Blonde bulls have again topped the WA Supreme Bull Sale held at Brunswick Junction WA last week. The sale was held in scorching (42C) conditions on Thursday 25^th February 2010 at the Alan Evans selling centre on Brunswick Showgrounds.

Blondes were the first breed to be auctioned and their demand matched the weather, with the bidding being hot from the outset. With a 21 bulls offered and 20 sold an outstanding 95% clearance rate was achieved.

Blondes topped this multi-breed bull sale for the fourth consecutive year, a sale which had 163 bulls entered representing 9 breeds.  Blonde bulls sold to a very creditable average of $5950 over 20 bulls which is an outstanding result given that in the past there have never been more than 11 Blonde bulls offered at this sale.

Other Euro breeds including Charolais, Simmental and Limousin averaged $4024, $3571 and $2906 with clearance rates of 83%, 58% and 66% respectively. From the above results it can be clearly demonstrated that the Blonde impact in the beef industry is highly sought after by commercial producers.

The first 2 Blonde bulls on offer entered by Amaroo were the only polled bulls in the sale and sold for $7000 and $5000 respectively. After that, the other bulls sold in quick succession.

The highest price of the day was $11000 for Superior Dominator a bull that was bought by a Victorian breeder Russell Carter of Byne Byne Blondes. The second top price also was for a Blonde bull, with Amaroo Blondes selling Amaroo Dakota for $8500 to Bob Andrews of Old Kentucky Blondes Victoria.  This is not the first time that stud buyers from the other side of the country have made their presence felt at this particular sale.

During a lean year for beef breeders especially in WA, the sale outcome was a huge show of confidence for the qualities the Blonde breed can bring to the beef industry.

As principal of Amaroo Blondes, Gerald Bergsma explained, “commercial beef producers are recognizing that early maturing Blondes can produce progeny that are keenly sought after by butchers. He said that breeders with a predominantly Angus herds have shown a particular liking for the benefits of crossing Blondes bulls over their British breeders with the resulting calves retaining their black color  from the Angus breed.”

“When adding to this the higher growth rates and increased muscling, Blonde bulls go on to produce increased beef quality and dressing percentages”, he said.

Amaroo Blondes was once again the leading producer by number and average, selling 10 bulls ranging from $5000 to $8500 and averaging $6450 across their sale team.

Blonde cross calves are keenly sought after by WA butchers because of their high meat quality and an 3% to 5% increase in dressing percentage. The finer bone structure of the Blondes also makes it an ideal “meat-making machine” with minimal waste.

Trials have also shown that the Blonde breed produces calves with good feed conversion ratios.

Some of the bulls sold went to the more northern parts of the WA Wheatbelt, and with pasture feed being scarce this season, it is even more important that the available feed produces results fast.

Written By Robert Dekker, Albany WA