Charolais stud bucks recent trends, clearing all bulls offered for sale

Rangan Charolais stud has bucked the trend of recent autumn bull sales in Victoria by achieving a full clearance at its recent sale.

The north-west Victorian stud based at Charleroi held its 16th annual bull sale on Friday, where it cleared all 33 bulls offered to average $7985.

The top-priced bull, Lot 4, Duty-Free U122, was knocked down for $26,000 to Calmview Charolais, Fernleigh, NSW.

The 20-month-old bull was sired by Turnbulls Duty-Free 358D and out of Showgirl L11.

Calmview Charolais stud principal Tony Farrell is a first-time client of Rangan and said the main drawcard of the bull was that he was not a BPA gene carrier as his sire was.

"His sire has a lot of influence in the Charolais breed but he is a BPA gene carrier which is a genetic fault in the breed," Mr Farrell said.

He said to find progeny of that renowned sire who is BPA free and a homozygous poll bull, especially when the sire was a carrier, was particularly rare.

The sale-topper boasted estimated breeding value figures in the top 1 per cent of the breed for milk at +20, and figures in the top 5pc for birth weight at -3.7 kilograms and gestation length at -6.7 days,as well as +0.0 square centimetres eye muscle area, 200-day weight of +16kg, 400-day weight of +34kg and a 600-day weight of +43kg.

"He is a great heifer bull with fast growth and loads of milk," Mr Farrell said.

He said the stud, situated in northern NSW, was having an excellent season.

The second top-priced bull was Lot 3, Rangan Unique U199, which sold for $20,000 to Ascot Cattle, Warwick, Qld.

Rangan Charolais stud principal Graeme Cook attributed the high clearance rate of the sale to the uniformity of the catalogue.

"I think the key is having a real evenness in the draft," Mr Cook said.

"If people missed out on one bull they could move to another bull that suited them easily."

Last year Rangan set a new Victorian record for the Charolais breed with a $50,000 sale-topper bought by Jason and Kylie Catts, Futurity Charolais, Baradine, NSW.

However, last year's sale fell just short of full clearance with 32 of 34 bulls sold for an average of $9063.

Mr Cook attributed the year-on-year fall in the average to the poor seasonal conditions but said interstate support for the sale had a large impact on the sale.

Almost half of the bulls sold interstate into NSW and Queensland, with 12 bulls heading to NSW and three bulls into Queensland.

"That's the most bulls we've ever sent north," Mr Cook said.

Four bulls sold into stud operations including the two top bulls, as well as Lot 15, which went to John and Ros Mercer, Kandanga Valley Charolais, Kandanga, Qld, and Lot 25 which went to Tarcombe Charolais, Ruffy.

"We're really pleased with the sale given the year we've had," Mr Cook said.

"In our area, and many other areas of the country, 2024 will be a year we will be happy to see in the rear-view mirror.

"We have never had to carry out more supplementary feeding on our property than last year."