Te Mania bull sale: Large turnout pushes prices high at Mortlake

Impressive prices continued at the Te Mania Angus sale at Mortlake, with a large crowd pushing sales to a top of $65,000.

Members of the syndicate that bought Te Mania Qontemplate Q1149 for $65,000 at the Te Mania sale today included Ruth Corrigan, Rennylea; Tim Vincent, Boorigal; Sinclair Munro, Booroomooka, James Laurie, Knowla, with Tom Gubbins, Te Mania; Jack Laurie, Knowla, and Hamish McFarlane, Te Mania.

THE stunning run of bull sales continued at Te Mania Angus at Mortlake today as the Gubbins and McFarlane families averaged $13,035 for their draft of 169 bulls.

A sale top of $65,000 and two other bulls at $38,000 and $30,000 were all bought by syndicates of breeders who acted together to secure the best genetics.

It was a stellar day for the stud which grossed $2,203,000 for a total clearance of their annual draft of sires as online buyers fought against those at the sale to secure bulls.

Te Mania director Tom Gubbins said he was surprised at the large crowd which attended the sale, given buyers could compete online through Auctionsplus.

“It was fantastic to see so many people shopping with science, relying on the massive dataset that now underpins the figures at Te Mania Angus,” Mr Gubbins said.

“The result has been a bit overwhelming.

“While we believe it does reflect the current market, we also know it strongly reflects the work we have done here for generations with objective measurement and a commitment to embracing everything science and technology can add to the business.

“In many ways, you could say the digital age is now catching up to the pioneering work done in the Angus industry, which realised very early on that data would be king and the more accurate the data, the better the genetic profile.”

The sale’s top price of $65,000 was paid for Te Mania Qontemplate Q1149, a 19-month-old bull sired by Te Mania Mojo M886 with Breedplan figures of +135 for 600-day growth (breed average +114);+6.2 for EMA (breed average +6.0) and +3.7 for intramuscular fat (breed average 2.0).

It sold to an eight-stud syndicate of buyers from Australia and New Zealand with the lead members Knowla at Gloucester and Boorigal at Gunnedah.

The syndicate includes well known studs including Rennylea, Booroomooka, Kunuma, Dunoon, JRGV, Gates Performance Genetics and the Twin Oaks Angus stud in New Zealand.

Knowla stud principal James Laurie said they were prepared to pay $65,000 because “they wanted the most impressive bull phenotypically in the catalogue”.

“He is a beautifully balanced bull with an outstanding data set to back that up,” Mr Laurie said.

“And he brings with him a proven Te Mania Angus pedigree on both sides.”

The next highest priced bull made $38,000, again going to a syndicate which bought Te Mania Qompulsory Q1010 which had Breedplan figures of +30 for milk and +4.5 for intramuscular fat.

Another bull to attract attention was Te Mania Qarara Q514 sired by Te Mania Kirby K138 which made $30,000. The bull has figures in the top 1 per cent of the breed for intramuscular fat and all breeding indexes and went to another syndicate.

The Corrigan family’s Rennylea Angus stud at Bowna, NSW, was a member of all three syndicates.

Volume buyer was the Whitely family from Corryong, who bought 19 lots spending $195,000 for an average of $10,263.

Other strong supporters included Jan Ovenden, Vernaville Pastoral Company, Bombala, NSW, who bought seven bulls to a top of $20,000 and an average of $16,000, and Queensland buyer Morealla Agriculture, Goondiwindi, who bought seven bulls to $16,000 and for an average of $15,142.

There was consistent support from buyers bidding through Auctionsplus throughout the auction.

Over the sale, there were 675 online bids, 34 active buyers and 44 lots or 26 per cent sold through the platform.