Texas Powerplay’s owner, beef stud Kelly Angus, notified the police on December 31 that the bull went missing some time between December 27 and 29 .
At the time it was feared Texas Powerplay had been stolen.
On January 14, the stud posted the good news on Facebook that Powerplay had been found.
“We are so happy and relieved to let you know Texas Powerplay ... has been found and is alive and well,” the post said.
"He was located a few kilometres from Kelly Angus in a mob of heifers. Powerplay had been unaccounted for for 16 days. We are so grateful for the help from the local Yea district, the police, media and people’s general interest in the bull’s whereabouts.
“It was music to our ears to receive the phone call from (Kelly Angus manager) Patrick Joyce letting us know the good news. Powerplay will have a bit of time to recover at home and then will head to the semen collection centre very soon.”
Texas Powerplay was bought in 2020 for $108,000 — a record amount at the time.
It was a syndicated purchase between Kelly Angus, Select Sires Worldwide and Worldwide Sires Australia, with Kelly Angus getting full possession of the bull and half ownership of semen and marketing.
The two-year-old instantly became Kelly Angus’ showstopper and leading semen sire, with his name appearing front and centre on the stud’s recent Beef Week 2022 advertisements.
Now pushing four years of age, Texas Powerplay is known to have a magnificent temperament, an impeccable structure and stellar maternal line.
The stud is currently part of a Meat and Livestock Australia case study where certain herds were being GPS-tracked to monitor grazing pressure.
Kelly Angus confirmed it was signed on to the GPS tracking trial as part of its efforts to go carbon neutral, but because of COVID-19 delays the tags were yet to be fixed on any livestock.