TOP quality Charolais and Angus genetics, including the first Australian sons of $400,000 bull S A V International 2020, will be on offer in the 7th annual Ascot on-property sale.
The catalogue includes 118 bulls – 66 Angus and 52 polled Charolais – with five sons by the US sire, three sons of Australia's top-priced Angus bull, $150,000 Millah Murrah Kingdom, and eight bulls by Ascot Hallmark, who sired Ascot Lion Heart, who sold for a record stud price of $70,000 at last year’s sale.
In the Charolais draft, the feature sire is Ascot Eldorado, with 11 sons in the sale. One of Eldorado’s sons topped the inaugural autumn bull and female sale earlier this year, making $18,000.
Stud principals Jim and Jackie Wedge have sold bulls to Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia, and while the focus is on producing commercial bulls, about 10 per cent of bulls go into stud operations.
“A lot of clients are buying bulls for crossbreeding, and we do have people who want both Angus and Charolais bulls from us,” Mr Wedge said.
“They’ll use the Charolais bulls used over Bos Indicus cattle to get the hybrid vigour, and extra weight in the calves, then use Angus bulls over those crosses.”
The stud’s focus is breeding for high growth, positive fats and high intramuscular fat (IMF).
“With the Charolais breed in particular, clients are wanting polled bulls, and on top of that, we’re breeding for more positive fats so the progeny can finish more easily and quicker in the feedlot,” Mr Wedge said.
“With the Angus bulls, we’re aiming for a good 400-day weight, as well as calving ease and high fertility. Our overall target for both breeds is the MSA (Meat Standards Australia) market, so we breed for those traits for clients to be targeting the MSA grades.”
There’s a strong focus on docility for both breeds, and in the Charolais, polled bulls.
“We have an extensive homozygous poll testing program and 20 of the bulls in the catalogue are homozygous polled which gives the client more confidence that the progeny is likely to be polled,” Mr Wedge said.
“I think that’s going to become a very big issue with animal welfare – soon the market will demand we breed cattle that don’t need to be dehorned.”
Having two breeds means there’s a bull for anyone at the sale, Mr Wedge said.
“There are bulls to suit any operation and with the two breeds of bulls, people can find bulls for any market they want to target. There are bulls for all budgets – about 50 per cent of the bulls last year were under about $6000.”
The sale is at “North Toolburra”, Warwick, on September 29, starting at 1pm.