The Glen Innes Hereford Bull Sale is renowned for high quality bulls suitable for commercial and stud operations, which is why Phillip "Bluey" Commins has been buying from the northern NSW sale for the past 30 years.
Mr Commins had bought bulls for his commercial production as well as his Nunniong Herefords stud, based at Ensay, Victoria.
"I buy bulls from a lot of places but the Glen Innes, the bulls up there are at a similar altitude, they can handle it here a lot better than bulls from the lower, warmer country," he said.
"They're not overfed, and you can put them out to work straight away."
Among the studs he's purchased bulls from are Guyra studs Supple Herefords and Foxforth Herefords.
"I generally buy two while I'm there because I'm buying for the stud and commercial herds," Mr Commins said.
"If we buy bulls at Glen Innes, we can put them straight out for the commercial joining, then they'll be joined to the stud cows in spring.
Mr Commins is one of a few mountain cattleman left in his area. He runs 700 to 800 breeders on about 2025 hectares, along with a bush run of almost 40,468ha.
"I have access to the bush runs during summer and autumn, from November to May, at the southern end of Kosciuszko National Park," he said.
"We've been in drought here for three or four years now, so if we didn't have access to that we'd have a lot less cattle."
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Mr Commins said he focused on structure when selecting bulls, but always looked at estimated breeding values (EBVs) for milk and eye muscle area.
"They've got to be long, wide, and deep with a god skin and sound structure.
"With Glen Innes the big benefit is that you can walk along the catwalk above the bulls and pick them out, then get down and have a look at them from the side."
Among the better bulls he's taken home from Glen Innes are two bulls purchased last year from Supple Herefords.
"They're unreal, with their width, depth, and the dark, cherry red skin. The ones that have really good skin seem to do so much better - they can be easier to finish."