$2300 Angus Cows at Millah Murrah
(By Peter Lowe for The Land September 14 2000)
A superb pen of commercial Angus cows with calves attracted a $2300 price tag and stud bulls averaged $4134 at the Thompson Family’s Millah Murrah Angus annual on-property sale at “Goonamurrah”, Bathurst, last week.
Millah Murrah co-principal, Ross Thompson, said to achieve one of the highest commercial female prices ever and post such a solid average for bulls with so many yearlings, was an extremely gratifying result.
Selling agent, Elders Ltd, with guest auctioneer, John Fryer, of Sydney, cleared the catalogue of 58 bulls – including 21 yearling sires – for a $4134 average, a $1234 jump on last year’s sale when 51 bulls sold.
In addition, 64 commercial females sold, including heifers, to average $1488. Victorian Studmasters, Andrew and Alison Anderson, “Tullynagee”, Warrnambool, and their manager, David Bird, bought the entire commercial yarding in a $95,200 spending spree. These included a magnificent pen of eight two and four year old home-bred cows with mixed sex calves at foot and back in-calf to Millah Murrah sires at $2300. Mr Anderson said the top-selling Millah Murrah commercial females carried a heavy infusion of Te Mania Kelp K207 and VDAR New Trend 315, which he had used extensively within his stud and commercial operations with great success.
“Their milking ability, evenness of type, genetic consistency and MN2 Johnes status ideally suited our programme,” he said.
Demand for bulls continued with 37 two-year-olds averaging $4203, and the yearlings averaging $4012 and going mainly to return buyers.
Peter Emery of the James Park Pastoral Co., Crookwell, made the $12000 top bid for Millah Murrah Tex T107. A September ’98-drop son of Hingaia 469 (imp NZ), T107 was the heaviest bull of the draft at 846kg and a sound, complete sire backed by high EBV’s. Mr Emery also selected a growthy son of Te Mania Kelp K207 at $4000 to join his top-priced acquisition for a pure Angus commercial herd on “James Park”.
Another long standing client Philip Simpson, “Newbury Farm”, Sutton Forest, selected a well proportioned son of Glenoch Megaforce M16 for $9000 to use over Angus and Angus/Hereford females. Doug Arnot of Birnam Wood Pty Ltd, at Coolah, bought three herd improvers for a $4167 average, paying up to $5500 for a growthy son of Megaforce M16. Australian Capital territory-based Sue Howieson, “Fairvale”, Weston paid the $6500 top yearling money for another Megaforce M16 progeny, Millah Murrah Megaforce U28 with exceptional growth figures.