WINTERY conditions failed to deter buyers from flocking to the annual Glenwarrah Herefords and Brooksby Angus bull sale on Wednesday.
A total of 55 registered bidders gathered at the on-property sale near Bundurra, while many more bid for the 62 bulls offered by the Collins family online via AuctionsPlus.
All but two of the bulls sold during the auction at an overall average of $10,516.
Auctioneer Tom Piddington, Armitage and Buckley, Armidale, did not have to wait long to sell of the day's top-priced Hereford bull as Glenwarrah Marshall Q314 sold to Nattai Investments, Inverell, for $18,000 as the second lot of the sale.
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The 23-month-old son of Lotus Marshall M102 and out of Glenwarrah Lass L168 had estimated breeding values in the top 15 per cent for mature cow weight and intramuscular fat.
"He had all the qualities we were looking for to join our Brahman cows with," said Nattai Investments manager Glenn Morris.
"We are producing F1 (first-cross) Brahman/Hereford females and they've got great longevity and we thought that bull would meet nicely with the females we've got.
"We've been coming here for years because they are great carcase cattle and have really done a good job for us over the years."
In total, 20 of the 22 Hereford bulls offered were sold at an average of $10,100, with nine Hereford bulls purchased by the Lockyer family, The Retreat, Walcha, at an average of $10,555.
The Lockyers also purchased five Angus bulls at an average of $11,600 for a combined total of 14 bulls at an average of $10,928.
"We've been coming here for five or six years now and these bulls have always worked for us," Ross Lockyer said.
"The Angus bulls will go over second-calf heifers and the Herefords will go over the Hereford females we have at home to build up our Hereford numbers again."
The Angus bulls the Lockyers took home were part of the run of 41 bulls offered, of which 23 were yearling bulls which averaged $9478, while the remaining 20 were two-year-old bulls, which averaged $13,529.
The top-priced Angus bull was Brooksby New Day Q290, which was purchased by Allendale Pastoral Co Pty Ltd, Nowendoc, for $17,000, while Brooksby Navigator R056 and Brooksby Navigator R009 topped the yearling section of the sale at $16,000 each, and were bought by Plumthorpe Pastoral, Barraba, and via AuctionsPlus respectively.
Brooksby New Day Q290 was the 24-month-old son of Glenoch Kalli K115 and out of Glenlachie Krugerand Magic B11, and was in the top 17pc for the breed for days to calving and the top 22pc for feed efficiency.
Stud principal David Collins said this year's sale was one of the operation's best to date.
"There was a heap of interest from places like Queensland and right across NSW as well, so that gave me a bit of confidence we could go well," Mr Collins said.
"For us, it is really pleasing to know that people from all over are interested in the type of bulls we're breeding and it's really pleasing to know we are breeding something people really rate."
Mr Collins said the top selling bulls were some of the best the operation has bred.
"I think the top selling Hereford bulls had good skin on them, not too much hair and were just proper carcase bulls," he said.
"As for the Angus, I think it was a really similar story and I think that was reflected in how strong that part of the sale was as well.
"(The) majority of our buyers like to get the bulls home and get them onto their cows straight away, so we do our best to breed our bulls to do that."
Bective Station, Tamworth, was one of the most prolific buyers in the Angus sale, snapping up eight bulls at an average of $10,500.
The sale was conducted by Buckley and Armitage, Armidale along with Nutrien Ag Solutions.
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