A new Angus breed record price was set at the KO Angus sale near Kangaloon in NSW this afternoon when young sire prospect KO Godfather G31 was sold for $110,000.

The AI son of US sire TC Aberdeen 759 was bought by the Bateman family’s Gilmandyke Angus Stud, located near Orange, NSW.

The March, 2011 calf’s outstanding visual appeal was supported by strong Breedplan EBVs, listed in detail at the base of this page. He was +48 for 200-day weight, +112 for 600 day weight, +24 for milk, +2.2 for scrotal size, +6.7 for eye muscle area, +1.2 for retail beef yield and +2.0 for intra-muscular fat.

Several prominent southern Australian Angus seedstock producers were chasing the young sire prospect because of his outcross potential.  

AI sons of his US semen donor sire TC Aberdeen 759 offered on the Australian Angus sale circuit this year have averaged extremely well.  

TC Aberdeen, from the Agri-Gene Premium catalogue, is an elite carcase merit sire which has seen him used extensively in the North American industry. Aberdeen sires attractive, structurally correct cattle that are low birth weight while still ranking in the top ten percent of the breed for US weaning and beef indexes. He is a breed leader for maternal traits like heifer pregnancy, docility and udder quality.

The new Australian record-setter, out of a high-performing home-bred cow family in KO Vicky 93, was one of 54 lots offered by KO at its annual sale this afternoon, which saw 49 bulls sold for an $8285 average.

Principal Theo Onisforou said many studs had registered to bid at the sale, and more than half of them had bid on KO Godfather until he reached the $60,000 mark. He said there were already expressions of interest from overseas in a semen share in Godfather. The sale claimed to be the first held on NSW to include full Pfizer HD50K Angus genomic testing on all sale lots. 

Angus Australia’s chief executive, Peter Parnell said Angus seedstock producers placed a huge emphasis on continued genetic improvement, and current sale prices reflected this.

“This year has been extremely successful for Angus producers, with good average prices and sale clearance rates,” he said.

Today’s result moved past the previous record held by Te Mania Angus, at $ 91,000 paid last year for Te Mania Emperor VTME343.

Only last week, Booramooka Angus at Bingara NSW achieved a top price of $ 65,000 at their sale – the highest priced Angus bull for the year to that point.

Not including today’s results, Angus average sale prices for bulls have increased by 16pc on 2011.