Strong volume support for Murdeduke Angus' successful sale move to Roma

The day after presiding over a Santa Gertrudis sale at Roma, Ben Evans and his wife Carly have topped the Murdeduke Angus bull sale at the same venue.

The couple, based at Canberra, south west of Roma, outlaid $18,000 for the 25-month-old Murdeduke Goalkeeper V289, along with three other bulls for their first-calf heifers, at the September 10 sale.

Their purchases plus support from a number of volume buyers, helped the Victorian stud to a respectable 78 per cent clearance in its first appearance at Roma.

The Winchelsea operation has been selling at Gracemere for the previous 10 years but decided to move to Roma this year, seeing it both as an opportunity to tap into the market for flatback progeny and to shift from a fed bull mentality to a more natural preparation.

The bulls were run on an oat crop at Brett and Ashlee White's property near Wallumbilla since June, and supplemented with a ration due to the deteriorating season.

They sold 46 of the 59 bulls on offer for an average price of $8060.

Last year at Gracemere, they averaged $7458, with a top price of $11,000.

Stud principal Lachie Wilson said a number of central Queensland clients had followed the sale down to the Maranoa but for Ben and Carly Evans, it was the first time they'd purchased Murdeduke bulls.

"We've bought Angus bulls for our heifers the last few years, but it was good to have an Angus sale here at Roma to go to," Mr Evans said.

They operate Carntyne Santas, selling mostly paddock bulls, but like to have Angus bulls in their program.

"We bought four today, all heifer-friendly and chosen for their ease of calving," Ms Evans said. "The top one - he was the best-bodied in the sale, he had plenty of fat, and good calving data."

As per the supplementary sheet, he weighed 828 kilograms, had rib and rump fat measurements of 15 and 10 millimetres respectively, an eye muscle area of 121 square centimetres, intramuscular fat of 7.6pc, and a scrotal circumference of 42.5 centimetres.

The second top-priced bull was Murdeduke Paragon V202, purchased by Goondiwindi's Warby family for $16,000.

They were also one of the top volume buyers, taking home seven bulls in all, for an average $8571.

Another volume buyer was Alex Bryant, who has property south of Mungallala and at Cooladdi, and who bought seven bulls for the base price of $6000.

He has a mixed bag of Brangus and Charolais bulls for his breeder herd but said he was pretty impressed with the Murdeduke bulls for sale.

"I was impressed with their depth, and they're not a hairy Angus, for our country," he said.

Acknowledging there was a premium for Angus cattle, Mr Bryant also said he was buying them for his heifers and because he wanted to get more fertility in his herd.

"Some good bulls were passed in today - they're hard to see in the pens but when they came into the ring and got more mobile, you could see what they could do."

Vendor Lachie Wilson said he was pretty satisfied with the sale.

"Obviously the season hasn't gone with us but the position here is more in line with our commercial mindset," he said. "We hope the bulls will go out and do the job and the word gets around."

Watkins and Co principal Brad Neven said that considering it was an inaugural sale for the district, and that seasonal conditions had made it tougher, it was a pretty successful sale.

• Selling agents: Watkins and Co, interfaced with AuctionsPlus