It was the females who shone at the inaugural AAA Speckle Park on-property sale at Haly Creek, Kingaroy, on Saturday, with the top-priced heifer hitting $20,000.
Denis and Theresa Roberts sold nine of 14 bulls to average $8778, and 13 of 15 females averaging $9500, for an overall sale clearance of 69 per cent.
Additionally, three of nine recipient females (guaranteed pregnancies) went for $5000, while 31 of 57 embryos sold for an average price of $798, and 58 of 68 semen units sold to average $136.
The sale topper, AAA Photo Finnish R18, was sold to Cassandra and Darryn Jones of Sweetacres Speckle Park stud, Peranga, preg-tested, in calf.
The three-year-old daughter of Six Star Huglehoff, out of Six Star Pho-Finish N85, was described in the catalogue as "an exceptional female" with " a great udder and milk production."
The Jones family took home a further two females, with their three purchases averaging $11,333.
Sweetacres stud principal Cassandra Jones said they had the sale topper picked out before the sale, describing her as a "top notch female."
"We just loved her depth, and she's very structurally correct," she said.
"Milk production is a very big one for us, which we saw a lot of in her lineage, as well as being very feminine. She'll fit in very well.
"We'll calve her out and will put her across one of our bulls, and maybe even flush her.
"We're doing a bit of flushing on farm at the moment and did a program last month, so hopefully we can do a bit of that with her as well."
Repeat buyers of AAA genetics, Ms Jones said they were excited to see what the new females could contribute to their operation.
"We admire the Photo Finnish line, we've got a couple of those, so we were happy to buy those two females from that line," she said.
"We actually nabbed a Star Dust female as well, and we've certainly admired that line for a while also, so we were really excited to take home the three of them.
"We used some of Denis' bulls in a flush recently and we're really happy with the results.
"We've just got the calves on the ground now and they're doing really well."
The Jones' have been growing their stud herd since 2019 and said the Speckle Park breed was doing very well on their Darling Downs country.
A price of $16,000 was paid for the top priced bull on the day, with AAA Trafic Jam S14 selling to CG Glover and Sons, Tambo.
A two-year-old son of AAA Frontline P40, out of AAA Fancy Pants, Trafic was described by the vendors as "a bull bred for the Queensland market."
The top sire was the heaviest bull in the catalogue, weighing 922 kilograms, with a scrotal circumference of 40 centimetres and rib and rump fat measurements of eight and 10 millimetres respectively.
AAA stud principal Denis Roberts said he and Theresa were pleased with the results from their first sale, generated by the support of both commercial and stud buyers.
"We had lot of repeat customers, which is good to see, and also some new customers," he said.
"There was good support from both the commercial people, as well as the stud buyers.
"At the end of the day, given the market and where everything is at the moment, I think we got a fair price and I think the people got very good value, so that's a win-win to me."
Targeting the commercial market, the stud had been selling bulls out of the paddock before their first auction this year.
Mr Roberts said they had built herd numbers for their on-property sale and were hoping to grow and improve on their inaugural sale.
"We've had excellent feedback from our buyers about the day and also about the animals," he said.
"Probably the biggest thing that people commented about our animals, which is a big thing and front of mind for everybody nowadays, is temperament.
"From a temperament point of view, I think that's something where our stud definitely stands out, and I think that's one reason why people come back."
Mr Roberts said around half of the draft went to buyers in the local, southern Queensland region, while cattle were also sold to the Clermont, Rockhampton, Emerald, and Beaudesert areas, as well as western Queensland and into New South Wales.
- Selling agents: Elders, simulcast on Elite Livestock Auctions.
