Queensland stud secures top-priced Charolais bull at Violet Hills sale
Solid support from both new and returning clients underpinned the Jenkins family's annual Violet Hills on-property sale at Rydal on May 8, where Charolais bulls sold to a top of $19,000.
A mix of local buyers, along with competition from the northern coastal region and Queensland, combined with spirited phone and online bidding through AuctionsPlus, helped drive the result.
In total, 22 of 32 bulls offered sold to average of $8454, achieving a clearance rate of 71 per cent.
Violet Hills also offered a quality line of 22 Charolais Red Angus-cross heifers, pregnancy-tested-in-calf to a Talooby Red Angus bull, which attracted strong interest on the day, selling for $2600 a head.
Stud principal Daryl Jenkins said he was pleased with the overall result, despite the clearance rate falling slightly short of expectations.
"I was generally happy with the sale, although the clearance rate probably wasn't as good as I'd hoped," he said.
"A lot of our regular clients are in drought, and I think that contributed to a number of potential buyers not even turning up.
"But we are continuing to build a strong client base along the NSW coast, which is pleasing."
The top-priced bull, Lot 6, Violet Hills Viking V76E, sold for $19,000 to John and Roslyn Mercer, Kandanga Valley Charolais and Charbray stud, Kandanga Valley, Queensland, operating online through AuctionsPlus.
The 818-kilogram homozygous poll bull, sired by Violet Hills Peronne VHV P268E out of a Jolly Joker cow, scanned an eye muscle area of 134 square centimetres, with nine millimeters of rump fat, 5mm of rib fat and 5.44pc marbling.
Described by Mr Jenkins as one of the "stand-out" bulls in the sale catalogue, the Mercer family plan to use the young sire in their mature cow herd at their Moonie property, north of Goondiwindi.
The stud runs 2000 stud Charolais and Charbray cattle, selling about 250 bulls annually.
"We've had a couple of Violet Hills bulls in the past and they've done a really good job for us," Mr Mercer said.
"What we've found with the Violet Hills cattle is they have good early growth and produce nice heavy weaners, which is exactly what we want."
Mr Mercer said the bull was a complete package.
"What we really liked about this bull was that he's homozygous polled, has a good head, good weight for age and plenty of muscling in his hindquarters," he said.
"We like to maintain that hindquarter in our cattle, as it can fall away a bit in poll cattle, so when we see a bull with that, along with a balanced set of estimated breeding values, including excellent calving ease and good scrotal size, we try and grab him if we can.
"We think he'll do a great job over our cows."
The second top-priced bull was Lot 7 in the catalogue, Violet Hills Val V96E, was bought for $14,000 by long-time client and neighbour, Lawson Grazing Co, Rydal.
Also sired by Violet Hills Peronne VHV P268E, the 20-month-old 776kg bull scanned an EMA of 125sqcm, with a rump fat measurement of 12mm and a rib fat of 7mm.
Lawson Grazing Co also secured the entire draft of PTIC Charolais Red Angus-cross heifers for their breeding program.
A Casino-based specialist weaner producer was the volume buyer on the day, securing 10 bulls and paying a top of $13,000 for Lot 8, Violet Hills Volvo V244E, to average $8700 across the draft.
Other active buyers included TR & CK Dolbel, Milton Vale, Triangle Flat, who purchased three bulls to a top of $8000.
Mr Jenkins said demand for their bulls continued to come from producers using Charolais genetics in crossbreeding programs.
"Our aim is to produce a Charolais suitable for crossbreeding for the Australian market," Mr Jenkins said.
"We've developed a fairly unique type of Charolais, early maturing, easy-calving, low-maintenance cattle that perform well on grass and still offer very good carcase quality."
The sale was conducted by Elders Bathurst, with Brian Kennedy from Elders Stud Stock NSW performing the auctioneering duties. AuctionsPlus provided the online interface.
