Angus producers will have not one but two opportunities to put Absolute bulls into their programs this year.
The Gippsland based stud purchased a second property at Echuca in 2022, and this autumn will host sales at both locations.
Absolute principal Anthony Pisa said a sale at the new farm in Victoria’s north had been the plan all along, but flooding soon after it was purchased delayed the first auction until this year.
“Sales at both locations moves us closer to our clients, regardless of where they are, and allows them to be able to access the cattle more easily without travelling as far, and without having to rely on videos of the bulls online – they can view them in the flesh,” he said.
“There will be no difference in genetics across the two sales, and we keep the same breeding values for both operations.’
The Gippsland on-property sale will be held at Absolute’s Trafalgar South Sale Complex on March 27, with 35 bulls aged 18 months on offer.
A week later, on Thursday 4 April, 50 bulls of the same age will be offered at the Echuca and District Livestock Exchange, and both sales will be integrated with AuctionsPlus.
The upcoming sales will see the first full line of Milwillah Rimfire R1023 sons to be offered by Absolute, a bull the stud purchased in 2021 for $85,000.
Rimfire is a bull with exceptional carcase data, including Estimated Breeding Values in the top 5% for both rib and rump fat, and the top 15% for eye muscle area.
Other sires that have sons in the sale include Sterling Pacific 904 and Coleman Bravo 6313, both used in artificial insemination programs.
Sterling Pacific has some outstanding growth figures, in the top 1% for 200-day weight and top 2% for 400- and 600-day weight, as well as being in the top 1% for temperament.
Coleman Bravo sons will be suitable for those producers looking for calving ease, with EBVs in the top 5% for calving ease direct and birth weight.
And of course, there will be sons of Landfall New Ground N90, a bull Absolute purchased for a Tasmania record price of $75,000 in conjunction with ABS and that Anthony says now “speaks for himself”.
“His sons are performing particularly well, and we are also using his half-brother on the maternal side, Landfall Keystone Q750,” he said.
“Their mother, Landfall Elsa L88, is very strong and has powerful fertility and structural traits.
“And those are traits I’ve been very focussed on, fertility and structure, as well as the growth and carcass, and mature cow weight.
“We want positive EBVs overall that support the phenotype of the animal and allow them to perform wherever they go.”
Anthony added that this performance was particularly focussed on weight gain on grass.
“All our bulls are good on grass, being all grassfed, with sire lines such as Landfall Leonardo P145, a bull that has great grassfed traits.”
Both Absolute properties have been experiencing a good season, with the Echuca farm having recovered from the floods of late 2022 which caused many pasture and soil health issues, according to Anthony.
“It was a very large process to get things back to what they needed to be,” he said.
“However this season the bulls have taken off really well and they are looking magnificent.”
Absolute last offered bulls for sale in the spring at their Trafalgar property, selling 25 lots to average $6400 and topping at $14,000.
Anthony said there was more positivity in the market since then, with stronger prices, and the focus for producers would be buying bulls with adaptability.
“Each client has a different trait they come for – power, birth, growth, fat cover – so my focus is on the structure and the phenotype of the animal first, so at the end of the day they can find the bull that suits their needs, be it for breeding weaners or replacement heifers or finished cattle,” he said.
“My bulls have all those traits so producers really can’t go wrong.
Angus producers can secure Absolute genetics in Gippsland at the Trafalgar South Sale Complex, 292 Trafalgar South Road, Trafalgar South, from 1pm on Wednesday March 27, or at the Echuca and District Livestock Exchange, 530 McKenzie Road, Echuca, on Thursday April 4, also at 1pm.
Inspections at each sale will be open from 11am and both sales will be integrated with AuctionsPlus.