HE’S Maximiser by name - and as it turns out, Maximiser by price - with the 735-kilogram North Coast bull topping Scone’s Northern Limousin Breeders sale at $7000 on Friday.
The young, quiet bull impressed with softness and muscle pattern to fetch top of the 16 bulls that went out the door at an average of $4343.
Quality was certainly no issue on the day, with this year’s sale also being the first fully scanned, through a drought-skewed market saw 13 bulls passed over, and three of eight female lots set aside.
The top female lot was the apricot polled Back Creek Lucinder, with heifer calf at foot by Back Creek Le Payday, for $3500.
Lucinder, 40 months, was by Harlees Mr Jock and from Greenacres Betty.
The top-priced bull, 23-month-old River View Maximiser, was raised on Dorrigo pastures at Andrea and Jerome Simpson’s “River View” and semen tested over at Armidale, en route to Scone.
By Wulfs Ridgely and from River View Kute Desire, he was the second youngest bull in his drop, boasting 124cm eye-muscle area, and 35cm scrotal circumference.
Maximiser will headed for the banks of the Hawkesbury at Tony Cotter’s Brinsely Limousin stud at Sackville.
Mr Cotter said he just couldn’t pass up the price.
“Usually you’d expect to see things a bit higher… but there are some cheap animals out there at the moment,” he said
Of the 31 bulls listed in the annual Breeders sale program, three were withdrawn and a dozen passed over.
Last year’s sale saw bulls average $5600 and females average $3136.
Landmark-Harcourts Scone director Gavin Beard acknowledged it was “hard, very tough” out there at the moment.
Others in the yards remarked they had “more bulls than females at the moment”.
Allan and Marilyn Waters of Almar Limousins over at Bunnan, predicted a hard market.
They brought a couple of French bulls to the sale, 24 months and 28 months, but had no takers on the day.