Leading Ladies Female Sale results

Story by Lucy Kinbacher, Queensland Country Life.

For the first time since 2012, Billa Park Simmentals offered females from their growing herd that now sees them join over 400 purebred Simmental females and produce more than 100 bulls annually.

Originally set to be held on March 31, the Helmsman style auction was extended due to wet weather and instead concluded at 2pm on April 10.

The sale included both pure bred registered animals and commercial heifers.

Of the 58 females offered at the auction 47 sold for a 81 per cent clearance and a sale average of $2475.

The Leading Ladies and Genetics Sale grossed $128,700.

Billa Park Lady Rush L7 and her week old heifer calf topped the sale for $6000 and were purchased by Coolibah Simmentals, Cuyra, New South Wales with just two bids.

The polled dam by the former Australian record top seller for the breed, Woonallee Goldrush and out of Billa Park Delta D40 was part of the Billa Park show team last year and was put back in calf to Casa Toro Red Heart using AI.

Billa Park’s Scott York said the family were very happy with the sale result.

While the decision to postpone the sale’s end date wasn’t an easy one, it worked in the heifer’s favour after she calved a week before the new date, he said.

“She was an animal that we picked out as a calf to come on our show team because she was a stand out,” he said. “We thought when we have a female sale we have to offer some good lots and she made the cut unfortunately for us.

“She is by a bull that until recently was the Australian top price Simmental record and out of a cow family that has really worked for us.”

Second top price was Billa Park Glamour G23 and heifer calf who sold for $5500.

Built on some of the stud’s foundation bloodlines, the cow was pregnancy tested in calf to Billa Park E1043 and was sold under the conditions that Billa Park will retain one flush from the cow at a later date.

Mr York said it was hard to see some of their best animals go but they were happy to be releasing female bloodlines once again.  “Drought and the cattle market and those sort of things didn’t lend itself to those people trying to restock,” he said.

“And we didn’t have the cash to throw at them to prepare them for a sale since the last one.”

The sale also included two genetic lots, a semen package and an embryo package.  A package of 10 straws of 2016 Ekka Grand Champion Bull, Billa Park Lethal Weapon sold for $3600.

Lethal Weapon is described as “possibly the best sire to ever walk the paddocks” of Billa Park and the family were most surprise and pleased with the sale, which they said could easily be a Queensland semen sale record for the breed.

An embryo package of three A-grade embryos from the polled female Billa Park Poll Finch F33 crossed with Double Bar D Rival 201A sold for $800 in what was a rare Australian opportunity to secure Rival 201A genetics.

The Billa Park Simmentals Sale was run by Elite Livestock Auctions and Landmark stud stock.