Chateau Limousins sells bull to WA client for the second time in 42 years
A Victorian Limousin stud has sold a stud sire to a client in Western Australia for the second time in 42 years.
Andrew and Jenna McIntyre, Chateau Limousin stud, sold multiple lots to interstate stud breeders at NSW, Queensland and WA during the family's 11th annual autumn sale at Londrigan in north-east Victoria.
The first bull of the sale, Lot 1, Chateau JWMPU13, was bought by Tara Limousins and Black Tara Angus, Allanooka, WA, for $9000.
It was the first time in more than 30 years the McIntyre family had sold a bull to the western state.
"It's pretty exciting because not many people have been able to sell bulls into the west," Mr McIntyre said.
"There are a lot of good herds over there that are often forgotten about and the last time we sold a bull to WA was in the late 1980s when the Limo job was very strong."
The stud sold 14 of 24 bulls offered on Thursday to record a top price of $10,000 and an average of $5900.
Seven of 14 females sold to a top price of $7000 to average $5100.
Mr McIntyre said the stud was established four decades ago by his parents, John and Bev McIntyre, with a philosophy to breed commercially-relevant, easy-doing cattle with a long body that were easy to handle.
"Over the years, we have also moved to focus on a wide variety of traits again to be relevant for all producers both stud and commercial ... with the inclusion of Breedplan and more recently genomic testing," he said.
"We look for a balance between our ideal phenotype of an animal along with traits that breeders are looking for, not losing the physical attributes that Limousin cattle are renowned for."
The top-priced bull, Lot 2, Chateau JWMPU51, was bought by Bogong View, Tawonga South, for $10,000.
The black homozygous-polled bull had growth traits and carcase weight inside the top 2 per cent of the breed, along with rib and rump fat traits in the top 10pc.
Chateau Limousins described the sale topper as a bull with natural performance, soft skin and a clean coat with a sale day weight of 906 kilograms.
The bull had scans of 10 millimetres for rump, 10mm for rib, 139 square centimetres for eye muscle area and 6.5pc for intramuscular far.
Bogong View is owned by Tony Iaria and managed by his son Frank Iaria in north-east Victoria.
Frank said the bull would be joined portion of 200 Angus and Limousin breeding females.
"The Limousin bulls give us a lot of muscle, and if we use them over Angus cows, we get a bit of fat and muscle," he said.
"With the cross especially, they seem to put on more weight as opposed to joining them over purebred Limouisins.
"We wean our calves at 380-400kg and then we grow them out for a few months, getting them to about 450kgs after weaning, and then we sell them at Wodonga in either the fat and store sales."
The top-priced female, Lot 39, Chateau JWMPV3, was an unjoined apricot homozygous polled heifer with several growth traits in the top 10pc of the breed.
It was purchased by interstate buyer Andrew Stumer, Provenance Limousin stud, Wondai, Qld, for $7000.
The heifer weighed 491kg and had scans of 8mm for rumb, 8mm for rib, and an EMA of 110sqcm.
The lot was owned by Andrew and Jenna's daughters, Alana, 7, and Olivia, 4, who are the third generation to be involved with the stud.
Mr Stumer said it was the first time he had bought a lot from the Longrigan stud.
"There have been a lot of Limousin females go on the market this year, and we were in the market to buy some more heifers," he said.
"We opted to buy some Chateau heifers for the sheer volume and capacity of their female herd.
"We bought two females at the sale once they get to Queensland, we will grow them out a bit and after they have their first calf, they will be put into our donor program where they will be flushed."
In the last three years, the McIntyres have incorprated carcase scanning into their stud, giving them the ability to display raw data and allowing them to improve their herd.
"[It keeps] our herd in line with industry relevance, to not only maintain even fat cover but also to assist in producing cattle that will grade and yield to suit multiple commercial markets," Mr McIntyre said.
He said the sale featured no standout volume buyers, with most of the people who purchased heifer lots walking away with two females from the sale.
Nutrien southern region stud stock manager Peter Godbolt said the sale was underpinned by several repeat buyers.
"Chateau had a lot of return clients and we have sold about five or six lots since the sale," Mr Godbolt said.
"The quality was excellent and it's a credit to the McIntyres for their tireless work."
