On The Land
1 November, 2022
Barronessa breaks records in Rockhampton
Barronessa's star continued its rise with another outstanding result at the 46th Rockhampton Brangus sale held at the Central Queensland Livestock Exchange Gracemere yards recently.
Not only did the Strazzeri family record their highest bull price since they began selling through the venue three years ago, but a Barronessa heifer topped the female sale and achieved the top price paid for a Brangus heifer in Australia this year.
Barronessa Aspen 820 S1 sold for $45,000 to Brett and Mandie Scott of "Millstream Springs Brangus," near Millaa Millaa. The stylish 20 month old heifer in calf to American sire, Brickhouse 909D9, was a standout at auction and commanded a lot of attention from bidders.
Shane Strazzeri said it was a tough decision to part with the heifer, described as having "all the qualities of an exceptional dam," but the family believed the interest she would attract and the positive promotion from her sale would do much "to get their name out there."
Mandie Scott said they had been watching Miss Aspen for a while and were very keen to secure her in Rockhampton.
"She is a new cow line for us and she has everything we were looking for in a female herd builder. She came in on budget and we believe she delivered good value for our stud," she said.
"We will use here in a couple of IVF programs, complementing her strengths with semen selected from superior bulls to produce a line of top quality bulls and heifers going forward."
Barronessa Farming offered a team of six bulls and four heifers this year. Barronessa Apollo 468R6, at 27 months and 998kg topped their male draft, selling to Tarcoola Cattle Co for $42,000 to record them a sire average of $24,000.
"Apollo will be heading straight to Rocky Repro for semen collection, before going home to get to work for his new owners. The five other bulls went to producers in Tamworth, Charleville, Charters Towers and Rockhampton," Mr Strazzeri said.
Barronessa's decision to take females to this year's sale for the first time, paid huge dividends with their heifers' averaging $16,500, almost twice the female sale average.
Ironically, three of the draft travelled to auction in Rockhampton, only to be brought back to the far north by local purchasers, the Scott, Pedracini and Small families. The fourth went to the Holzwart family, repeat buyers from Charters Towers.
Hailed as a huge success, the two-day Rockhampton sale grossed $4.65 million for a total of 180 registered bulls, 2 semen packages and 43 registered females. Up $30,00 on last year, bulls sold to a top of $110,000 to average $20,491, while the females averaged $10,395 a head.
Joe and Sharon Strazzeri and sons began breeding stud Charolais and Charbray cattle 20 years ago, added Brangus to their business in 2010 and introduced Ultrablack bulls in 2017.
Recognising the growing interest in black cattle Mr Strazzeri said they would keep the four breeds going but would be concentrating on their Brangus and Ultrablacks over the next few years.
They added another 40 hectares to their Atherton operation when they bought a neighbouring block early this year, bringing their aggregation close to the 405ha (1,000 acre) mark.
"Demand is growing and a bit more space will help us increase our numbers. Next year we plan to take around 12 bulls and six or seven heifers down to Rockhampton, but we still want to sell plenty of bulls privately," Mr Strazzeri said.
"Momentum is building, we are getting orders for 20 bulls at a time from Roma. Our performance in Rockhampton tells us we are heading in the right direction, but we are focused on achieving consistency for our customers.
"The Rockhampton sale draws purchasers from all over Australia and we were very fortunate to have Elder's Anthony Ball selling for us. He is a great auctioneer who knows cattle, cares about what he does and has the ability to make a difference to the final price in the ring."
