When bidding kicks off at $40,000 you can guarantee something special is about to happen during a bull sale.
The Hague family of Rockingham Santas received the ultimate golden anniversary present for their 50th year when bulls sold to $70,000 at Euabalong West on Friday.
Santa Gertrudis bulls have been in hot demand this year and the trend didn't ease at the Tara Station sale where a total of 39 bulls from Rockingham and Denngal studs sold to average $9600 and grossed $374,000.
Separately the Rockingham sires evened out at $10,340 with sons of Diamond H Striker S151 setting a high premium and those five bulls averaging $24,200.
They included the second offering of the day who with a name like Powerhouse there was no wonder he commanded a $70,000 price tag the stud had never seen before.
Their previous record sale top price was $26,000 but that was quickly erased when bidding opened at $40,000.
The 24-month-old polled son of Diamond H Striker S151 out of Rockingham H88 weighed 922 kilograms with an average daily gain of 1.22kg, 138 square centimetre eye muscle area and 43 centimetre scrotum.
He was labelled possibly the best bull the stud had ever bred with his dam producing four calves in four years and his grand dam having nine calves.
It was newly established stud Lindsay Park, Kyogle, who walked away successful purchasers after manager Garth Williams secured the bull online through AuctionsPlus ahead of a syndicate of Queensland buyers.
"I'm still a bit shaken by it - I've never bought a bull that expensive before," he said.
"If we want to be where we want to be we need to be able to look at that sort of quality and grab it when the perfect bull comes up."
Lindsay Park began about two years ago and currently runs about 100 breeding females after they purchased cows and calves from renowned Queensland stud, Yarrawonga.
"We have only just got our first crop of our own stud, possibly classifiable bulls and heifers through," he said.
"We are just really at the start and trying to grow and to grow we need to have the right base.
"He was just in my eyes an all round perfect bull that had great growth, great scrotum, he was a big powerful bull that has just what we are trying to aim to breed.
"He was just a perfect bull in my opinion and the price demonstrates other people were thinking the same thing."
Stud principal Phillip Hague said they had intended on keeping the bull.
"But because we have got his sire we thought we would still have that blood and could afford to sell him," he said.
"The hardest part is we have got to do as well next year."
Second top price was Rockingham Percy P80, another 24-month-old son of Diamond H Striker S151 who sold for $30,000 to Swan Hill Cattle Co, Blackall, Qld.
At least six bulls were stud bound including Rockingham Predictor to Yulgilbar Santa Gertrudis stud, Baryulgil at $11,000.
Australian Green Properties, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, were again the bulk buyer with seven bulls while local purchaser Charlie Clemson and the Worsnop family, Euabalong, both secured three each.
Interestingly the auction also attracted five new buyers.
"I think people just saw how Santas handled the drought and they still survived," stud principal Phillip Hague said of the demand for the breed this year.
"Santa people have still got breeders. The Santas handled the dry and people are back in production."
The sale success capped off a big year of progression for the stud who purchased Yallara Station near Charleville to expand its operation and expose their cattle to the Queensland conditions.
It will also become a depot for their northern clients.
The property fit with their aim to produce bulls that are bred under natural station conditions suitable for most environments including vast pastoral regions.
Females were also offered at the auction with a pen of 16 station mated 16-to-18-month-old Santa heifers attracting the top price of $2300/hd.
The sale was conducted by Nutrien Russell.