2017 Cow Sale
Our 2017 Cow sale recorded the highest average for a cow sale of any breed in Australasia. The sale highlights video can be watched here.
Beef’s New $190,000 Princess
Millah Murrah’s Angus Record Spree
By Lisa Duce (courtesy The Land Thursday October 26, 2017, page 5)
National records tumbled at the Thompson family’s Millah Murrah on property Angus female sale near Bathurst last Thursday, where a new all-breeds auction benchmark was set.
The star was in-calf heifer, Millah Murrah Prue M4, which sold for a whopping $190,000, smashing the previous all-breeds female record held since 1990 by Baldrudgery Lisa, a Poll Hereford heifer bred by the Hodges family at Baldry.
Lisa was sold at the Sydney Royal Show actions for $160,000. Another heifer at the same sale, Baldrudgery Sally Ann 60, also made $140,000.
However, Prue M4 wasn’t the only headline act behind Millah Murrah’s stratospheric results.
Pregnancy-tested-in-calf cow, Prue H112, broke the previous record for an Angus cow of $48,000 when knocked down to East West Angus, Bingara, for $54,000.
Also the $13,709 average for 234 lots demolished the prevous record for an Angus sale of $8494 for 260 lots at the Wattletop dispersal at Guyra in May this year.
The sale’s $3.208 million gross is also believed to be the largest single vendor result in history and the largest single day gross for any Australian stud sale.
Even auctioneer, Paul Dooley, Tamworth, set a record. Mr Dooley, who has handled may of the big NSW stud sales this year, sold 191 of the 234 lots for a gross of $2.669m, which is thought to be the largest single sale gross by one auctioneer in Australia.
Along with its new all-breeds record, Millah Murrah also holds the Angus bull record of $150,000 for Millah Murrah Kingdom, sold at its 2015 property sale.
Co-principal, Ross Thompson, said there had been a shift in how buyers valued females.
“It is good to see them being valued as they should be. Stud cattle are a long term investment”, he said.
“We feel the sale reflects the strong demand for our bulls over the past seven years and 50 years of dedication to maternal function. We thought the females on offer were simply as good as we could ever hope to produce.”
“From an industry perspective, the sale underlined the seemingly endless horizon in demand for quality Angus cattle.”
“Support from within the breed was enormous, with plenty of long-term buyers of Millah Murrah genetics operating in volume, like Heart Angus, Coffin Creek, Coolie, Mandayen in South Australia, Keringa in SA, and Cherylton, in Western Australia.”
The top all-breeds record, bull or female, of $300,000, is held by Brahman bull, Lancefield Burton Manso, sold at the Lancefield Brahmans 2006 on-property sale, held at Dululua, Queensland.
Angus’s Historic Sale Era
Millah Murrah Smashes Records
By Lisa Duce (courtesy The Land Thursday October 26, 2017, page 69)
More than one Australian all-breed record was smashed when Millah Murrah Prue M4 (A1) (ET) left the auction ring near Bathurst last Thursday.
Six females made $40,000 or more four females made between $30,000 to $40,000 and 21 females made from $20,000 to $30,000.
The 21-month-old pregnancy tested in calf (PTIC) heifer, sired by Coonamble Hector H249 and from Millah Murrah Prue F141, had the bidding frenzy stop at a staggering $190,000.
Her maternal lines include Hector, Carbine, Woody W100 and Hingaia 469.
First time stud sale attendees, Roger and Jenny Pryce, Brooklana Angus, Brooklana, purchased Prue M4.
Mr Pryce said he liked that she fits into their breeding program as she doesn’t have any genetic influence from Emperor or Reality.
“We have quite a lot of that in our stud already”, he said. “Structurally she ticks all the boxes for us.
“I have been following what Ross has been doing since I have got back into cattle in 2009. It is a passion.”
They also purchased Millah Murrah Lower M137 for $12,000 to keep her company.
Mr Pryce runs a small stud of 100 breeders and is thinking of downsizing to a smaller herd of 20 to 30 cows as they believe it is better to have high quality rather than quantity.
Second top purchase and also the first record breaker at $54,000 was Millah Murrah Prue H112, a PTIC daughter to Ythanbrae Henry VIII U8.
She was purchased by East West Angus stud owner, Shane Adams, Upper Bingara. They were also the under-bidder to the top priced heifer. The stud purchased a draft of five averaging $30,800.
“She is a beautiful cow from all angles,” stud manager, Josh Hreszczuk, said of the high priced cow.
“She carries herself extremely well for being such a big massive volume and capacity.”
Volume purchaser, Heart Angus, took home a draft of 11 females topping at $26,000 and averaging $12,363. They also purchased three other in conjunction with Cherylton Angus from Kojonup, Western Australia.
A long-standing buyers, Cherylton Angus also purchased a draft of seven with a top price of $16,000 and an average of $10,857.
Repeat buyers, the Duren family, Bald Hill Pastoral Company, Trunkey Creek, selected a draft of 11 females with an average of $8,181 topping at $10,000, three times.
Manager, Lucas Clayton, felt the line-up was well presented.
“We are really happy with all of them, it is hard to pick one above the others,” he said.
Coolie Angus principal, Jamie Edmonds, chose 10 young females.
“They are an unbelievable line-up of cattle, the improvement they will do to our herd will be phenomenal.” He said.
AT A GLANCE
100 per cent clearance – 234 lots in under four hours.
. Record top price $190,000
. Record average $13,709
“It is a credit to the principals at Millah Murrah. The professionalism is amazing, it carries the rest of us with them.”
“I’m sure it will help us in all ways, it will give us great females. They will go straight to the top.”
“If you are going to do this, you have to do it properly.”
Dammian Gommers, Manadayen Angus and Limousins, Keith, South Australia, purchased a draft of four for an average of $20,500, topping at $42,000.
“After discussions with Ross we chose these cows for what we needed to keep building our herd that already has a strong Millah Murrah foundation,” he said.
“We hope that these new bloodlines will help keep on improving our herd using this stud’s breeding.”
Millah Murrah stud co-principal, Ross Thompson, was overwhelmed.
“We feel the sale reflects the strong demand for our bulls over the past seven years and 50 years of dedication to maternal function.
“We thought the females on offer were simply as good as we could ever hope to produce.
“From an industry perspective, the sale underlined the seemingly endless horizon in demand for quality Angus cattle.”
The sale was conducted by Elders Bathurst with guest auctioneer, Paul Dooley, and Elders’ Andy McGeoch at the rostrum.
