The
December issue of Limousin Australia will be coordinated by the ALBS office.
Advertising rates will be the same as for previous issues and all advertising
layout will again be done by Mandy Sullivan. Please contact Fran O'Dea at the
ALBS office to book advertising space. Bookings and copy must be at the ALBS
office by Friday 27th October.
Black
Limousins took out all of the championship awards at Melbourne Royal last
Friday. Supreme Exhibit, Grand Champion and Senior Champion female was
Arlington Wrangler exhibited by Kate, Miles and Emma Cross. The five-year-old
SLVL Beef daughter had an excellent heifer calf at foot. Reserve Senior
Champion female was Bonian Polled Zuri, a 24-month-old Bonian X13 daughter with
a two-day-old calf at foot. The calf Bon Bon was born at the show.
Junior
Champion female was Waterford First Class, a Chaz First Choice daughter
exhibited by Hayley Sheehan. Reserve Junior female was Bonian Amber, an apricot
Ramornie Explosion Y15 daughter exhibited by James O'Brien.
The
Junior and Grand Champion bull was Kensal Always a Gentleman, shown by Michael
O'Sullivan. Reserve Junior Champion bull was Waterford Monster Magic, a DVFC
Cookie Monster daughter shown by Hayley Sheehan.
Senior
Champion bull was Nunkeeri Park Zluth, a DEVT Polled Deon son shown by Wayne
Churchill. Reserve Senior Champion bull was White Lakes Z033 exhibited by Brian
and Karalyn Keirl of Paramount Limousins.
The
Group Classes; Best Three Head, Sires Progeny and Best Two Bulls all went to
Michael O'Sullivan's Kensal Limousins and the most successful exhibitor was
James O'Brien.
Just
0.048 points separated the Grand Champion Charolais carcase with 88.124 points
and the Reserve Champion Limousin X Shorthorn carcase exhibited by St Johns
College, Dubbo, NSW with 87.567 points in the Melbourne Royal Carcase
Competition. Only 0.321 points further back was a Limousin X Angus exhibited by
Billabong High School. All three carcases were in the Export Class over 300 kg
carcase weight.
It
was a similar story in the Heavy Domestic Class with a Limousin X Angus scoring
87.567 points just behind a Red Poll which scored 87.990 points. Equal second
in this class was a purebred Limousin bred by Tim Bayliss and exhibited by
Billabong High School with 87.567 points.
In
the earlier hoof judging under Nolan Meats principal Terry Nolan, Limousin X
steers took out four of the eleven classes as follows:
Medium Domestic 400-424 kg: 1st Limousin X
Murray Grey/Friesian, Marist-Sion College, Warragul, Vic.
Heavy Domestic 450-469 kg: 1st Limousin X
Murray Grey, St Johns College, Dubbo, NSW, 2nd Limousin X, Billabong
High School, Culcairn, NSW, 3rd Limousin X Angus, St Johns College,
Dubbo, NSW.
Heavy Domestic 470-489 kg: 1st Limousin X
Angus/Murray Grey, Nagle College, Bairnsdale, Vic.
Heavy Domestic 490-524 kg: 3rd Limousin X
Angus, Finley High School, NSW.
Heavy Domestic 525-549 kg: 1st Limousin X
Shorthorn, St Johns College, Dubbo, NSW, 2nd Limousin X Shorthorn,
St Johns College, Dubbo, 3rd Limousin X Shorthorn, St Johns College,
Dubbo.
The
Marist-Sion College steer was awarded Reserve Champion Medium Domestic Steer or
Heifer.
The
Champion Heavy Domestic Steer or Heifer was a Limousin X Shorthorn from St
Johns School, Dubbo and the Reserve Champion Heavy Domestic Steer or Heifer was
the Limousin X Angus/Murray Grey entered by Nagle College from Bairnsdale.
Bulls topped at $9,000 and averaged $4,048 at the
QTL sale in Rockhampton with 42 of the 48 bulls offered selling in an 87%
clearance.
Top priced bull was Tramahler Zester, a 27 month old
Bruangil Park Superchief son which went to Bill Reid of "Pegunny" at
Moura. Reid bought four bulls for an average of $5,375 to be used in a
crossbreeding program with a Brahman based herd on his 22,270 hectare property
Pegunny.
Second top priced bull, Tramahler Yorn sold for
$8,000 to the Lake Elphinstone Partnership at Nebo. The Lake Elphinstone
partnership paid an average of $6,165 for three bulls.
The Pedersen family from "Wyseby",
Rolleston were also volume buyers taking three bulls for an average of $6,500.
Their top priced bull was Tramahler Zenith at $7,500.
Trevor and Sheresse Tramacchi's Tramahler stud sold
32 bulls for an average of $4,172. Paul Forman's Oakwood Stud sold three bulls
to a top of $5,500 and an average of $4,833, and the Eagleson family's Ulster
Limousins sold three bulls to a top of $5,000 and an average of $3,333. Neville
and Denise Rosser sold three bulls to a top of $5,000 and an average of $3,000.
The
ever worsening drought in NSW depressed demand at the Stevens Limousin Sale at
Birriwa, NSW. However the females topped at
$5,250 for Stevens Abigail A56 a nine month Ionesco daughter of Stevens
Polled Abigail R1 which topped last year's sale. This heifer sold to Mark
Chapple of Piralillia Limousin Stud in Kangaroo Valley who bought the dam in
last year's sale for $8,000.
In
the female sale four of the 12 cows topped at $3,750 and averaged $3,625; two
of seven cows with calves at foot sold to $3,750 and averaged $3,625 and two
heifers averaged $3,625.
The
Stevens also offered 19 bulls of which six sold to a top of $3,500 and an
average of $2,958.
About
65 people attended the SA Region Field Day at Mandayen Limousin Stud last
Sunday. The crowd listened intently to young stock agent Jono Spence who is an
Elders commission agent, with close connections to Hardwicks Processors and
Wholesalers at Kyneton, Vic and Cargills at Wagga Wagga, NSW. Hardwicks process
about 3,000 cattle per week and Cargills 6,000.
Spence
said that he believes the market share for milk vealers is declining as the
major supermarkets move to heavier weights and that Limousin should be looking
to expand their market share into lot fed cattle for both the domestic and
export markets.
Cargills
have given a clear message that they want higher yielding cattle and will soon
be introducing a new grid which rewards higher yielding cattle. Cargills Livestock Manager Harry Waddington
has indicated that he would love to have higher yielding black cattle that
would still marble at marble score 2 (maybe Lim-Flex bulls can help here). Spence also saw opportunities for Limousin
in the EU market because HGPs cannot be used on these cattle, for which there
is currently a 50c/kg premium.
He
was most emphatic that for Limousins to make inroads into these markets they
had to be docile and have the ability to have some fat cover and to preferably
be black and polled.
For
lunch we had excellent Patchewarra beef
which is an MSA graded product exclusively supplied with milk vealers by
Lance Chaplin and family who run 1600 Holstein X cows joined to Limousin bulls
south east of Adelaide. The main market
is into high quality restaurants in Adelaide.
Spence who was involved in setting up this branded produce made the
point that any carcase which does not grade to MSA standards suffers a 50c/kg
discount and 75% of the non grading carcases were due to high pH or dark
cutting in which temperament is a major factor.
Yours in Limousin
Alex McDonald