2019 Bull Sale Report - Miracles can happen!

140/140 bull sold, topped at $34,000 to average $9,386

Ben Mayne announced at the end of the sale that “Scomo was right, miracles can happen and thank God for Queensland!”
Buyers and under bidders came from every state in Australia to watch a total clearance of 140 bulls offered to top at $34,000 and average an incredible $9,386. Both Ben and Wendy Mayne were elated with the sale result and believed it was their best result to date considering most of Australia is experiencing such extreme drought conditions. They were so overwhelmed with the Queensland support, they immediately announced after the sale a donation $1,000 to the Sisters of the North Charity for the flood affected cattle graziers in North West Queensland.
Return Queensland commercial buyers were dominant at the sale taking 116 bulls across the border, while NSW, VIC, SA and WA all competed fiercely for the remaining bulls. Lot 74 Texas Western Express N505(AI)(ET) took top honours of selling for $34,000 to the highly recognised Western Australian Angus stud Koojan Hills. The 918kg son of Bangadang Western Express E10 out of Texas’s matriarch donor Texas Undine Z183 ticked all the boxes for the Metcalfe family. He had phenotype, weight for age, the numbers and a history second to none. There were a total 5 flush brothers in the sale that average $18,200 with one being retained for stud duties. His dam Z183 has sold close to $850,000 in progeny without including semen sales of her sons!

The Metcalfe family were so impressed with the Texas program they couldn’t resist buying Texas’s highest ever performing bull to sell through the ring, Texas Pocock P046(AI). Like the Wallaby Player he was named after he is “one hell of a beast” with ADG 1.57kgs/day, weighing 876kgs with a moderate birth weight combined with huge growth, carcase, temperament and A1 structure. Describe as a REAL power bull that would inject serious weight into any herd.

Second top price was $32,000 for Lot 13 Texas Horse Power N229(AI) who was snapped up by South Australia’s Nampara Angus Stud who returned after purchasing in 2017. He was one of Ben’s picks of the sale and Stu and Nat Hann fell in love with N229’s sheer volume, muscling and like his name serious Horse Power. The 964kg son of Coonamble H176 and a grandson of Z183. With a 1.35kgs/day weight gain +8.8 EMA and +137 for 600 day he stood out. 13 sons of Coonamble H176 had a healthy average of $11,300.

Texas Angus Awarded 2018 Beef Farmer of the Year!

We were thrilled just to be nominated by the Weekly Times as a finalist of the The Weekly Times Coles 2018 Farmer of the Year. But to win it agmonst some of Australia's most innovative beef farmers was a massive shock and completely unexpected! Ben's unprepared speech showed our complete surprise. We are very honoured and humbled to be recognised for our contribution to the beef industry. We believe agriculture and the beef industry are set to reap huge rewards in coming years.

Below is the article that featured in this weekends newspapers Courier Mail, Sydney Sunday Telegraph, Melbourne Herald Sun, Perth Sunday Times, Adelaide Sunday Mail, Weekly Times & Qld Rural Weekly. We would like to Congratulate all finalists, winners and Tom and Pheobe Bull for winning the overall famer of the year. It was a wonderful night in Melbourne and a great weekend away for us.

Beef Aus to Sydney Royal - Texas Takes Top Honours in Export & Domestic for 2018

2018 would have to be the most memorable year for Texas Angus in more ways than one. The stud has been awarded top honours at Beef Australia 2018 in May followed by clinching broad ribbons once again at Sydney Royal Beef Challenge this month. 

Texas Angus was awarded 1st place (in Australia's largest and most competitive carcase competition of 1077hd and the largest class of the competition by 330 head) for 100 Day Grainfed Export Chiller Bullocks at Beef Australia 2018. And last Friday took out the Grand Champion 70 Day Domestic Pen and Grand Champion 70 Day Domestic Individual of Sydney Royal's 2018 Beef Challenge. This was the fourth conservative year for the stud to receive a broad ribbon at this very 'industry relevant' event.

Texas only entered 3 pens for the 70 Day domestic competition and 2 of the pens had 2 individual animals eliminated because their weight gains were too big. These 2 milk tooth heifers had the highest ADG of both the domestic and export competition (3.22 & 3.14kgs/day), and both pens placed 1st and 3rd in the profitability section.  The 1st place pen returned $1,120.19/hd profit and were $835.15/hd more profitable than the average of the 55 domestic pens in the competition. The remaining pen of 6 we had left ended up taking top honours by blitzing the MSA Eating quality with 375.37 points. 

Similar to last year's results Texas Angus also won the Taste Test which in our view is a very proud achievement as this is an endorsement of eating quality and our breeding program is hitting all market specifications. It should be noted this is the only competition in the country that undertakes a blind taste test by a panel of expert RAS Judges. Each striploin is sent to Sydney direct from the processing plant and a sample is cut and cooked exactly the same for the blind taste test which is similar to RAS wine judging. We congratulate the RAS Cattle committee for introducing such an industry relevant section. 

Once again we had the highest marbling animals in the domestic and equal highest in the export section. Which follows on from placing third highest marbling at Beef Australia's 100 day grainfed export class and 4th in the entire 1077hd competition.  These successes have emphasised Texas Angus's point of difference is that our breeding program of high performing pure bred Angus will hit market specifications without compromising the ever important eating quality. In a nut shell Texas Angus cattle not only marble BUT they are also profitable for the commercial operator, feedlotter and butcher - from farm to fork! 

Sydney Royal Beef Challenge is one of Australia's prestigious cattle competitions that has been running for 7 years and this year had 510 head which is a great number considering NSW and parts of QLD are experiencing the worst drought on record. 2015 was the first year Texas Angus entered the competition and it has been a great platform for us to benchmark our breeding program against some of Australia's best commercial cattle. 

The Beef Challenge is a commercially-focussed feedlot competition that is unique to others. It represents all stages of the process including

*Live Assessment

*Weight Gain

*Carcase Judging (MSA Standards)

*Profitability

* Eating Quality (Blind Taste Test by a Panel of Judges in Sydney)  

Congratulations to all other place getters and a big thank you to RAS Cattle Committee, MacCue Family Wilga Feedlot, Bob Jamieson Agencies Kilcoy Pastoral and all sponsors inlcuding Angus Australia for being a part of such a great beef industry event.