at number five. The Victorian-based stud also holds a spring bull sale at Roma, Queensland, as well as an annual bull sale in Albany, WA. Sale average: $16,037 Renowned beef stud Alpine Angus wowed crowds when an Angus bull sold for $90,000 at its Rosewhite selling complex in March. The impressive result was Victoria's second top-priced bull for 2022 and assisted with the stud's improved average of $16,037. Alpine Angus stud manager Chris Oswin said he was "stoked" with the result after the sale. The Porepunkah-based stud is spread across seven properties in the Ovens Valley district and owned by Supreme Court of Victoria Justice Jim Delany and his wife Clare. The Delanys established the stud in 1998. Sale average: $15,486 It is no surprise that Tasmanian powerhouse Landfall Angus made the top 10 list of 2022 after selling an incredible 451 bulls across two sales. Landfall Angus was the only Tasmanian-based stud to make it into the top 10, and the only seedstock operation to offer more than 200 bulls in two sales. The stud's 44th March 2022 sale included 210 bulls which sold to a top price of $34,000 to average $13,933 and was backed up by a second sale which included 241 bulls which sold to $44,000 to average $15,486. The $44,000 two-year-old bull - from the Newground N90 progeny - was bought in partnership by Ted and Alison Laurie, Knowla Livestock, Moppy, NSW, and Tim and Margaret Vincent, Booragul Angus, Gunnedah, NSW. 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. Sale average: $14,962 In a remarkable achievement for their first on-property sale, Sam and Jane King were among the highest-performing beef studs principals in Victoria and Tasmania after recording the 10th strongest sale average in 2022. The Tatyoon stud has held three sales since its inception, but the first two were forced online after COVID-19-imposed restrictions prevented the first and second sales from going ahead in-person. The Tatyoon-based stud offered 53 bulls and sold the lot to an average of $14,962. The result was particularly impressive given there were 20 more bulls than previously offered in earlier sales. The top-priced bull of the sale was Lot 20, Bowmont Paratrooper S056, which made $40,000. Listed by highest to lowest sale price average. Additional reporting by Joely Mitchell, Philippe Perez, Andrew Miller, Annabelle Cleeland, Alastair Dowie, Jess Parker and Alexandra Bernard. Subscribers have access to download our free app today from the App Store or Google Play.