Writing was on the wall for a strong result which is just how it unfolded

With more registered buyers sitting in the stands than the number of bulls on offer when the annual Black Market Angus bull sale kicked off at Boyanup last week, the writing was on the wall for a very strong result and that was exactly what unfolded.

Right throughout, buyers pushed hard on the quality line-up of Angus bulls presented by Black Market principals Paul and Lydia Torrisi and long-time stud team member Jaring Rijpma, which saw prices peak at $24,000 and the stud's average lift more than $3700 on last year to more than $12,000.

Buyers were presented with 50 rising two-year-old extensively measured and genomically tested bulls, bred in the purple on new and proven breed-leading international, Australian and homebred under the Black Market and Cherylton prefixes following the alliance formed between the Torrisi family and Cherylton Farms in recent years and buyers weren't backward in coming forward in their bidding as they chased the bulls which met their requirements.

As always, the sale attracted widespread commercial and stud interest from 73 registered buyers not only based in the South West, but further afield including the South Coast, Esperance, Dandaragan, Lake King and many of these went home empty handed due to the red hot competition.

Sale summary

• (Under the hammer results)
• Offered: 50
• Sold: 50
• Top: $24,000
• Gross: $615,000
• Average: $12,300

It wasn't only the buyers in the stands which added competition, the sale was also on AuctionsPlus, receiving 1784 views which helped yield four active bidders that placed 41 online bids across 15 lots, resulting in three bulls selling through the online platform to three different buyers.

As a result, the selling team hardly started a bull at the $5000 reserve price.

When the final bull left the ring, after just over one hour of selling and the statistics were calculated, the Nutrien Livestock team led by auctioneer Austin Gerhardy, Nutrien Livestock, Yea, Victoria, had cleared all 50 bulls offered under the hammer to 33 different buyers for a $12,300 average, which was up $3727 on last year.

In comparison, last year 46 bulls were offered and 41 sold under the hammer to a sale record $47,000 top and an average of $8573.

Mr Gerhardy said it was a terrific sale for the Torrisi family and the Black Market stud.

"The quality of the bulls on offer was extremely high and a testament to the selective breeding of the Black Market program," Mr Gerhardy said.

"The market tone and final sale result certainly proved this with prices and clearance significantly improved on last year.

"I thought it would be a strong sale due to the line-up of bulls on offer but it certainly exceeded expectations with buyers clearly having selected multiple sires throughout the catalogue that they believed would add value to their program and they were willing to pay the appropriate values for them.

"From start to finish, there was consistent and solid buying and there was no lull at any point of the sale as buyers were eager with their purchasing right through.

"The final result is a well-deserved one for the Black Market stud which has invested greatly in presenting a top product to the market place."

Equally as happy with the sale result was Mr Torrisi and the Black Market team.

"We are extremely pleased with the sale result and level of confidence shown in our product and program," Mr Torrisi said.

"After such a successful day I believe it is important to reflect and be thankful for the core group of clients that have been with us from the beginning and backed us in as we have grown and improved our offering.

"We have some exciting genetics in the pipeline and the partnership with the team at Cherylton continues to deliver, which is really pleasing."

With a quality line-up of bulls by a wide range of proven sires, right through the catalogue, there were plenty of options for buyers to select from but the one which most had ticked in their catalogue was Black Market Troopy V032 in lot three.

The powerful, 814 kilogram sire created plenty of interest among buyers as soon as it entered the ring and this saw Mr Gerhardy take a starting bid of $15,000 on the bull.

After some quick back-and-forth between the buyers in the stands and the auctioneering team, the price quickly rose and surpassed $20,000 before Troopy V032 was knocked down at the day's $24,000 top price to return buyer, the Camarri family, S Camarri & Co, Nannup, who left their bidding to Nutrien Livestock, Boyanup/Capel agent Chris Waddingham.

The mid-February 2024-drop bull is an ET-bred son of Millah Murrah Paratrooper P15 and out of one of the stud's elite donor cows, Black Market Wilcoola N060, which is a daughter of Coonamble Hector H249.

Along with impressing on the eye with its thickness, muscling and softness, Troopy V032 had a set of Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) to match of -4.8 for calving ease direct (DIR), +2.7 for calving ease daughters (DTRS), -12.0 gestation length (GL), +6.8 birthweight (BWT), +74, +130 and +168 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights, +150 mature cow weight (MCW), +0.65 mature cow body condition (MBC), +10.1 mature cow height (MCW), +13 milk, +1.3 scrotal size (SS), -4.3 days to calving (DTC), +97 carcase weight (CWT), +4.7 EMA, +1.1 rib fat, +0.9 P8 fat, -0.6 retail beef yield (RBY), -0.1 IMF, -0.35 feed efficiency (NFI-F), +30 docility (DOC), +0.88 claw set, +0.86 foot angle and +0.92 leg angle.

With these figures Troopy V032 ranks in the top one per cent of the breed for GL, 200, 400 and 600-day weights and MBC, top 5pc for MCW, CWT and NFI-F and top 20pc for MCH and DOC.

Mr Waddingham said Troopy V032 fitted the criteria for the Camarri family's production system.

"The Camarri family run a performance based business, supplying product to the supermarket trade and the majority of progeny are slaughtered under 14-15 months old, so they were looking for a bull which would help them to continue to do this and this bull fitted their selection criteria in terms of both his figures and phenotype," Mr Waddingham said.

