Coonamble wins 2023 Strathtay Trophy
Coonamble Angus stud, Bremer Bay, wins 2023 Strathtay Trophy
EACH year the WA Angus Society hands out its most prestigious award, the Strathtay Trophy, to a well-deserving recipient in recognition of their commitment and contribution to the Angus breed and the winner this year is the Coonamble stud, Bremer Bay.
The trophy was established by the late Jack Young, Strathtay Angus stud, Narrogin, and is now presented annually by the WA Angus Society chairman.
Mr Young believed it was necessary to recognise an individual or group achievement in promoting the Angus breed with exhibition success, the sale or purchase of stud or commercial stock, or setting an outstanding high standard in their chosen field, thereby earning the respect of Angus breeders.
And this is the premise each year that the WA Angus Society chairperson uses to select its winner.
When announcing the Coonamble stud the winner at the WA Angus Society annual general meeting last week, chairman Mark Muir said anyone involved in the Angus industry would be thrilled with how the past year had panned out with demand for cattle at an all-time high.
"This trophy is awarded to the person or family or business that shows achievements that above or over an extended period of time excels above others," Mr Muir said.
"This year is no exception when you drill down into who has achieved what and how, a number of people and businesses stand tall.
"But this year's winner the Coonamble stud should come as no surprise as it did so well not only did it smash records and averages, it also set new benchmarks in the Western Australian stud industry that are going to be hard to match.
"So well done to the Coonamble stud and all the Davis family and all those involved in their enterprise."
The Davis family's Coonamble stud, Bremer Bay, was established in 1967 and has grown to be one of the country's prominent Angus studs.
In the stud's on-property bull sale in 2022 it sold 129 bulls from 133 offered to a top of $72,000, a gross of $1.877 million and an average of $14,550 to set three new State records at the time (two were broken later in the season by other studs).
With these figures the sale ranks as the highest ever grossing bull sale in WA breaking the record the stud had set only in 2021.
Also at the time the $72,000 top price sat at the top of the tree in terms of prices paid for a bull at auction in WA and the $14,500 average was the best average recorded for a bull sale in WA.
Then in November last year the stud held a female reduction sale offering genetics from the heart of its herd and it received strong support from right across Australia both in the stands and on AuctionsPlus to again rewrite WA sale records.
In this sale the stud offered and sold 94 stud females for a gross of $1.459m and an average of $15,521.