An overwhelmingly positive vibe was rampant at the 2016 Rockhampton Brahman Week sale where bull after bull entered the selling ring to almost constant competitive bidding.
Records were slashed from all angles. In 2006, 1039 Brahman sires sold for a $6.48 million gross in the same year the previous top price record of $90,000 was cemented.
This year, 822 bulls sold to gross $9,681,000 with a monumental top price of $150,000 while last year’s record average price of $7395 was also squashed by the 2016 average of $11,777.
Australian Brahman Breeders’ Association (ABBA) general manager John Croaker said all figures were well in excess of anything achieved at Brahman Week since its debut sale in 1977.
“This is our 40th sale and in it we’ve pushed past 36,000 bulls sold since the sale began,” he said.
“Up until 1989 we were selling across four days from Wednesday to Saturday but it became to difficult too handle. We cut it back to three days but still found ourselves cataloguing 1100 head so we trimmed it back in 2007 as there was too much pressure on the system.”
Mr Croaker said the sale now aimed to catalogue no more than 1000 bulls but would easily increase that number if desired.
“We now have a restricted quota system that encourages people not to bring their tail end bulls and to only bring their better lots,” he said.
“If a vendor’s bulls are passed in the number of bulls they are permitted to bring is reduced but if they sell well they’ll get an increase and the system is working well.
“The quality of the yarding is excellent and that’s reflected in the confidence of the buyers who are starting bulls at $5000 and $10,000 and that’s something I’ve never seen before.”
Mr Croaker said the results were fitting for what he had researched as the biggest multi vendor bull sale in the world.
“We can’t find a sale in South or North America or in Europe with this many bulls. To be cracking through 890 head with such momentum is extraordinary,” he said.
“It’s been a tremendous vote of confidence in the Brahman breed’s ability to supply what buyers are looking for in their breeding programs.
“There are many commercial breeders here with self replacing herds along with many cross breeders and they’ve been prepared to stretch their budgets to buy the bulls they want to buy whereas in previous years they were more likely to be shopping for bulls they could afford.”
Elders Queensland stud stock manager Blake Munro, Toowoomba, echoed Mr Croaker’s sentiments and said the sale was a credit to the vendors and the Brahman Society.
“Weather and cattle prices have obviously benefited the sale but I also think it’s a very unique sale whereby this many vendors come together to exhibit their best,” he said.
“The proof is everywhere. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people in this stadium- it can get pretty lonely this time of day on the third day but the sale hasn’t faltered at all.
“Moreover it has been a positive three days for the beef industry and we’d like to congratulate all vendors who make it a success.”
