Local and online support at Keiross' final Speckle Park on the Plains sale

There was both local and online support at the Keiross stud's final Speckle Park on the Plains sale at Hay on March 1, with the top end of heifers selling to good demand.

The top-priced bull was the 945-kilogram Keiross Turbo Charged U42, who sold for $10,000 to return client Weston Henwood, Carrathool.

Mr Henwood runs both Speckle Park and Angus and said he favoured the bull's scale.

The two-year-old, by Notta 1B Hawkeye 444E and out of Keiross Amanda S4, was the heaviest bull in the draft.

His estimated breeding values included the top 15 per cent of the breed for instramuscular fat and the top 5pc for eye muscle area.

Mr Henwood also paid $4000 for Keiross Cove U105, a July-2023 drop, 755kg, by Maungahina Kidmans Cove and from Three Way Gracelands M27.

Another return client, Brett Schiller, Hay, purchased the second top-priced bull in Keiross The Boss for $8000.

The 845kg bull was unregistered but measured 41 centimetres scrotal circumference.

Mr Schiller planned to let him grow out before joining him to cows in about eight months' time.

He selected the bull for his scan data and overall type.

The Schiller family also paid $4500 for Keiross Up There Alone 300X T96, 855kg, an October-2022 drop by Spots 'n Sprouts Stands Alone and out of Three Way a Princely Figure.

The bull ranked in the top 10 per cent of the breed for growth weights and the top 20pc for eye muscle area.

Local buyers Blue Dog Pastoral Company bought three bulls, each for $4000.

All up, seven of 15 bulls averaged $5500.

In the heifers, 17 of 34 sold to an $8000 top to average $3485.

Donnan Family Farming Trust, Swan Hill, Vic, selected the top lot, Keiross Q100 Belinda U36, 600kg at 24 months.

By Six Star SPC Bojangles Q100 and out of Keiross Belinda S21, she was pregnancy-tested-in-calf to Colgans Frasier CF 11F.

She ranked in the top 5pc for gestation length, birthweight, 200-, 400-, and 600-day weights, and IMF.

The family also bought Keiross Q100 Zahrah U102, also by Bojangles and out of Keiross Zahrah S5, for $4500, and Keiross L14 Katie U48 for $2500.

Oak Point Speckle Park, Lucindale, SA, paid $5250 Keiross 444E Amanda U29, 605kg at 24 months.

The heifer was another Notta 1B Hawkeye 444E/Keiross Amanda S4 cross and was PTIC to JSF Unmarked 2D.

Avon Valley Speckle Park, Boisdale, Vic, paid $4500 for Keiross L12 Sassafras In The Night, by Three Way Kings Ransom and PTIC to Keiross 300X Stands Strong T63.

KJ Speckle Park, Coopernook, outlaid $3250 for Keiross 1B Sassafras U15, by Caja Zeppelin 1B from Ewyn 23E Sassafras R12.

MAK Agriculture Pty Ltd, Gulgong, selected four heifers, paying to an equal $3250 top to average $2875.

In the embryos, five of 11 packages sold to a $1000 top to average $600, while all 13 semen packages sold to $800, averaging $279.

Stud principal Dimity Comb said it was bittersweet to hold the final sale, but the family planned to focus on their White Suffolk stud and 6000-head flock of commercial Merinos.

Ms Comb said the tight season in southern NSW and Victoria had impacted the result, but there was still very good local support and she was proud of the quality of the draft.

Elders conducted the sale with Ryan Bajada, Wagga Wagga, the auctioneer. AuctionsPlus provided the interface.