Prime Angus principals Col Flanagan and Pat Ebert, Waitpinga, via Victor Harbour, South Australia, made the long road trip to Tamworth to pursue a bull with exceptional qualities.
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Their efforts paid off as they acquired the Heart Angus Rolls RoyceT96, a bull with Rolls Royce-like attributes, for $22,000.
Heart Angus sold 22 two-year-old bulls to the top of $22,000, averaging $10,818, and 24 yearling bulls to $14,000, averaging $7700.
During the auction, 13 bulls were passed in, but within an hour of the sale being completed, nine were sold for the $6000 upset price.
The sale-topping bull was sired by Millah Murrah Rolls Royce R275, which sold for a then-record price for a yearling of $110,000 in 2021.
This was eclipsed last year by the yearling Texas Thunderstruck, which set an all-breeds record at $360,000.
Heart Rolls Royce T96 is a July 2022 drop calf and will not turn two until later in the month.
Described as a heifer bull, it weighed 855 kilograms and had an impressive data sheet. Its EBVs included +2.3 birth weight, 200-, 400- and 600-day growth of +60, +108, and +141, respectively, and +78 carcase weight.
Mr Flanagan said he made the trip specifically to Heart Angus to chase the Rolls Royce genetics, and he was looking for three bulls to add to Prime Angus' sire battery.
"I had a few picked, and I got this one," he said. "He was the one I was after.
"I'm chasing pedigree and good sires. He's a good one.
"I've never bought from Heart, but this was the type I was looking for."
Heart Angus principals, Chris, Nat and Jye Paterson, sold 15 of the Rolls Royce bulls they catalogued for an average of $10,200.
Repeat buyers bought the rest of the catalogue from the New England and the North West.
The two second-top-priced bulls sold for $20,000, and Neil and Beth Higgins of Old Crockford, Nowendoc, bought both.
Neil and Beth Higgins have been buying at Heart Angus since the first sale eight years ago and sell many of their weaners through the Tamworth Regional Livestock Exchange.
In 2018, they won the fifth annual Virbac Weaner Challenge with their outstanding-quality black-baldy weaner steers.
Their first bull was the 816kg Heart Professor T87, sired by AZSP48 Heart Professor P48 out of a SAV Prosperity 9131 female. Its EBVs included +2.9 BW, 200-, 400- and 600-day growth of +53, +91, and +127, respectively, and +73 CW.
The other $20,000 purchase was another son of Millah Murrah Rolls Royce R275 out of a Rennylea L519 female. Its EBVs included +6.6 BW, 200-, 400- and 600-day growth of +65, +119, and +155, respectively, and +85 CW.
Overall, they bought five bulls, averaging $16,000.
Stacey Miller, Miller Family Pastoral, bought four bulls to average $11,500 for their 700-cow herd run on the east side of Walcha.
Their top-priced selection was the $14,000 Heart Professor T147, a 22-month-old that weighed 822kg.
Its EBVs included +2.2 BW, 200-, 400-, and 600-day growth of +46, +81, and +104, respectively, and +55 CW.
Ms Miller is a repeat buyer. Bella Miller and Victoria Wythes accompanied her to the sale, and she said it was shaping up to be an outstanding season in her district.
"We've had minimal frosts, and it's been extremely wet with the easterly misting falls," she said.
Steers in the herd are grown out to feedlot weight, half of the heifer drop is retained in the herd, and the remainder is grown out on the grass for the grass-fed MSA antibiotic-free market through Wingham.
Another repeat buyer was Kickerbell West, Pine Ridge, which bought three bulls to $14,000, averaging $9,333, while the Ranken Brothers, Tribella, Quirindi, bought four bulls to $10,000 twice, averaging $8750.
RM and PL Wright, Trefusis, Walcha, bought two bulls for $16,000 and $6000, while CC Ag, Ellerston, via Scone, bought two bulls for $12,000 and $7000.
Scott, Amanda and Darcy Doyle, Olinga, Bective, were repeat buyers and bought two bulls averaging $6500, while Gulliver Farming, Dimby, Blackville, bought two bulls averaging $7000.
The selling agents were Davidson Cameron and Company, with Paul Dooley as the auctioneer. AuctionsPlus provided the online interface.