30 th August 2007
By Emma De Burgh
FarmWeekly
Livestock Triumph after Tragedy
Triumph came out of tragedy last week when a NorthernTerritory vendor who lost many of his stud bulls in a trucking accidentachieved a WA record top price for a Brahman bull of $13,000 at the 2007 PGAKimberley Division Bos Indicus bull sale at Brooking Springs, Fitzroy Crossing.
Of the 44 bulls loaded at Bunda Brahman stud 670km southwestof Katherine, first-time sale vendors Reg and Janelle Underwood were only ableto salvage 15 to offer at the sale after one of two trucks carrying the animalsrolled.
The sale, originally held between the late 1980s and early1990s, was revived to commemorate 100 years since the establishment of thePastoralists and Graziers Association.
Conducted under both the FarmWorks and Elders banners, itwas as success with 128 Brahman and 16 Droughtmaster bulls notching up a 100pcclearance due to strong support from many pastoralists
Steady buying support through the catalogue resulted inconsistent prices and a solid overall average of $2840 and a total gross of$409,000. Vendors from 14 studs presented Brahman bulls to the sale top of#13,000 and five studs offered Droughtmaster sires to a top of $3500. The crowdhad to wait for lot 165 in the catalogue before the top price was knocked down,with a grey Brahman specimen from Bunda stud attracting strong attention aroundthe ring.
The November 2004-drop bull was sired by Lanes CreekNavigator and was out of Bunda dam BTU 541/23/9, and it was Leopold Downsstation, Bunda Cattle Company, Broome, that dug deepest to secure theupstanding sire for $13,000 in what was their only purchase of Bunda bulls.
Bunda had 14 more bulls on offer and these found favour witha range of buyers.
The vendor with the highest average of the day was AlmaBrahman stud, Bell, Queensland, which sold three bulls to an average of $3917and the second top price of the sale of $5500.
The $550 April 2005-drop red poll bull, sired by Mt CallanBoxer 17/00 (P) and was out of Alma Rasberry 6/99 (P), was knocked down to DaleKing Holdings, Carnarvon.
Putting forward the most bulls in the catalogue was Stylostud, Katherine, which offered 41 top animals.
A wide range of buyers were active in the Stylo catalogue,including Yeeda station, which took home 15 bulls to a top of $3000 and Florinastation, Katherine which outlaid the $4500 for 11 bulls.
Ten bulls were put forward by Rodlyn stud, Bell and these were popular with Emu Creek,Carnarvon, which paid between $2250 and $2750 for three.
A solid selection of 12 bulls was also catalogued from theMount Hastings stud, Biggenden, and Yeeda continued to add to its growing teamof bulls by purchasing seven, while Brooking Springs and Jubilee Downs, FitzroyCrossing, selected two.
Labelle stud, NorthernTerritory, presented nine bulls to a good response,with @4250 being paid twice by Bunda Cattle Company for grey two- year olds.
Nine Brahman bulls were also put forward by Rathlyn, withDale King Holdings paying the $3250 top price and outlaying the same top pricefor a Barlyne bull.
A bull from Muan stud, Biggenden, sold for $4500 to JubileeDowns.
While there were fewer Droughtmasters, they still attractedenthusiastic buying, with even prices across the board for the 16 bulls fromfive studs.
Jubilee Downs paid the$3500 top price for an August 2005- drop Droughtmaster bull from Crusader stud,Eidsvold, Queensland.
The muscular poss bull was sired by Jackoben Acrobat and wasout of Crusader Mimic 11.
Six further bulls were sold by Crusader to register anoverall average of $3357, underpinned by the sale of four bulls to JubileeDowns and one bull each to Emu Creek, Hills Springs station, Carnarvon, andManberry station, Carnarvon.
Four Droughtmaster were presented for sale by Sevenell stud,Bell, and thesewere snapped up at an average price of $2313, with the top price of $2750 paidby Fossil Downs station, Fitzroy Crossing.