Dorroughby Speckle Park Invitational sale clears all 29 bulls and 28 females

On Saturday, a huge crowd of more than 40 registered bidders packed the barn at the Messingham family's Westbrook property near Toowoomba, while many more followed the sale online via Elite Livestock Auctions, to get their hands on the 29 bulls, 28 heifers, one cow and calf unit, two cows and genetics packages offered by the Dorroughby, Pinnacle Park, Beth Vide and Adelson Speckle Park Studs.

In the breakdown, 29 bulls were offered and sold by the studs for a collective average of $16,068, while all 28 females were sold at an average of $14,178, one cow and calf unit sold for $18,000, two cows sold for $16,000 each, 136 semen straws topped at $1100 and averaged $363, while 35 embryos sold to a top of $4500 and at an average of $2097.

The draft of bulls began the afternoon's festivities and set a cracking pace before eventually being topped by Dorroughby Recruit R29 when he was knocked down to Darryn and Cassie Jones, Sweetacres Speckle Park stud, Peranga, for $30,000.

The 24-month-old son of P.A.R MX EI Guapo 103E and out of AAA Unique Destiny L5 weighed 825 kilograms, had rib and rump fat measurements of nine and 13 millimetres respectively, an eye muscle area of 116 centimetres and a scrotal circumference of 39 square centimetres.

As well as that, the leopard-coloured sire was rated in the top 10 per cent of the breed for rib, rump and intramuscular fat, while earlier this year he was the named as the people's choice winner of the ACM Sire Shoot Out.

"We purchased him because we really thought he was the complete package and would help our stud breed some quality sires into the future," Sweetacres Speckle Park stud principal Cassie Jones said.

"He had really good structure, depth, length and overall sire appeal about him, as well as being leopard coloured, which is what we are really looking for.

"From here, we will get him milked before we give him some time to settle in at home and put him out with our stud cows."

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Dorroughby Speckle Park stud principal Dean Messingham echoed the Jones family's sentiments saying he believed the top selling bull was a real standout.

"I think his length, his depth and his softness really helped him stand out," Mr Messingham said.

"He moves so well too considering his weight and we've collected him for a reason because we think he is going to play a big part in our stud herd going forward because we love everything about him."

Three bulls shared the distinction of being the sale's second-top price bull with Dorroughby Sawyer S2, Dorroughby Salem S3 and Dorroughby Slayer S52 all being knocked down for $26,000 to Fairbanks Grazing, Balladean, the Calvert family, Durong, and Bidson Pastoral Company, Dulacca, respectively.

However, the sale's top price was achieved when Pinnacle Park Unique Apparition S5 was knocked down to Glenroy Speckle Park stud, Kenilworth, for $38,000.

The white-coloured 17-month-old daughter of P.A.R MX EI Guapo 103E and out AAA Unique Destiny L5 weighed 505kg and was pregnancy-tested-in-calf to Pinnacle Park Optimus Prime.

"Her dam is really good for milk, udder development and femininity, which are all traits I think have been passed on to Apparition," Pinnacle Park stud principal Tania Paget said.

"I think she just ticks all of the boxes with everything she offers and she is really consistent across all different sires and everything she has produced has sold in the higher realms of the sales they've been in.

"This sale has just been fantastic for us as we also topped the embryo lots as well, so we are really pleased with this year's results."

Commercial operators made up the majority of volume buyers of the draft of bulls including the Rule family, Charleville, which purchased six bulls at an average of $11,333, C.G Glover and Son, Tambo, which purchased three bulls at an average of $14,666 and the McKelvie family, Tara, which purchased three bulls online at an average of $17,333.

In the female draft, stud operators made up the majority of the volume buyers including Sunnydale Speckle Park stud, Jiggi, NSW, which purchased two females at an average of $21,000, Ivery Downs, Colinton, which purchased two females at an average of $19,000, and Spotted Ridge Speckle Park stud, Loch Lomond, which purchased two females at an average of $15,000.

Sunnydale Speckle Park stud's Matt Black said the offering of stand out females was what drew him across state lines to Saturday's sale.

"Everything on offer here was just of the highest quality, so we knew we would come away with what we needed," Mr Black said.

"All of the lines of the females we purchased have flushed well in the past and we're confident they will do it again for us and as as well as that, we have fitted and handled females from both the Adelson and Dorroughby studs before with our fitting business, so we know what to expect."

Mr Messingham said all of the vendors were thrilled with the success of Saturday's sale, which was firm to higher across all categories despite this year's offering being bigger than the inaugural sale last year.

"We're really happy with how the sale panned out and the confidence shown from buyers in the commercial sector," he said.

"I think a few of our bulls may have gone to other studs, while the rest were purchased by commercial operators from across the state and beyond, which is really pleasing to see.

"It is really great to see our bulls go out into the western, central and northern Queensland country because it shows those buyers have the confidence that our bulls will thrive in any conditions.

"Honestly, I think it really shows confidence in the breed as a whole is growing all the time and I think I can speak for the other studs here when I say that we are just thrilled with the results of this sale and can't wait to come back bigger and better again next year."

The live-auction sale was conducted by Elders Toowoomba and Millmerran Rural Agencies with Michael Smith, Elders stud stock, Toowoomba, auctioneering.