Updated April 25 2023 – 11:06am, first published 7:00am
With the top-priced bull is the auctioneer Ryan Morris, Craig and Jaxon Dolinksi, Rockhampton, Queensland, vendor John Weekley and stud manager Erin Grills, Merom stud, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. Pictures by Simon Chamberlain
Demand for heifers was evident at Scone Speckle Park, with 46 out of 49 catalogued, selling to $16,000 and averaging $5945, while 18 bulls of the 40 catalogued sold at auction to $16,000, averaging $5444.
In the offerings of genetic packages, 10 lots of semen straws sod to $280, for an average of $142, while in the embryo section, only three of the eight lots offered sold, with a top price of $950, averaging $750.
There was plenty of online activity, with 231 viewers of the sale, with 127 buyers logged in, as 79 per cent of the offering (83 lots) received an online bid. However, only 30 lots were bought by online buyers.
John Weekley’s Merom stud, from Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, made the more than 1200-kilometre trip north worthwhile, selling the top-priced bull and female.
Ruby Lang, Mansfield, Victoria, bought the top-priced heifer, Merom 444E Unique S37, a daughter of Notta 1B Hawkeye 444E out of Six Star 300X Unique K22, that was sired by Spots ‘N Sprouts Stands Alone.
The October 26, 2021, drop heifer was sold empty and ready to be joined.
Ms Lang said she’d been following the progress of Unique for many months and had tried to buy it before the Scone sale.
“We’ve bought heifers from Merom before, and they are similar in breeding aims to ours,” she said.
“We want big-framed females to breed big-framed bulls. John Weekley thought Unique would suit our program, and we had to buy her at the sale.”
Ms Lang said she’d had been tempted to stop bidding at the $12,000 mark, but her father talked her into going on to the final price of $16,000.
“She’s been transported back to John’s place, where she will be joined with his show champion bull, Merom Maximus R27.”
Maximus R27 was the 2022 Speckle Park senior bull champion at Adelaide Royal, the Speckle Park supreme exhibit at Melbourne Royal, and the senior bull interbreed champion at Melbourne Royal.
Rose Hill Speckle Park stud, Tebradden, Rylstone sold the second top-priced heifer with $12,000 paid for Rose Hill Bianca. It was sired by Caja Zeppelin 1B out of Rose Hill Winter Secret, which Johner Stock Farm Trade Secret sired.
Mr Weekley’s bull Merom F20 Falcon S5, was selected by the judge, Greg Ebbeck, as the champion bull of the catalogue, but it was its travelling companion, Merom E11 Eldorado S23, that sold for the top price.
Eldorado was bought by a Rockhampton, Queensland-based syndicate of Craig and Jaxon Dolinski in partnership with Geoff and Denise Dean.
Mr Dolinski said the bull would be used to produce pedigree Speckle Parks and be joined into commercial herds of Brahman and Brangus cattle at its new Rockhampton home.
“I haven’t seen a Speckle Park bull with so much red meat on him,” he said.
“He’s so flat across the back and has so much meat in his rear end, I think he will breed us some really good calves.”
Eldorado tipped the scales at 804kg and was calved on March 29, 2021. It had an eye muscle area (EMA) of 124 square centimetres and an intramuscular fat (IMF) percentage of 7.5 per cent. It was described as a standout bull with a spectacular muscle pattern. Mainstream Eldorado E11 sired the bull out of a Champagne Pretender cow, Gilderoy Springs Weuve.
Merom stud principal, Mr Weekley, said the bull had always been in the top group of its contemporaries with good data for growth, weight gain, EMA and IMF.
Merom F20 Falcon S5, the champion bull, sold for the second top sale price at $9500 and was bought by Elders Guyra for an unnamed client. Falcon was an April 6, 2021-drop bull side by SPKNZ Falcon out of a Mainstream Eldorado sired cow, SPKNZ H2.
Erin Grills, auctioneer, Ryan Morris, and John Weekley, Merom stud with the top-priced heifer.
The champion heifer was Black Stump R3 She’s Rare S11, from the Black Stump stud, Coolah. Sired by Black Stump Rare Man R3, she was out of Six Star SPC 50S Jenny E225, a daughter of Prairie Hill John Wayne 50S. Foxtail Hill Speckle Park stud, McKees Hill, near Lismore, paid $6000 to secure the heifer.
The selling agents were McGrath Upper Hunter, and the auctioneer was Ryan Morris.
Bulls sold
- Black Stump Speckle Park stud, Coolah: 3 bulls averaging $4166 from 5 offered.
- Promised Land Speckle Park stud, Gleniffer: 4 bulls averaged $4750 from 8 offered.
- Victorian Speckle Park stud, Merricks North, Victoria: 3 bulls averaging $5333 of 4 offered.
- Worthwhile Speckle Park stud, Whittingham: no bulls sold from 2 offered.
- Hadley Vale Speckle Park stud, Two Mile Flat: no bull sold from 1 offered.
- Rose Hill stud, Rylstone: 2 bulls averaged $4500 from 6 offered.
- Glengarry Speckle Park stud, Oberon: no bulls sold from 3 offered.
- Hanging Rock Speckle Park stud, Newham, Victoria: no bull sold from 1 offered.
- Hillview Speckle Park stud, Leconfield: no bulls sold from 3 offered.
- Lagoon Speckle Park stud, Gosforth: 2 bulls averaged $4000 from 2 offered.
- Merom Speckle Park stud, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria: 3 bulls averaged $9833 from 4 offered.
- Ersyldene Speckle Park stud, Kempsey: no bulls sold from 4 offered.
Heifers sold
- Black Stump Speckle Park stud, Coolah: 7 heifers averaging $6357 from 7 offered.
- Promised Land Speckle Park stud, Gleniffer: 9 heifers averaged $6444 from 9 offered.
- Victorian Speckle Park stud, Merricks North, Victoria: 8 heifers averaged $5062 from 8 offered.
- Worthwhile Speckle Park stud, Whittingham: 4 heifers averaged $6625 from 4 offered.
- Kikiama Vale Speckle Park stud, Araluen: 4 heifers averaged $4500 from 4 offered.
- Rose Hill stud, Rylstone: 4 heifers averaged $6875 from 4 offered.
- Glengarry Speckle Park stud, Oberon: 1 heifer averaged $6000 from 2 offered.
- Hanging Rock Speckle Park stud, Newham, Victoria: 1 heifer averaged $7000 from 1 offered.
- Hillview Speckle Park stud, Leconfield: 2 heifers averaged $5770 from 2 offered.
- Merom Speckle Park stud, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria: 3 heifers averaged $8333 from 4 offered.
- Ersyldene Speckle Park stud, Kempsey: 2 heifers averaged $4250 from 2 offered.
- Blue Ridge Speckle Park stud, Gundowring, Victoria: 1 heifer passed in.
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