Hazeldean proves its commercial appeal at annual Northern Performance Sale

The Litchfield family, Hazeldean, Cooma, NSW, has once again proved themselves as an in-demand stud for their commercial viability at their Northern Performance Sale held at Drillham on Wednesday, August 6.

Of the 192 bulls offered, 178 sold for a clearance rate of 93 per cent and a sale average of $11,123.

The top-priced bull claimed his title early on, offered as lot two on the day.

Hazeldean U216, sired by Hazeldean Q1229 and out of Hazeldean S803, sold for $30,000 to Mandy Curran, Longreach.

The two-year-old bull weighed in at 898kg, had an eye muscle area of 133 square centimetres, 10mm of rib fat, and 13mm of rump fat.

Overall, the sale grossed $1,980,000.

For comparison, the 2024 sale saw 194 of 208 bulls sold, a 93pc clearance, for an average price of $10,164 and a total sale gross of $1,972,000.

Buyer Mandy Curran said the top-priced bull was bound for her family's commercial operation at Evesham, Longreach, and he would be put in over a mob of Charolais Angus cows purchased from Palgrove.

The property, based 70km north of Longreach, is managed by Ms Curran's son Sam and his partner, Lucy.

"They're outstanding quality cows that we primarily breed bulls for ourselves [from]," she said.

"They're having three-quarter Angus, one-quarter Charolais calves, and we've got a couple of crops of bull and heifer calves out of those cows and they've been outstanding."

Bidding over the phone at the sale, Ms Curran said Hazeldean U216 stood out for his exceptional figures across the board.

"I believe he had extremely good figures and he was a big robust bull," she said.

"He had all the attributes we were looking for in a sire for our country."

Having purchased two Hazeldean bulls at last year's sale, Ms Curran said the family wanted another good sire from the stud to use over their cows.

"We join approximately 3000 females, predominantly Santa and Santa Angus females," she said.

"We try and grow them out to heavy feeder cattle, and we find the Santa Angus cross a very, very good cross."

Hazeldean sales and marketing manager Ed Bradley said he didn't think a single bull had sold to a stud at Wednesday's sale, noting the strong commercial buyer presence was representative of what the stud was trying to achieve with their bulls.

"It's very commercially focused," he said.

"There's some people here who bought a bull to breed their own bulls, but not for a stud.

"We've [always] aimed to be commercially focused.

"There's more and more Angus bulls coming into Queensland, so I'm really happy that we've managed to sell most of them to a loyal client base that take value in the bulls we produce."

Mr Bradley said he was very happy with this year's results, and they reflected how strong the cattle market currently was.

"It's a strong outlook," he said.

"The overall outlook for the beef job, especially Angus feeder steers in Queensland, it's just fantastic.

"All the stars are lined up, and people have grass, so it's a great outlook."

Nutrien Roma livestock agent Andrew Holt was pleased with the day's results, and commended the Litchfield family for their quality bulls.

"There was good buyer support from across a wide variety of regions," he said.

"The buoyant cattle market and relatively good season have contributed to the result.

"Overall, the bulls presented well and were very even."

The sale attracted new and return buyers.

Bulk buyers included Roma Downs Cattle Company, Roma, who purchased 15 bulls for an average of $12,133 per head and C and L Poole, Glendower, Prairie, who purchased nine bulls for an average of $8444.

• Selling agents: Nutrien and Hourn and Bishop Qld.