Farm Weekly WA Supreme Bull Sale (Yallaroo Herefords)

Once again there was a fine line-up of five Hereford bulls on offer from renowned Hereford breeders Rob and Heather Francis, Yallaroo stud, Busselton, at this Farm Weekly WA Supreme Bull Sale.

They were the first into the sale ring and followed last year’s trend when all five sires sold under the hammer at an average of $5850 and to a top of $10,500.

It was an impressive result for the stud with its average up $950 on last year’s average of $4900 when it sold a similar number of bulls.

Leading the Yallaroo team in terms of price was a 915kg sire, Yallaroo Extra Special E12, when it was knocked down to regular buyer Eddie Wedge, ED Wedge, Gingin.

The soft muscled, long, April 2009-drop bull was sired by Mawarra Sandstorm and was not only appealing to the eye, but had the arithmetic to match with EBVs of +5.1 for birthweight, +14 for milk, +31, +45 and +61 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights, +37 for carcase weight, +2.1 for EMA, -0.8 for rib fat, -1.1 for rump fat, +1.1 for retail beef yield and -0.6 for IMF.

Mr Wedge, who has been buying from the Yallaroo stud since the early 1990s and runs 140 pure Hereford breeders, said Extra Special had plenty of length, good pigmentation around the eyes and more importantly had a beautiful temperament.

“His overall appearance took everyone’s eye,” he said.

Extra Special will infuse new genetics into Mr Wedge’s herd and will help produce top performing replacement females.

Landmark auctioneer John Wirth inspected Extra Special before the sale and said he had seen a lot of top Hereford bulls all over eastern Australia and he had never seen a better bull than Extra Special in over 30 years.

Along with selling the top-priced Hereford bull, Yallaroo also sold another moderate framed, upstanding bull at $5250 to return buyers the Della Gola family, JM & H Della Gola, Northcliffe.

The 958kg twin, Yallaroo Earl E3, was sired by Smithston Zig Zag Z70 and had EBV’s of +6.8 for birthweight, +9 for milk, +31, +47 and +71 for 200, 400 and 600-day weights, +2.0 for EMA and measured +1.4 for retail beef yield.

Other clients to secure outstanding performance-bred Yallaroo sires at $4750 each were GE Payne, Alexander Bridge, when they secured Yallaroo Emporer E11 and Gembrook Beef, Nannup, when it took home Yallaroo Esperance E33.

Source:  Jodie Rintoul, Rural Press