GOODNWINDI Charolais stud celebrated their twentieth on-property bull and female sale with a record bull price of $19,000 at Furner on Monday.
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The stud's annual crop of rising two-year-old bulls were offered, as well as a selection of 107 heifers with calves-at-foot.
A large crowd of locals as well as buyers from, Colac, Vic, Mount Gambier, Lucindale and Keith gathered for the sale.
Goodnwindi stud's growing reputation for offering quality heifer/calf units has garnered a strong following over the years, so much so they broke with tradition this year, making the females the opening feature of the sale.
This year's top money of $4900 for the female sale eclipsed last year's record of $3800. The average soared to $4118 for the 93 Angus, Angus-cross, Charolais-cross and Simmental-cross females with calves-at-foot sold.
MB&BM Scheidl, Mount Gambier, bought the first three lots through the ring, paying $4600, $4850 and $4900 respectively for Angus and Angus-cross heifers with Angus-cross calves-at-foot.
The next three lots were knocked down to MB&BM Cameron, Clay Wells, averaging $4133.
Thirteen Charolais bulls and one black Charolais/Angus bull went through the sale ring for a $9428 average, up from $7071.
Beachport producers Betty, Ken and Heather Walker, had lot one - Goodnwindi Rocky - locked firmly in their sights and weren't going home without him.
After a spirited tussle with a QLD producer bidding by phone, the Walker family were victorious.
Goodnwindi Rocky was "the stand out of the catalogue" according to Mr Walker, saying the soft, easy doing bull with low birthweight figures made him ideal to put over heifers.
The two-year-old polled bull, with a birthweight of 38 kilograms and January weight of 856kg was the heaviest bull in the catalogue, recording an eye muscle area of 118 centimetres, and was described in the catalogue as having "breed-leading weight gains and EMA, milk and docility in the top one per cent".
Repeat buyers RN&NJ Sapiatzer, Sebastopol, Vic, paid $14,000 for a polled bull weighing 784kg with an EMA of 110cm and sired by ANC - Gulugaba.
Returning to buy for the second consecutive year, D&S Swayn, Colac, Vic were volume buyers, taking two bulls back across the border and paying $7000 for each.
Nutrien auctioneer Gordon Wood said this was possibly the strongest sale of commercial females with calves-at-foot he'd ever seen.
"The attraction of high-capacity, high-volume females was having the calves on the ground and getting the job done and that was reflected in the prices paid," he said.
"The huge top of $19,000 for the high end of the bull sale was a record for Goodnwindi, but unfortunately in the end we just ran out of buyers.
"On the upside though, there are still a selection of outstanding bulls for sale."
Goodnwindi's Danny Bellinger said it was great to see long term buyers and supporters coming back year after year to compete for the top-end bulls.
"We've had excellent feedback from clients, with our progeny selling well at local prime markets, as well as direct to processors" he said.
The sale was conducted by Nutrien Millicent, with Mr Wood on the gavel.
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