BREWING storm clouds during the Gems of Glenoch sale came too late to entice more prospective buyers battling seasonal and market conditions.
But those who made the journey to the on-property Chinchilla sale on Thursday were gifted proven genetics at affordable prices.
At the fall of the hammer, 74 of the 137 stud PTIC cows on offer sold for a 54 per cent clearance rate and a $3452 average.
It was Glenoch Flower H215 who topped the sale when she was secured by Rogeric Pty Ltd, Tara, for $7000 and will join the Hill family’s Bulliac Angus herd.
The five-year-old is due to calve on September 4 to Mount K2, having already had four calves within a 382 day calving interval.
H215, a daughter of Glenoch Flower X116 and by Adrossan Equator A241, was one of 15 females secured by Rogeric and averaging $3500.
Joe, Jennie and Ben Hill, Bulliac Angus, Miles, purchased four females averaging $5000.
Representing both buyers on sale day, Ben Hill said the performance of their own Adrossan Equator A241 females at home attracted them to buy more.
“We have got a good body of dry feed, but for us, to be able to pick up cows that are run on tough conditions in an environment that is pretty much the same as our own is a great benefit,” he said.
The sale of all of their J cows and older was only the third female offering of its kind from the Glenoch stable, the last being 10 years ago.
Glenoch stud was formed in March 1974, when cattle prices were soaring.
But, within a few months they were subject to the great beef crash.
Of the five foundation cows, only the Wallah Flower and Muskerry Beauty families survived, with the original Beauty sold and destroyed for $60, after testing positive to brucellosis titre.
Today, the Flower genetics remain a prolific cow family in the Glenoch herd, with 79 females offered at the sale.
Sandon Glenoch Angus studmaster Roger Boshammer said the top price Flower cow was one of four he highly regarded in the catalogue.
While the average was where he expected it, he had hoped to sell more of the females.
“We were about two weeks too late,” he said.
“The weather bureau has been painting it bad the last fortnight and then there has been these other dispersals announced in Victoria later on and people have said, we will wait.”
A number of sales following the auction saw at least another 23 head sold.
Four pens of five 2017 drop N heifers failed to sell but four pens of five PTIC 2016 drop M heifers sold after the auction for $1250/head.
Selling agents: Ray White and Elite Livestock Auctions