"His EBVs are very good, he is in the top 1pc for 200, 400 and 600-day growth plus he is in the top 3pc for carcase weight, positive for fats and has a very good docility figure at +30.

"In addition to his figures he has very good thickness and softness plus he is smooth through the shoulders, has good neck extension and a strong masculine head.

"The Camarri family has had the Paratrooper bloodline before and it is working well, so we think this bull will fit in really well in their program.

"They will use him as a backup bull in their AI-breeding program to breed replacement bulls for their enterprise."

The second top price was $20,000 and it was recorded twice for two bulls carrying the Cherylton prefix which were catalogue, late in the sale in lots 49 and 50.

Cherylton Quartz V726 in lot 49 hit the $20,000 mark first when it was knocked down to return buyer Gary Dickson, GL & RK Dickson, Nannup.

The deep-bodied, 734kg Quartz V726 is by Cherylton Quartz S009 and out of Cherylton Fiona P222, which is a daughter of Quaker Hill Rampage 0A36.

The July-drop bull ranks in the top 5pc for RBY and NFI-F as well as top 10pc for 200-day weight and EMA.

Mr Dickson, who selected the bull, alongside his agent Mr Waddingham, said Quartz V726 was a stylish, deep bull.

"His depth, which we really like, comes from his grandsire Millah Murrah Quartz Q29," Mr Dickson said.

"He also has a good 200-day weight and mature cow weight while he was not too high for mature cow depth.

"He is highly suitable for our operation where our target market is the grassfed supermarket.

"Our aim is to provide the market place with cattle in the 270-320kg range in early January.

"We will use him in our nucleus breeding herd to breed bulls for our use."

The Dicksons this year will join 460 Angus cows, alongside 200 heifers for a late April/May calving.

Next up to make the $20,000 top price was Cherylton Showtime V716 in lot 50 and this time placing the winning bid was Wayne Tapscott, Waymu Farms, Albany.

The late-June 2024-drop, AI-bred Showtime V716 is by Coonamble Show Time S42 and out of Cherylton Portia T171, which is a daughter of Millah Murrah Rembrandt R48.

The 672kg bull is in the top 10pc for MCW, SS and foot angle as well as top 20pc for 400 and 600-day weight, CWT, RBY and leg angle.

Mr Tapscott said Showtime V716 had good depth of body, a good soft skin and was free moving.

"He has growth figures and while his birthweight figure is very high, it wasn't a concern," Mr Tapscott said.

Along with purchasing Showtime V716, Mr Tapscott, who will join 430 cows and 70-80 heifers for a February/March calving this year, also secured another two bulls to finish with a team of three at an average of $14,667.

The other two bulls he purchased were also Show Time S42 sons, Cherylton Showtime V711 (lot 47) and Cherylton Showtime V703 (lot 53) and he secured both of these at $12,000.

Mr Tapscott said he was particularly chasing the Show Time S42 bloodline.

"We used the bloodline in our AI-program last year over both heifers and cows and the calves which have hit the ground already are looking really good," he said.

"You can see Show Time S42's traits coming through and they are all the same, they are just so consistent in type.

"I think the females are going to make good breeders."

Two bulls also sold for the $19,000 third top price.

The first sire to hit $19,000 in the team was the powerful and soft Black Market Rogan V093 in lot six.

Rogan V093, which is a son of Black Market Rogan R100, was secured through AuctionsPlus by Nutrien Livestock, Esperance agent Darren Chatley for client Mark Darlow, Forward Plains, Condingup.

The 834kg bull ranks in the top 1pc for foot angle and top 5pc 200 and 400-day weights, claw set and leg angle.

Mr Chatley said Rogan V093 was a good, thick, deep bull with exceptional growth figures and positive fats which are well above breed average.

"He is the right style of bull for the Darlow's herd," Mr Chatley said.

The other buyer to go to $19,000 was volume buyer and return client Capel Creek, Donnybrook, represented by owner Sarah Creagh and farm manager Dean Taaffe.

At $19,000, Capel Creek purchased Cherylton Showtime V702 from lot 40.

The late-June 2024-drop, 704kg bull is by Show Time S42 and ranks in the top 3pc for DOC, top 10pc for foot angle and top 20pc for claw set and 600-day weight.

Capel Creek also paid $18,000 and $17,000 for two other Show Time S42 sons, Black Market Showtime V008 from lot five and Black Market Showtime V337.

Mr Taaffe said they were very happy to get these three Show Time S42 sons.

"We were chasing the Show Time S42 bloodline to add to our herd," Mr Taaffe said.

"All three bulls had good thickness and depth along with good docility.

"Good docility is important to us as we are trying to breed quiet, easy-doing cattle.

"If the cattle are less stressed, it means they lose less weight, which in the end means better performance."

Along with buying these two Show Time S42 sons, Capel Creek, which is looking to join 480 breeders including heifers for a March/April calving, secured another four bulls (two Cherylton and two Black Market) to finish with a team of seven at an average of $14,571.

Other buyers to have an influence on the result in terms of both price and numbers purchased were CA & DA Tilbrook, Broadwater, which purchased one bull at $18,000, while Rayview Park, Albany, secured two sires to a top of $16,000 and an average of $13,000 and Roydon Nominees, Denmark, picked up two bulls at an average of $12,000 and to a high of $13,000.

Other buyers in this category were BG Eva, Charley Creek, which purchased three bulls to a high of $12,000 and an average of $11,333 and Willowbrook WA Pty Ltd, Yabberup, averaged $11,500 over a team of two that topped at $12,000.