Stellar Livestock Angus bulls head to East Gippsland, Riverina

The Mudgegonga stud, formerly Black Star Angus, sold 22 of 27 bulls to record an average of $7590, with first-time buyers taking home a bulk of the cattle on offer, including the top-priced $16,000 lot.

Stellar Livestock co-principal Julian Carroll said he was not sure what to expect before the sale.

"The stud is 13 years old but we rebranded a year ago from Black Star Angus to Stellar Livestock to increase our scale and incorporate my brother Stephen Carroll, his wife Kathryn as well as myself and Sally," he said.

"We were very pleased with the enthusiasm for the better bulls in the draft.

"We would have liked to have seen a better clearance rate on the draft, but we are just starting out and we've come off a spring-calving client base so an autumn sale didn't really fit in."

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The new stud's aim is to increase the turnoff of bulls at sale day by 25 per cent each year, with a focus on carcase quality and maternal efficiency.

"Most of the bulls went to new clients and that is a positive because they went much further afield, including to East Gippsland and the Riverina," Mr Carroll said.

"The number of bulls is an improvement of what we sold the year before and that will gradually grow."

The top-price bull, Lot 33 Stellar Momentous Lotto S3, was knocked down for $16,000 to first-time buyer Burnbrae Crossing, Gerogery, NSW, which also bought Lot 1 for $7000 and Lot 23 for $6000.

The July 2021-drop 18-month-old bull ranked highly in all indexes of the Angus breed due to a "perfect spread" of Estimate Breeding Values, Mr Caroll said.

"In summary, he had good growth with low birth weight and moderate mature cow weight," he said.

The bull was sired by Lawson's Momentous and out of Stellar Barunah P2.

Agent Mike Scollard, Paull & Scollard Nutrien, Albury, NSW, represented Burnbrae Crossing manager Colin Ellis at the sale and said his client had already inspected the bull at Stock & Land Beef Week.

"The bull's figures on his birthing and milking made him standout, along with his structure," Mr Scollard said.

"They are a closed herd and Burnbrae only buy bulls so this bull will be joined to a few heifers in the middle of May for autumn calving next year.

"Colin wanted to try another bloodline and we thought Stellar Livestock was the way to go."

First-time buyers Ken and Kym Skews, Ensay, bought three bulls, including a sale highlight with Lot 4, Stellar Superbowl S110, for $15,000 as well as Lot 25 for $11,000 and Lot 15 for $5000.

Waverley Farming, Indigo Valley, bought Lot 14, Stellar Momentous Renny S13, for $12,000 and Lot 22 for $10,000.

I Junor, Benambra, bought two bulls, including Lot 26, Stellar Quicksilver S39, for $10,000 and Lot 29 for $5000.

Representing agent and Nutrien Ivone Agencies agent Wade Ivone, Myrtleford, said it was a good first sale.

"The better end of the bulls offered good value for money," he said.

"There were mostly new buyers there and that was the real positive out of the sale, to get new faces.

"The family have put a lot of work into breeding bulls that have a lot of maternal traits, big EMAs and good growth through them and their bulls are very sound so they make for a good investment."

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