IT was more like a bleak winter's day weather-wise at the Gubbins family's Coolana Spring Angus bull sale on Wednesday last week at Chatsworth Vic, but a good crowd of past and new buyers warmed proceedings with some good results.
There were 36 registered bidders, and in lively bidding that kept auctioneer Ross Milne active, 59 Angus bulls sold to a top of $8000 and averaged a solid $4200.
Stud principals Mark and Anna Gubbins made the conscious decision to catalogue more bulls than was needed to meet expected demand, as last year's spring sale average of $5357 placed Coolana very high in the slot, and potentially out of reach for those with lower budgets.
"We are ecstatic with this result as it enabled all budgets to be catered for, and also saw us clear 10 more bulls," Mark said.
The eight bulls that failed to find new homes were all in the last half of the sale.
With a successful bid of $6500 on the first bull, Coolana G659, Susie Clarke, Linlithgow Plains, Dunkeld, Vic, got the sale off on a top note.
With the aid of her manager Graeme Steff and Dr Karen King, she went on to be the biggest volume buyer in the sale, successfully bidding on eight bulls at a $3938 average.
The Gubbins family's decision to provide more bulls at better value was demonstrated - Linlithgow Plains was also the equal top volume buyer last year, with six bulls averaging about $800 more than this year.
* Full report in Stock Journal, September 26 issue, 2013.
