Autumn bull sales show highlights but averages down

Buyers are prepared to pay top dollar for bulls, despite a drop in cattle prices. See how the studs have performed at recent sales.

A $67,500 Angus bull and a Hereford at $55,000 have shown buyers are prepared to pay top dollar for sires despite the fall in cattle prices.

The autumn bull selling season is underway, and while averages are down, the fall has not been as big as that seen in the weaner sales, where rates were back by as much as 30 per cent on last year.

Of the major sales monitored by The Weekly Times in the past week, 910 bulls sold for an average of $12,387, a drop of 12 per cent compared to the $14,077 for a similar number.

The best price in the past week was achieved by Nampara Angus, at Mount Gambier, South Australia for its bull Nampara Liberty S56.

It sold to Clover Ridge Pastoral Company, Woolumbool, SA, which also bought another bull from the Nampara offering, for $40,000.

The best whiteface result for the week was achieved by Yavenvale, Adelong, NSW, which sold Yavenvale Silverstone S335 for $55,000 to Alvio Trovatello, Glendan Park Herefords, Redesdale.

Yavenvale co-principal James Pearce said there were new sires lines for half of the bulls offered, “which gives our clients a bit more of an edge through these outcross genetics.”

“We try to get from Lot 1 to 144 as even as possible – we have a big cow herd to select from, and you see here (in the catalogue) the best of what we have got,” he said.

The Boonaroo Angus sale at Casterton last week sold all 123 Angus bulls offered to $30,000 and for an average of $14,041, down from $17,161 last year.

“While the cattle job has come back a bit, it’s still very solid when you look at the long-term average – the last three years are the highest the market has ever been,” Boonaroo co-stud principal Shane Foster said.

“Last year, everything was worth money no matter what it was, whereas this year, it’s more evident that quality does attract a premium, so people are looking to put some good genetics into their production.”