Juggernaut hits $9500 at Stoney Point

Fever Pitch F93 was sold at the 2012 sale to Qld stud Raff Angus at $19,000 and is now ranked second in the Angus breed for 600-day weight.

This year's sale-topper at the seventh annual Performance Plus bull sale, Stoney Point Juggernaut had many of the same attributes as his high performance sire.

The AI-bred bull was one of the heaviest of the spring drop weighing 758 kilograms at 18 months and was out of a Midwest daughter which has consistently produced good sale bulls. Her previous three sons have averaged $5000.

Juggernaut was bought by Kangaringa Station, Keith, which took five bulls for a $4900 average.

Landmark agent Noel Evans said the commercial breeders were looking for moderate-frame, early maturing bulls to breed progeny for the weaner and feeder markets.

The sale-topper stood out with his depth, butt shape and spring of rib as well as great balance of figures.

He was in the top 1 per cent of the breed for gestation length, 400 and 600-day weight and carcaseweight

It was a stellar first sale since a joint-principal venture between Perry Gunner, Coorong Designer Angus, Meningie and Stoney Point's John Gommers was announced last year.

Fifty-six of 66 bulls averaged $4464 - a lift of $360 on 2014's sale.

In the breakdown 25 of 28 autumn-drop (March to May 2013-drop) topped at $8000 averaging $4400, while 31 of 38 spring-drop (August to October 2013-drop) bulls topped at $9500, averaging $4516.

And there was some outstanding value-buying at the Coorong Designer sale complex at Naracoorte, with 30 bulls selling for $4000 or less.

Eighty-four per cent of the bulls sold to repeat buyers from western Vic to the Mid North and even Eyre Peninsula

Buyers were spoilt for choice in the catalogue with six or seven different sire lines.

There was keen competition on the first sons of AI sire Werner Westward with 10 bulls averaging $5650.

Among these Westward sons was the $8500 second-top-price bull Stoney Point Jack Frost J213 - also a spring drop - knocked down to Doug and Di Ashby, South Taunta, Tintinara.

"He (Westward) is one of the first really high-carcase bulls from the US we have really added to our program,' Mr Gommers said.

"He is very good from a phenotype and structural basis. Too many of the bulls we have looked at using in the past have fallen down making them hard to use."

The $8000 highest-price autumn-drop bull Stoney Point Jet Away J87 was knocked down to Muster Pastoral, Mundulla. The Sitz Dash 10277 son was a standout and Stoney Point has retained a semen interest to use in the stud.

Emu Springs Pastoral, Tintinara, was a volume buyer with six bulls between $4500 and $5500.

A number of buyers bought four bulls, including Lake Ellen Pastoral who paid an average $4125.

Mr Gommers said it was an "extremely pleasing" result considering many of their local clients had sold cows through the dry spring and did not need their usual number of bulls for this year's matings.

"The large number of repeat buyers is always a good vote of confidence in our breeding program."

"Many of our clients have said that the bulls stand up well structurally and produce the product they want which is what we are aiming for," he said.