Son of Te Mania Foe F734 tops Granite Ridge, SA bull sale

Granite Ridge sale

STORY AND PICTURE CATHERINE MILLER, STOCK JOURNAL

RECORD BREAKER: Pat Ebert, Granite Ridge, Avenue Range, and sale auctioneer Michael Glasser with Granite Ridge’s Colin Flanagan (front), Vic buyers Alan and Jan Robinson, Jarobee Angus, Beechworth, and the $52,000 top price bull.

GRANITE Ridge Kaiser K26 became the new ruler of the Angus breed selling for a magical $52,000 at the stud’s ninth annual on-property sale last Friday at Avenue Range.

The bull described by stud principals Colin Flanagan and Pat Ebert as the “best they had ever bred” was always odds-on favourite to top the sale having attracted Australia-wide interest.

But the March 2014-drop smashed the SA Angus record of $23,000 set in 2002 by a Pathfinder sire, and also set a new all-breeds on-property record for the state.  The previous record was $46,000 for a Simmental bull, Woonallee Goldrush, sold in 2014.

Te Mania Foe has had a big impact on the Granite Ridge herd in the past five years and this son had real presence.

“His pedigree is magnificent; he is the best Foe son we have had with maternal strength out of a supreme cow,” Mr Flanagan said.

“He was the heaviest calf to his 600-day weight so has huge growth like his sire, and his figures are unreal, being in the top 5 per cent or better for all indexes.”

The large gallery of 44 registered bidders sitting shoulder to shoulder witnessed something special when the bull selling as Lot 4 entered the ring.

After an opening bid of $15,000 it became a three-way bidding duel, until the bull was knocked down at $52,000 with the crowd erupting in applause.

Mr Flanagan was elated with the result.

“We don’t get the high prices they get in the eastern states so to see something like this in SA is unreal.”

The successful buyers were Alan and Jan Robinson, Jarobee Angus, Beechworth, Vic, and Rennie, NSW. Their first bid was $30,000.

The couple, who hold two on-property sales a year, were impressed with Kaiser’s phenotype and spread of EBVs.

“He will be a really terrific back up bull for us following our extensive AI programs,” Mrs Robinson said.

“We hoped he would have made a little less but we were going to keep going,” Mr Robinson said.

“We realised we had to lift to get him and hopefully he will help our stud a lot and we’ll get the money back and more.”

In a resounding vote of confidence in their breeding program, Granite Ridge achieved a total clearance of 71 bulls, averaging $6775 – up more than $1600 on 2015.  Three-quarters of the bulls made between $4000 – $6000.

SALE SUMMARY

                  2016          2015

Offered       71              66

Sold            71               58

Top        $52,000       $16,500

Av            $6,775        $5164

 

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