Worrying drought conditions in Hawke's Bay, Covid uncertainty and associated restrictions, meant that there was only a very small crowd of committed buyers, practising appropriate social distancing in the seating stands.
Four bulls were also sold online through the Bidr hybrid auction platform with spirited bidding from online buyers also pushing along the prices in the rostrum.
The bulls sold will be taking up their duties in the far north and Tolaga Bay, as well as a handful closer to home. A highlight for the Friel family was the sale of a bull to a second-generation buyer who has been buying two-year-old bulls from the Friel family since their first sale in the King Country in 1982, and having begun to mate younger heifers, chose Mt Mable to secure a suitable heifer mating bull.
Another highlight was a good number of bulls going to a discerning large farming operation where close attention is always paid to the quality of their cattle.
The yearling sales at Mt Mable are combined between PGG Wrightson and Carrfields and 2021 was the turn of Northland-based Carrfield's agent Rhys Dackers to control the auctioneer's box.
Rhys has been a long-time supporter of Mt Mable genetics since bringing a single client to a sale when the stud was still based in the King Country. He has since grown a large book of Mt Mable Angus clients in the North who trust him to select bulls on their behalf.
All Mt Mable Angus bulls sold at auction carry a comprehensive three-season of use guarantee covering fertility, foot structure and temperament. If any bull sold, be it a yearling or two-year-old, fails to live up to their breeder's and buyer's expectations, then a conversation is held and a suitable refund made – the Friels can confidently offer this level of guarantee on their bulls as there is very rarely an occasion when it is called upon.
There are never buyer credits at Mt Mable Angus sales as any problem bulls is corrected with a cash refund so that any disappointed buyer is not obligated to return to Mt Mable Angus to replace the bull.
There is only one other stud which provides a full three-year guarantee on yearling bulls that the Friel family are aware of.
Now the Friels are concentrating on the last few cows and heifers to calve and carefully planning the bull mating selection for this year to ensure another crop of balanced easy keeping and sought-after bulls for their clients, and heifers for their own herd, are born in 2022.
