A LOCALLY bred bull has smashed the Tasmanian auction record this week after selling for $240,000.
The bull from the Archer family’s Landfall Angus stud was sold at the operation’s autumn bull sale on Monday.
Lot 15 in the sale, the bull Landfall Pheasantry S1755 was bought by the Dunoon Angus stud from Holbrook in NSW.
The previous Tasmanian auction record was held by a Quamby Plains Poll Hereford bull which was sold for $82,000 last year.
The sale has also smashed Landfall’s own previous auction record which was $75,000.
Frank Archer said while the family had anticipated strong demand for Lot 15, they were surprised to see a price so high.
“When it kept going up and point got to the point where I was shocked,” he said.
“I was confident he’d sell well because he’s from a very good cow line and that’s some- thing we put a lot of focus on in the herd, but I never thought he’d make that sort of price.”
The bull was bred by embryo transfer from a top female in the Landfall herd and was sired by Te Mania Pheasantry P1479.
Mr Archer said the combination of the bull’s depth of pedigree, excellent Breedplan figures and data and physical at- tributes created the strong level of interest.
“He’s also beautiful and quiet, which is something else that’s important,” he said.
Of the 235 bulls offered at the sale 230 were sold. A large number are heading interstate buyers including to buyers from Victoria, NSW, South Australia and Queensland.
The sale average was $14,647.
Mr Archer said they aimed to increase bull numbers in the sale by 10 per cent each year in an effort to provide plenty of options for commercial clients.
“We don’t tend to focus too much on individual bulls, be- cause our main focus is breed- ing bulls for our commercial clients, so we’re trying to keep increasing our numbers every year to keep the average at a reasonable level,” he said.
Long-time Nutrien stud stock manager Jock Gibson said the record price had exceeded ev- eryone’s expectations.
“We knew he was going to be the top priced bull at the sale… he was the bull that was creat- ing a lot of interest,” he said.
“We expected him to make good money, but nothing like that.”
While the price is short the Australian Angus breed record of $280,000, Mr Gibson said it would still be among the highest for the breed.
“There wouldn’t be many bulls that have sold over that $200,000 mark.”
He said the bull’s Breedplan figures were particularly sought after, with excellent results for calving ease, intramuscular fat and eye muscle area.
“He had a lot of really good data that you don’t often get in one package, so that’s what created the interest,” he said.
Mr Gibson said the reputation of the Landfall bulls made them sought after nationally.
“They are gaining in popularity Australia wide and where you look at where the bulls went that’s really obvious,” he said.