History made as Wattlewood Angus' annual bull sale hosted on new site

A new top price has been established at the annual Wattlewood Angus bull sale in Lang Lang, with Wattlewood Venture V24 taking the honour.

Sold to first-time buyer Merv Steer, Eyton On Yarra, Healesville, for $20,000, the two-year-old bull is by Texas Iceman and out of homegrown dam Wattlewood Barunah.

The sale recorded a 100 per cent clearance with all 28 lots selling for an average of $8796.

Wattlewood stud principals John and Fiona Glover said the top bull showed amazing weight for age, strong carcase weight with good fat cover and outstanding docility.

"We were excited to present 30 top-quality bulls that are a very consistent type with plenty of meat in all the right places," Mrs Glover said.

"We believe we have bulls that appeal to and suit every astute breeder and Wattlewood Venture V24 stood out with bidders at the sale."

Mr Steer also purchased the second top-priced bull, Wattlewood Verified V55, for $19,000.

The 18-month-old sire is by Sitz Stellar 726D and out of a SITZ Stellar stud heifer, Wattlewood Eclypta T34.

"Both the bulls are moderate frame, carrying a lot of muscle and are really soft-fleshing, easy-doing bulls," Mrs Glover said.

"They've looked tremendous from day dot and they had a lot of interest at the sale.

"Venture isn't a big personality bull but he always stands with so much presence and he's in the top 1pc in the breed for fats, so he's got the easy-doing softness, and he travels along without much in front of him.

"He's going to go to a great home, someone who really loves their cattle and what they do, and we're really looking forward to working with Merv in the future."

One of the first LVVF Tanker 14 progeny to be offered in Australia, Wattlewood Vroom V8 sold for the third highest price of $11,000.

"Vroom has always been a stand-out bull with low birth weight and high growth in a powerhouse package," Mrs Glover said.

The Glover family have been breeding stud cattle for 25 years and are proud to offer high-quality Angus cattle to their clients at the new on-farm sale venue which features an auction barn, office, bathroom and bar facilities.

The couple have spent the past eight months building, renovating and landscaping the space in preparation for the event.

"Unfortunately, John's father passed away in 2021, so we originally leased this farm where we started utilising it for the cattle and then we had the chance to purchase it a year and a half ago and so we decided it would be a great location for our bull sale," Mrs Glover said.

"We've been working really hard getting everything up and running - lots of long days - and it's just worked out really well."

She said the feedback from both the agents and bidders had been overwhelmingly positive.

"We had a lot of fun working with our builder to achieve our vision of a rustic atmosphere and everyone is really enjoying being part of it," she said.

"To a lot of people on the outside we're relatively new because it's only been word of mouth and return buyers in the past, but our bulls are now going further afield.

"When you go to the store market or fat market you'll see 'sired by Wattlewood' more and more often, which we're really proud of, and it's really starting to get that momentum that we're recognised in the area and they are just easy bulls to own and manage.

"I think we're probably at a point in our lives where we should be slowing down, not speeding up, but we're so glad we've made the leap."

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She said many of the bidders at the annual event were return buyers looking for moderate framed cattle with good birth weights.

"We had a number of return buyers who also purchased multiple lots including Amphitheatre Pastoral, Buneep Pastoral, Wendy Horner, Jarvis Holdings and Doug Hanks," she said.

"Among our new buyers, we saw purchases from Outlook Drive Investments, Manna Valley and Pearson Beef."

Elders auctioneer Ryan Bajada said the sale success was a direct reflection on the efforts of the Glover family.

"To achieve 100pc clearance, a top of $20,000 and another bull close behind at $19,000 - with an average just under $9000 - highlights the ability to get in and buy bulls at really affordable rates but there are also some high end bulls that are making that top money," Mr Bajada said.

He said the majority of bulls were sold within a 80-kilometre radius of the Wattlewood property.

"As a set of bulls, and as a program, they are a very safe, industry relevant, and an extremely docile draft of bulls and people are getting results with them," he said.

"I've had many repeat buyers commenting on how they're performing and the quality of the calves they produce."