Black Diamond sale brings plenty of sparkle with bids from four states
Buyers from four states on the hunt for a rare jewel were rewarded at the Black Diamond Speckle Park sale, with impressive heifers in hot demand, reaching a top of $7500.
Both returning and new clients got their hands on quality bulls and heifers at the May 2 sale at Macorna.
Seventeen of the 27 bulls offered sold, for a clearance of 63 per cent and an average of $5528.
Meanwhile, every one of the 13 heifers were snapped up for a top of $7500 and an average of $5462.
The top-priced bull, Lot 26, Black Diamond P214 Venom V3429, sold for $6500 to returning client Emma Woolf, Boxbank Pastoral, Woodside.
Black Diamond stud co-principal Murray Van der Drift said the bull was a favourite of the family.
"He was Dad's pick of the bulls," Mr Van der Drift said.
"He will be sad to see him go, to be honest."
The 762-kilogram sire prospect, sired by Black Diamond 54Z Pressure Point P214, scanned in the top 5 per cent of the breed for eye muscle area (EMA).
His EMA of 128 square centimetres made him the second highest in the draft despite being the youngest.
He also ranked in the top 20pc for birth weight.
"He's an incredibly complete bull," Mr Van der Drift said.
"He has complete balance, power and thickness to him.
"He had a cracking top in him - plenty of muscle, but he's still soft enough too.
"He's got great maternal strength to breed replacements."
Emma Woolf, Boxbank Pastoral, said she was chuffed to add the bull to their team of sires to join to Murray Grey cows.
"He's a good, soft bull," Ms Woolf said.
"He's got a good head and muscling.
"He's got a low birth weight so we can put him over heifers and cows.
"And we want good, docile bulls."
She said his colour was also important.
"He's white but he's leopardy to produce the colour we need," she said.
"We want coloured calves."
Boxbank Pastoral also bought the bull's half-brother, Lot 9, Black Diamond P214 Valid Point V3244, for $5000.
Meanwhile, the top-priced heifer, Lot 32, Black Diamond P07 Pho Finish V3359, was bought by JAD Speckle Park stud, Yeoval, NSW, for $7500.
The heifer, sired by Wattle Grove Dust N Smoke P07 and out of Waratah Pho-Finish L130, was ranked in the top 1pc for milk, with an estimated breeding value (EBV) of +10.
She was also ranked in the top 1pc for carcase weight, with an EBV of 43kg, and the top 10pc for EMA with an EBV of +1.4sqcm.
The heifer is pregnancy-tested-in-calf to Black Diamond P214 Vodofone V3241.
"She's from a really good maternal line - we've retained lots of calves from her mother," Mr Van der Drift said.
"She has a cracking pedigree on her, and it's great to see her go to such a big stud operation in JAD."
He said it was heartening to see both females and bulls sold to Tasmania, heifers to South Australia and NSW, and bulls sold across Victoria.
"We got really good support from the western districts of Victoria," he said.
"There was also a new buyer from SA who bought two.
"We had lots of repeat buyers - that was a very positive thing that came out of the sale."
As well as their eye-catching coat, Mr Van der Drift said there were so many benefits of Speckle Park cattle.
"They've got the meat eating quality underneath, and they're an all-round animal," he said.
"They can be used as a terminal sire or you can keep replacements out of them as maternals.
"We had a mixed offering with a few bulls that were suited to a weaner/vealer market, and then there were other bulls that were suited to producing maternal lines.
"There is a diverse range, and I think the bulls went to do all sorts of jobs."
The sale was conducted by Nutrien Ag Solutions and interfaced with AuctionsPlus.
