AN increased clearance, and highly sought after bull and heifer, gave Raven Limousin and Limflex reason to celebrate after their annual bull and female sale at Field on Thursday.
In the bull breakdown, 24 of 27 Limousin and Limflex bulls sold to $8000 with an average of $5062.
Topping the sale however was Raven Red Selina Q668, a 396kg unjoined eight-month-old apricot heifer, which was bought by Tony and Liz Sutcliffe, Toebelle Limousin Stud, Maitland, NSW, for $11,500 after a spirited bidding battle which culminated in a round of applause from the gallery.
The homozygous polled heifer was the first Summit Blueprint M20 daughter to be offered by Raven.
Raven offered nine females in total, a selection of four pregnancy-tested-in-calf cows with calves at foot and five unjoined heifers.
Three of the four three-in-one packages sold to $5000 twice, averaging $4833, while two unjoined heifers sold to $11,500, averaging $9500.
"We've offered a diverse bit of breeding and a select animal from each," Raven principal Jason Schulz said.
"We felt fairly comfortable we had a good female on our hands (in Raven Red Selina) and the interest that followed once the catalogue went out indicated we had a gem and people wanted to get hold of her."
The $8000 top-price red homozygous polled bull - Raven Red Privilege - ranked in the top 5 per cent of Breedplan figures for all growth traits and was sired by Morrisvale Lumberjack and out of Jaarnella Actress E917.
The 18-month-old 784-kilogram bull was bought by Thomas Elder Consulting ruminant production specialist Michael Wilkes for the Struan Research Centre.
After selling ten more bulls than 2019, with the same number offered, and clients facing their own varius challenges, Jason and Penny Schulz were rapt with the sale result.
"We were super happy with the clearance given that the seasonal conditions for some of our clients have been against us," Mr Schulz said.
"They've had to slash their cow herds in the past 24 months and now they're looking at herd rebuild and some of them are focused on still producing the herd with straight-bred Angus.
"Our Kangaroo Island clients were tragically affected by the fires so were not operating today, but the positive to come out of it was we had some new clients come along today and fill the gap."
Volume buyers at Raven included Tyeka Partners, Meningie, which took home three bulls to $6000, averaging $4667.
Mount Muirhead Pty Ltd, through Elders Millicent, also bought three bulls to $6000, averaging $4667, while Scotglade Pastoral, through Pinkerton Palm Hamlyn & Steen Naracoorte, also bought three bulls to $6000, averaging $4667.
As well as Toebelle Limousins, which bought the $11,500 unjoined heifer and a PTIC cow w CAF package for $4500, there was also stud interest from Mount Pleasant Limousins, Forbes, NSW, and Provenance Limousin Stud, Fernvale, QLD.
During sale proceedings, Provenance secured a 394kg unjoined red heifer for $7500, while Mount Pleasant bought a 774kg black bull named Raven Penthouse for $7000, which boasted curve-bending data of calving ease combined with 400-day weight in the top 20pc.
Mount Pleasant also bought a PTIC cow w CAF package for $5000.
"We really appreciate the continued support from studs that have bought from us in the past, as well as some new Limousin members who bought here today," Mr Schulz said.
"Hopefully they've been watching our breeding program with interest and see that it will add value to their businesses."
Elders conducted the sale, with Tony Wetherall the auctioneer.
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