By Erle Levey
It was a brilliant result for John and Roz Mercer yet it also underlined the strength of the stud cattle market.
The second Kandanga Valley Charolais and Charbray summer bull sale on Saturday saw a 100 per cent clearance of the 43 head offered.
Top prices across both breeds were achieved by progeny of Kandanga Valley Lionheart.
Their Charolais bull, Kandanga Valley Quesada, a polled, 25-month-old that weighed 838kg, sold for $25,000 to return Mundubbera buyer Lance Taylor of Landen.
Other regular buyers Perrett Traders of Diaper Station, Jimna, were active, securing all four of the top-priced Charbray bulls.
Alben and Helen Perrett, together with daughter Amy Chapman, bid to $20,000 for Kandanga Valley Roman, another son of Kandanga Valley Lionheart.
The two-year-old, honey-coloured Roman weighed in at 854kg.
It was a day when several return buyers were active in selecting a good draft of bulls for their herds.
The Perrett family also paid $18,000 for Kandanga Valley Quartos, $17,000 for Kandanga Valley Qumby, a quality son of the Kandanga Valley Jesuit, and $14,000 for Kandanga Valley Roko, sired by Kandanga Valley Lawson
There were 18 Charolais and 25 Charbray offered, selling at an average of $10,580.
The Charolais averaged $10,500 and a gross of $180,000, while the Charbray averaged $10,640 and gross of $266,000.
John Mercer said they decided early on if they could average $10,000 at the summer sale they would be very happy, considering it is a bit out of season for most breeders.
“But it is proving to be quite successful,’’ he said.
“There were still plenty of value-for-money bulls that sold to some very happy clients.
“The industry is in an amazing place economically at the moment and this is reflected in the bull selling market.
“The season is also shaping up well for most cattle people, putting everyone in an optimistic mood for the medium-term future.’’
The Kandanga Valley bulls are good muscular, carcass types that breed very weighty weaners or bullocks with high yielding carcasses.
The bulls are noted for their survivability in all environments.
This sale saw buyers from Collinsville and Sarina in the north, Injune in the west, and south through the Brisbane Valley.
Among the buyers were Graeme McPherson, Kilcoy – five bulls; Fort Cooper, Nebo – four bulls; Callander family, Sarina – four bulls; and the Bonnisch family, Injune – four bulls.
New buyers were from Woolooga, Maleny, Yuleba, Tenterfield and Ipswich.
The move to change their satellite sale date and venue last summer paid off for the Mercer’s with their first on-property summer sale.
Until then they had held their satellite bull sale in Nebo late in the year, but a change in circumstances paved the way for an additional on-property sale at Warravale, Upper Kandanga.
That saw a top-price of $20,000 with 36 Charolais bulls that averaged $6730 and 14 Charbray bulls averaging $9286.
This year’s sale shows the change in the market and grazing conditions, yet also the respect that Kandanga Valley bulls have earned.
The sale was conducted by Nutrien in conjunction with Shepherdson and Boyd, with on-line bidding through Auctions Plus.
Mr Mercer expects 100-plus bulls to be offered at their July on-property auction.
