Millah Murrah’s Timely $18,000 Top
By Brett Tindal (courtesy The Land, Thursday, September 12, 2013, page 87)
What a year it’s been for Millah Murrah Angus at Bathurst.
After averaging $7960 for 112 females in April, five months later the stud outstripped the highest Angus bull sale average to date this spring selling season by more than $1500, averaging a staggering $8016 for 96 bulls at its annual sale last Friday.
The Thompson family’s dual 2013 result is unmatched in the Angus breed and follows Millah Murrah’s extraordinary bull sales from the previous two years, when it recorded the highest Angus on-property auction sale average in both years, including the current national record of $8850 over 80 bulls in 2011.
The sale was a remarkable achievement with a total clearance of 96 bulls to a moderate top of $18,000, with 24 bulls selling over the $10,000 mark.
But there was still good commercial value for buyers, with 36 bulls selling under $6000.
Buyers travelled from several States with stud and commercial buyers locking horns, with commercial buyers willing to pay over $10,000 for some of the top bulls on offer.
Long-term Millah Murrah supporter Sue Howieson, Fairvale Angus, Canberra, ACT, paid $18,000 for the top priced bull, Millah Murrah Right Time G257, a 888 kilogram son of BT Right Time 24J with a 45 centimetre scrotal circumference.
Mrs Howieson said she was chasing the Right Time 24J genetics to add the sire’s strong maternal characteristics into her herd.
“G257 was extremely sound and balanced and will be a good multi-purpose bull to give my cow herd a lift, while still being able to produce saleable bulls,” she said.
Mrs Howieson also paid $14,000 for one of the equal top priced yearling sires, an Angus Performance Register (APR) son of Booromooka Theo she said she “just could not walk past”, adding the bull was a beautiful package with softness and balance.
Ian and Christine O’Leary and sons Duncan and Toby, Narranmore Angus, Elong Elong, near Dunedoo, paid $17,000 for Millah Murrah Emperor H86, a 810 kg, February 2012-drop bull by Te Mania Emperor.
Mr O’Leary said he loved the muscle, shape and walking ability of the bull, as well as its excellent spring of rib.
“For a good bull to stand out the way he did in a herd like this, just showed you how good he really was,” he said.
There were 25 Te Mania Emperor sons which topped at $17,000, averaging $8560, while bulls by Ardrossan Apollo D324 averaged $9600 for five, topping at $16,000.
Thirteen Dunoon Evident E614 sons averaged $7846, selling to $14,000, while seven R/M Ironstone 4047 sons made to $14,000, averaging $7958.
Bulls by Millah Murrah Neutron E78 averaged $7786 for seven, and two BT Right Time 24J sons topped at $18,000 averaging $13,000.
Millah Murrah bull buyers since 2009, Jeremy and Jeff Shaw, “Double J”, Injune, Queensland, bought five bulls for a $7000 average to join to their 1500 Angus breeders.
On the first Tuesday of July each year the Shaws, JS Grazing, offer the bulk of their annual weaner crop and this year, over 500 of their Millah Murrah-blood steers topped at 211 cents a kilogram and averaged 205c/kg for the entire drop, a premium of more than 10c/kg in what was a very subdued market in Queensland at the time.
First time buyer at Millah Murrah, James Harris, Forster and Sons, “Abington”, Uralla, paid $16,000 and $12,000 for two sires by Apollo and Neutron respectively, which will be used to breed feeder steers from his 2000 Angus cows and 400 crossbreds.
Return buyers Kelly and Michael Fardon, managers for Craiglea Partnership, Hobbys Yards, join 1500 Angus cows to breed steers for the feeder market, and were looking for bulls with growth, length, body and balance.
The Fardons bought three bulls to a top of $13,000, averaging $11,333, including the change of bloodlines they were looking for to Ironstone and Evident.
A plethora of buyer paid big money, including the Fleming family’s Doreen Partnership, Uralla, which outlaid $14,000 for a yearling Emperor son, while long term Millah Murrah bull users Peter and Simon Emery, “James Park”, Crookwell, paid $10,000 for an Evident son.
Another long-term customer J.H. Rice and Company, Parkes, bought two bulls at $10,000 apiece, while Kinloch Angus, Tasmania, paid $12,000 for its first Millah Murrah sire, an Apollo son, and Wendouree Grazing, Walcha, returned to pay $11,000 for a March 2012-drop Emperor son.
Tim Vincent, Booragual Angus, Currabubula, paid $16,000 for an Emperor son, Millah Murrah H125, which exhibited great softness and a strong top with a strong sire’s outlook.
Matt Crozier, Cavan Station, Yass, loaded five at $6200, while Mark Brazel, cattle manager for Rimanui Farms, “Boonaldoon”, Moree, purchased five at $4600 and Crown State pastoral Company, Binnaway, paid to $14,000 for three, averaging $8167.
The sale was conducted by Elders and Paul Dooley Pty Ltd, with Paul Dooley as auctioneer.
Trend Bucked at Bathurst
By Brett Tindal (courtesy The Land, Thursday, September 12, 2013, page 5)
Millah Murrah Angus at Bathurst has defied an otherwise softer bull sales market with a solid average price of $8016 for 96 bulls in a total clearance.
This is the third year in a row the stud has averaged more than $8000 and is so far the highest average for a bull sale in NSW this season.
Millah Murrah also holds the national Angus on-property sale record average price of $8850, set in 2011.
Meanwhile, sale averages across the board have dropped by $500 to $2500, as buyers steady their bidding from the high rates seen in the past couple of years.
Despite its strong average, the Millah Murrah sale had a relatively modest top price at $18,000, but 24 bullls did sell over the $10,000 mark.
