JB Stellar knocked down at $16,000 during JB Angus annual bull sale

JB Angus, Stewart Range, reached a top of $16,000 on Wednesday, where 19 from 19 bulls were knocked down to an average of $10,473.

The top price is a repeat of last year's sale, when $16,000 was reached twice and a full clearance of 17 bulls was achieved.

Fetching the top price this year was Lot 1, JB Stellar S10, which was sold to Steve Smith, Lakala, Lucindale, a return client of JB who purchased a further two bulls.

The bull, out of Coonamble Q148, was sired by Sitz Stellar and was the first SA bull to auction sired by the "proven" bull who topped the Sitz Angus, Montana, sale in 2017 at $50,000.

Weighing an impressive 724kg, JB Stellar has Estimated Breeding Values of +9.5 for eye muscle area, +1.1 for rib fat and +1.9 for intramuscular fat.

With a score of +5.5, the bull was in the top 25 percent for its daughters calving ease, the top 25pc for RIB as well as the top 20pc for EMA.

RELATED:

Stud principal Jock Hislop said the bull was a standout with an uncommon natural thickness, strong muscle expression and plenty of positive fat.

The sale, which was held through AuctionsPlus, had plenty of action from repeat clients in addition to new faces according to Mr Hislop.

"We had a new client that came in and bought three bulls from Padthaway, one from Robe and one from Mount Gambier," he said.

"Repeat buyers cleaned up the rest and that gives us confidence in that we're giving our clients what they're after and new buyers are noticing that as well."

Lot 10, JB Punter S145, went under the hammer for $12,750 during the auction, while Lot 3, JB Punter S37, and Lot 15, JB Nitro S60, both sold for $12,500.

Heifer bulls were the hot ticket item during the sale according to Mr Hislop.

"Quite a few people this year wanted good, strong heifer bulls that can be used without any calving difficulty and of course just a really nice big strong bull with above average growth," he said.

"Something we're always targeting is correct phenotype which people were looking for as well.

"I like my bulls to to express muscle because muscle expression is red meat, and red meat is the reason we do it."

Guest vendor Simon Bayne, Keith, sold two bulls during the sale for $10,500 apiece at Lots 7 and 8 in Baynes Sonofmoe S1 and Baynes SS Storm S3.

"We've worked closely with Jock for over 20 years now so selling our bulls at his auction was just the right fit for our bulls," he said.

"The calving ease and potential to be a really good calving bull, specifically on Lot 7, was what people were chasing on the day.

"He had the figures to be a heifer bull but also the structure with a great shoulder and a beautiful neck."

After 10 years of sales, Mr Hislop said he expected 2024 to be the stud's largest sale to date, with around 30 bulls put to auction.

"We're just starting to really increase and be confident in our core group of cows now and we've just weaned 54 bulls which we'll select around 30 for the next sale," he said.

"That's a lift in numbers by a genuine third while maintaining the quality that we've built over the last few years.

"I'm pretty excited about about the next couple of years and what's in store for the stud."