'Stand out' sire leads season-defying lift in average for Bayview stud

An outstanding 'curve bending' Bayview stud bull, which was one of the highest ranking in the Shorthorn breed for the All Purpose dollar Index,has sold for the second highest price of any bull this SAsale season.

There was plenty of pre-sale interest in lot 5, Bayview Hipwood U48,offered by the Thompson family, Yorketown,at their fourth annual sale at their Naracoorte sale complex.

This translated into a $32,000 price tag with father and daughter,Ken and Hannah Tippett, Glengyron stud, Newlyn, Vic, putting in the winning bid.

"He is a really good soggy bull, we really liked him as soon as we saw him," Ms Tippett said.

The 22-month-old was a son of $40,000 bull Futurity Quinella Q8- who also sired the 2024 sale topper.

Hipwood U48 weighed 834kg with 124 square centimetres of eye muscle area and also had exceptional International Genetics Services figures.

This included ranking in the top 4pc for birth weight, stayability and maternal calving ease and top 4pc for marbling.

"He has a low birth weight and then explosive growth and he has all the carcase attributes that we have been working on," stud principal Chris Thompson said

"His dam is an exceptional female and he is going to do a really good job in the Tippett program because their cattle will suit his type."

Semen had already been collected in Hipwood for Bayview's own herd use and for a new commercial progeny testing program they are undertaking.

Several of their commercial clients will undertake an AI program with several of their sires and become satellite herds, allowing the stud to capture even more carcase data.

The 32 registered bidders from SA, Vic, NSW and WA were not afraid to bid up for the bulls they wanted with 10 lots making five figures.

This helped lift their average on 2023's sale- no mean feat in the worst season in decades.

This year 29 of 41 rising two year old bulls averaged $10,554 compared to 2024 when 27 of 37 bulls averaged $9815.

But at the same time, this year there were still 12 bulls sold at the $6000 upset price.

Lot 3, Bayview Fleetwood U16, made the $26,000 second-highest price, selling to Ashley Rowe, Kenton Ag, Arthurton.

The rich red BSG Profitwise 1767 son was bred in the purple with his mother also producing the $32,000 sale topper in 2023 as a first calver.

Stockdale Enterprises, Hyden, WA, who bought last year's $18,000 sale topper,were back outlaying the same money for lot 12, Bayview Himmelberg U116.

The sale's volume buyers were Mark and Lindy Withers, Dalwoodman Pastoral, Wentworth, NSW, who bought four bulls for their Keith property for a $6750 average.

They added another couple of passed in lots after the sale.

The Lyons family, Blackmoor Props, Kingston SE, bought three top-end bulls for a $14,333 average, paying up to $18,000 for lot 1 in the sale.

Buyers enjoyed some great value for money with the registered PTIC Shorthorn and Angus heifers which were sold in groups of five or six. They were either in calf to Angus or Wagyu sires.

Four of five lots- or 29 of 35 PTIC heifers- sold at $1600 each.

Trojon Shorthorns, Lyndhurst, NSW, was the main buyer with three lots- two of which were Angus females in calf to Granite Ridge stud bulls to calve from late August.

The first semen packages to be offered by US sire Gillman's All In 6K - which Bayview owns the Australian semen rights in with Southcote stud- also attracted plenty of interest.

Two NSW studs, Sprys at Wagga Wagga and Marrington stud, Dubbo, snapped these up at $750 a straw.

Mr Thompson said he was proud of their offering of bulls and impressed how they had come up after being fed only hay pellets in the worst season on record at their Yorke Peninsula property.

"They are the most even line-up we have had since having our own sale," he said.

"We had a lot of comments on skin type and easy doingness and fleshing in the cattle which really backs up our belief in what we are doing.

"We are one of the very few Shorthorn studs who leaves no stone unturned with our weighing and genomics and carcase data and we have seen this coming through in our scans with our IMF and where we are for our fat cover."

Mr Thompson said they were "over the moon" with the result and how their clients had supported the sale.

"The top end of the sale was exceptional but we know the industry isgoing through some unprecedented times as far as feed goes."

Nutrien SA stud stock manager and auctioneer Gordon Wood said it was impressive to reach a $32,000 in the "current environment" but described the sale topper as a standout.

"He ticked all the boxes as far as having a heap of muscle but still carrying the softness with it and really structurally correct bull with good data,

He said buyers were happy to kickstart bulls at $8000 to $10,000 but there was still plenty of great buying.

"They are 'paint them any colour type of cattle', they are industry relevant cattle with a heap of muscle and shape and the data set is right," he said.

Nutrien and Elders were joint selling agents.