Irelands Angus ordered to pay $200K for catalogue error

A PROMINENT Angus stud has been ordered to pay out more than $200,000.

Irelands Kelleher K34 was sold in the stud's August 2015 sale.

A PROMINENT Angus stud has been ordered to pay out more than $200,000 after a court found it misrepresented the sire of a bull.

The NSW District Court on Tuesday ruled Wagga Wagga stud Irelands Angus sold a bull, Irelands Kelleher K34, for $18,000 to Bongongo Angus in August 2015, only for it to be discovered the bull’s sire was not that noted in the sale catalogue.

Irelands Angus, which is owned and operated by Corey and Prue Ireland was ordered to pay $200,191.88 to Bongongo for the error.

District Court judge Margaret Sidis said the bull was listed as the progeny of sire Granite Ridge Thomas F223 — a bull purchased by Irelands in 2012 for $14,000 — and Irelands Lowan B107. DNA testing after the sale established that Granite Ridge Thomas was not, in fact, the sire of K34.

“The plaintiff purchased K34 for breeding purposes because he fitted well into the plaintiff’s breeding program,” Judge Sidis said.

Two separate rounds of DNA testing were conducted. One from a sample taken by Bongongo, which is based at Coolac, NSW, and another from a sample of tail hair taken by Corey Ireland from a calf “said to be K34 at the time of vaccination in May 2014”.

Evidence presented to the court showed both profiles “are completely different, therefore the two samples submitted are not from the same animal”.

The court heard both samples confirmed B107 as the dam.

Evidence given by Angus Australia chief executive Peter Parnell suggested, since verification had been unsuccessful, K34 nor his progeny were ineligible for herd book registration, and had mistakenly remained on the database.

“There was no dispute between the parties concerning any of this material,” the judge said.

“It compelled a finding that the catalogue contained a representation that was wrong.”

Judge Sidis said William Graham, of Bongongo, acknowledged “errors at times were made in breeders’ record keeping and in information provided to the Angus society for the purposes of registration of cattle”.

“Inaccuracies in (Mr Graham’s) own records were put to him and acknowledged. It was apparent from Mr Parnell’s evidence that the Angus society’s registers were not error free.”

Judge Sidis said Mr Ireland was confident the records he maintained of his breeding stock were “accurate and in good order”.

The court was shown an extract of the Ireland’s joining book. Judge Sidis said “it recorded that B107 was included in those pastured with Granite Ridge Thomas and was tested as pregnant following that pasturing”.

“Mr Ireland’s evidence was that any breach of that fencing by an intruding bull would have been noted in the joining book” and he recalled no unusual circumstances.

In May 2014 progeny from that joining were DNA tested.

“Mr Ireland was unable to explain how the error in relation to K34 occurred,” Judge Sidis said.

Between October 2015 and January 2016, K34 was joined with breeding females at various properties operated by Mr Graham, who told the court 74 out of 78 calves were delivered live.

“The deregistration of K34 meant that it was not possible to register the progeny as stud cattle,” Judge Sidis said.

In her findings, Judge Sidis said “there was no dishonest conduct on the part of (Irelands) in making the false representation. Both (Mr Graham) and (Irelands) entered into the transaction in good faith in the understanding that K34 was sired by Granite Ridge Thomas”.

“The auction catalogue misrepresented that Granite Ridge Thomas sired the bull sold as K34. The representation was false and misleading and it misled the plaintiff.”

The judge said the two parties agreed that the difference between the amount paid for K34 and his value as a commercial stud bull was $13,154. They also agreed on figures of $154,364 for 28 male cattle and $51,900 for 25 female cattle which were commercial cattle, rather than stud cattle.

An agreement that “marginal costs” costs totalling $19,226.12 would be deducted from this amount resulted in the $200,191.88 figure to be paid to Mr Graham.

In the judgement, Judge Sidis said the case put by Irelands Angus relied on a disclaimer in the auction catalogue, “contending that Mr Graham’s acknowledgment that he was aware of its content, when coupled with the claimed inherent risks involved in the purchase of a bull at auction, should be accepted as evidence that he did not rely on the representations contained in the catalogue in deciding to purchase K34”.

Judge Sidis noted Mr Ireland said the Angus society provided the words used in the disclaimer and they were “commonly used in sales catalogues issued by those in the breeding industry”.

“Indeed, (Mr Graham) used similar, but not identical wording in (his) own catalogue.”