More bang for buck: Buyers team up for Wilangi sale's top bull purchase
The last Brahman sale of 2024 saw two successful northern studs team up to purchase the top-priced bull at the 37th Wilangi Invitational.
Mr Wooley, a 27-month-old grey Brahman from Stewart and Kerry Wallace, Wallace Cattle Co, Clarke Creek was bought by Lawson and Sophie Camm, Cambil Brahmans, Proserpine and Brian and Cindy Hughes, Lanes Creek Brahmans, Georgetown for $38,000.
Livestock agent Wayne York sold the impressive progeny of sire Ahern Encino Man and dam Wallace Miss Julie.
"He was long, deep, square, really good flank, just really balanced and correct and hard to fault," Mr York said.
"He was a good soft beef calf. I thought he would be up at the top."
Mr Wooley went home with Mr Camm, who will put him into his breeding paddock. In early February, he will head north to Lanes Creek to be put over a number of their promising cows.
The dual purchase complements the studs' different breeding seasons and climates.
Mr Camm said the bull's good temperament, length, thickness of body, clean underline, structural soundness and good testicle development made him his top pick.
"He ticks a lot of boxes that cover a lot of what we're looking for," Mr Camm said.
"He's a nice white colour, that's very popular. I think he's a bull we could really do something with."
While this is the first time Mr Camm and Mr Hughes have teamed up, Mr Camm is no stranger to utilising different breeding seasons and climates to get the most out of bull purchases with other studs.
"I probably have the advantage of living at Proserpine on the coast where we're not so much worried about dry weather. We can have a breeding program a little earlier, which is a bit different to some other people," Mr Camm said.
"I can use a bull and then move him on to the next place and we can still have access to those high-price bulls without outlaying that full amount."
Mr Camm will bring Mr Wooley up north to the Big Country Sale in February to head to Lanes Creek.
"He's a standout bull in the yard," Mr Hughes said.
"His blood is what we haven't got a lot of so we can use him [and he's a] good calf. He was a standout calf in the yard."
Vendor Kerry Wallace had expected promising returns from what she described as her operation's standout bull of the year.
"I'm exceptionally happy. He's gone to two really good stud heads, so that's really exciting for us," she said.
"It's lovely to see him go to a good home, and we're really quite proud of that bull, and we hope he'll do well for those people."
Sire Encino Man had been a top performer for the Wallace Cattle stud.
"We're really excited about the females out of that sire and it's a solid pedigree out of our stud," Mrs Wallace said.
"We're really proud of [Mr Wooley], and it'll be lovely to see his progeny come back through, hopefully in a couple of years' time.
Mr Wooley tipped the scales at 902kg and measured 41 centimetres in scrotal circumference, scanning 12 and 10 millimetres respectively for P8 and rib fat, 151 square centimetres for eye muscle area and 5.5pc for intramuscular fat.
He had sperm motility of 80pc and morphology of 85pc.
The second top-priced bull, Cambil Hercules, came from Cambil Brahmans and was sold to Viva Brahmans, Alistair and Pam Davison, Middlemount, for $26,000.
"He's always been a nice, quiet [bull with a] beautiful temperament as well. He's sired by Nicneil Sugar Daddy who sold for $180,000 a few years ago at Brahman Week," Mr Camm said.
"He's a polled bull and has a good character to his head, which I think people are looking for in the polled cattle now. I've always liked the bull."
Mr Davison said the "good polled sire" will be used in the Middlemount herd to boost polled bull numbers.
He said the bull's beef attributes, such as softness, carcase quality, tidy sheath, and a broad, polled head, were deciding factors in the purchase.
"He's a good bull all around," Mr Davison said.
Cambil Hercules tipped the scales at 766kg and measured 36 centimetres in scrotal circumference, scanning 10 and 7 millimetres, respectively, for P8 and rib fat, 131 square centimetres for eye muscle area and 3.8pc for intramuscular fat.
He had sperm motility of 75pc and morphology of 78pc.
Overall, 131 bulls sold with an 84 per cent clearance to gross $896,000 and averaged $6839.
The sale consisted of 53 premier select sires, which grossed $482,000, averaged $9094, and topped out at $38,000.
Sixty-one registered Brahman bulls grossed $337,000 to average $5524 and top at $14,000.
Seventeen herd bulls grossed $77,000 to average $4529 and top at $8000.
Last year's top bull was Viva Memphis from Alistair and Pam Davison, Viva Brahmans, Middlemount, which was sold to Brad and Kate Johnson, Trafalgar, Charters Towers, for $38,000. The 2023 average sale price was $6661 a head.
Some of the bulk buyers included M and B Davidson, Moondah Station, Prairie, who bought four to average $16,000, Bush Holdings, Alpha, with 11 averaging $8909, Hayfield Station, Daly Waters, NT, with 10 averaging $7500, Scott McClymont, Rosella Plains, Cardwell, with 15 averaging $4133 and Matt McClymont, Mt Surprise Station, Mt Surprise with 15 averaging $4266.
- Selling agents: Queensland Rural with Stocklive.
