WA buyers stock up

The Bettini brothers, De Grey Station, Port Hedland, Western Australia, purchased six bulls on day one to gross $116,500 for an impressive average of $19,416. 

Their top price purchase was $37,500 for lot 200, Carinya William 6/537, a horned bull from the Carinya Nimrod sire. 

William, a 22-month-old bull with a scrotal circumference of 38cm and an EMA of 137cm sq,  was towards the end of the Carinya run, which were WA eligible.

John said going into the sale, it was easier for him and Mark to select the bulls they wanted as they were choosing from a much smaller number of bulls; with only the WA eligible lines to pick from. 

He said despite leaving with the six bulls, he had been hoping to purchase more but the brothers left the underbidders on other lots.

“We probably could have done with a couple more, but they had to be WA certified,” he said.

“We knew where they were, but other people had a higher idea on the value.” 

Operating on 2.5 million acres (1,011,714 hectares) with 15,000 grey Brahman breeders, the brothers have come back to grey bulls after a switch to red.

“The old herd is a grey Brahman herd, but we’ve recently had a lot of red cattle in there, but we’ve converted (back) to greys,” John said. 

The operation also runs a small select sire breeding herd for their own use. 

John said while he would like to sell commercial bulls from that herd, there are obstacles to overcome first. 

“We don’t commercially sell bulls at this stage,” he said.

“We are maybe looking at that – but we would need more infrastructure, paddocking, and the ability to feed them all.”

De Grey Station has seen a good season this year with about 350mm of rain.

John said that is on the back of drought years though, with only about 100mm annually.