A Shorthorn bull with tremendous presence and figures to match has shone in Bayview stud's third annual sale on Wednesday at their Naracoorte sale complex.
Lot 5, Bayview Daicos T50, turned plenty of heads but it was WA buyers Chris and Cheryl James, Stockdale Enterprises, Hyden, WA, who outlasted stiff competition to secure the $18,000 sale topper from the Thompson family.
The Jameses took a plane flight and a drive to get to the sale but said their quest for similar cattle to their own commercial herd of 280 Shorthorn cows and 40 Angus had brought them to Bayview stud three years ago.
"It is hard to find cattle with the same earlier maturity type but they have done very well for us," Mr James said.
Daicos was by $40,000 bull Futurity Quinella and out of Bayview Miss Betty M67.
The 872kg bull impressed Stockdale Enterprises with "a lot of presence, a heap of volume and lovely skin type".
The 22 month old also had a "good balance of figures" being in the top 1 per cent for the API Index and top 2pc for calving ease.
Blackmoor Pastoral, Kingston SE, were the sale's volume buyer with four bulls including the second highest price, lot 19, Bayview Gladstone T57 which made $16,000.
Gladstone, a rich red bull, was another of the 14 sons of Quinella in the sale and ranking in the top 1pc for marbling and All Purpose Index.
A Sprys Gigabyte son, Bayview Carpenter T10 sold to Amanda and Steve Barlow, Toogimbie Shorthorns, Deniliquin, NSW, for $14,000.
The 38 registered bidders from five states were fairly selective and found some great value buying with 10 bulls sold between $6000 and $8000.
Overall 27 of 37 rising two year old Shorthorn bulls averaged $9815. This was back on 2023 when 42 of 44 bulls averaged $10,191.
Trinidad Pastoral Company, Quilipie, Qld, secured three bulls, bidding through AuctionsPlus.
Three specially selected PTIC heifers attracted strong competition to kick the sale off averaging $8000.
All three were in calf to Gilman's All In 6K- a US sire which sold for US $70,000.
Lot 1, Bayview Beverley T7, was the best of them, knocked down for $10,000 to GJ&JG Neve, Theresa Park, NSW.
The rising two-year-old had an impressive pedigree with her maternal half brother the $32,000 sale topper from the 2023 Bayview sale. Her sire was US bull BSG Profitwise 1767.
Bayview stud co-principal Chris Thompson was pleased with the herd's ranking on IGS with EPDs in the top 24 per cent for marbling and top 30pc for stayability- a trait which reflects the amount of time a bull's daughters are likely to remain in the herd.
"We have got our marbling and our maturity where we want to be but we were fully aware leading up to the sale that there could be buyers not needing bulls and there is not quite as much confidence in the cattle industry, it was pretty ordinary back in December and has improved a bit since then," he said.
Bayview stud's foray into Angus did not go as well as they would have hoped with just five of the 19 bulls offered selling in their debut draft, all at the $6000 base price.
Three of these sold to Amherst, Willalooka.
Last year they were guest vendors in the- final Stoney Point bull sale after purchasing the sale complex and some of top females from Perry Gunner.
Mr Thompson said they were in it " for the long haul" strongly believing that the Shorthorn and Angus breeds complemented each other well.
"We have entered this program to breed cattle that are easy doing, soft maturing cattle which we will keep working on," he said.
Nutrien SA stud stock manager Gordon Wood - who shared the auctioneering duties with Richard Miller - said the auction average was on par with sales from other breeds this season although it would have been nice to have a higher clearance.
"Buyers were spoilt for choice and as we saw at many sales this year buyers weren't pushed into their second or third choice," he said.
Mr Wood said the Thompson family had invested heavily in some top foundation females from the Stoney Point dispersal sales in recent years which would stand them in good stead although it may take a while to gain a foothold in a competitive market.
He described the lack of buyers for the Angus as a "missed opportunity" but was fully confident Bayview stud had a bright future in their newer venture.
"They are good cattle people and good cattle people no matter what breed they have breed good cattle," he said.
Elders and Nutrien were joint selling agents.
Bayview stud's next outing will be the Shorthorn genetic sale at Beef 2024 at Rockhampton, Qld in May where they have will offer two bulls.
