End of an era for the Holcombe family as they disperse female stud herd
The culmination of 68 years of breeding was brought to the fore at the Rayleigh Poll Hereford complete female dispersal sale on Wednesday, September 24.
In all, 168 lots were offered at Kombali, Narrabri, with 165 selling for a clearance of 98 per cent, across females, sires and semen lots.
A total of 94 joined and unjoined cows with calves at foot were first out of the gate, with 91 finding new homes for a 97pc clearance to average $6654.
The top-priced cow and calf unit was the polled Rayleigh L Olive T100, with the winning $24,000 bid made by Sam and Sarah Becker, Jarrah Herefords, Banana, Qld.
Mr Holcombe described Olive T100 as a "soft-skinned, structurally correct cow with an exceptional udder, with a lovely heifer calf at foot".
The $18,000 second top-priced cow and calf unit, the homozygous polled Rayleigh L Faith U41, was snapped up by Sam Broinowski, Vielun Pastoral Company, Mudgee.
Next to have their time in the ring were 44 pregnancy-tested-in-calf heifers, which were all cleared to average $4851.
The top money in this section was again outlaid by Jarrah Herefords, when it secured the homozygous polled heifer, Rayleigh J Rose V69, for $13,000.
Mr Holcombe said the Injemira Robert Redford Q287 daughter was out of one of Rayleigh's strongest cow families.
Mrs Becker thought Rose was the standout heifer in the draft.
"She's the complete package, well-grown and feminine, yet still with an exceptional muscle pattern and softness. You don't get the opportunity to purchase heifers like that very often," she said.
All up, the Becker family bought three cow and calf units and three PTIC heifers.
Mrs Becker said they knew the Rayleigh cattle better than any other herd, and that this insight allowed them to select cattle suitable for their program with confidence.
"We felt strongly about investing in these genetics. Being situated in the tick country of Central Queensland, we focus heavily on cattle with good mobility and coat type," she said.
"These cows will allow us to introduce some outcross genetics into our stud Hereford herd without compromising on the fundamentals.
"It was an unreal offering with quality and consistency throughout the sale. Based on the result, many people shared our opinion."
All four stud sires offered on the day sold for an average of$18,125 to gross $72,500.
The PP bull Rayleigh Terrance T22 topped the section at $30,000 when he was purchased by Wason Pastoral Company, Roma, Qld.
Mr Holcombe said this half-brother to the top-priced heifer, by Injemira Robert Redford Q287 had "great skin, length of body, and lovely fleshing, right through his topline and back-end".
The Melville Park and Bowen Poll Hereford studs secured the second top-priced sire, Yavenvale Ultimate U355, for $24,000.
The top volume buyers on the day were Tony and Belinda Bennett, Camphill Partnership, Narrabri, who secured 13 lots, while Will Buchanan, Narrabri, took home 10 lots.
Mr Holcombe said it had been pleasing to see these long-term repeat Rayleigh clients support the sale strongly.
"It has been great to have such support for so long. We've made many long-term friends through the business."
"We had a good mix of repeat and first-time buyers operating on the day from all corners of the country.
The sale was a bittersweet affair for the Holcombe family, who, while happy with the result, were "a bit sad" to say goodbye to what had been a major passion and focus of their lives since 1957.
"We'll have our final bull sale in July of 2026, and then that'll wind up everything with the stud. We'll continue to trade a few steers, but we're looking forward to slowing down and spending more time with our grandchildren and travelling," Mr Holcombe said.
The sale was conducted by Nutrien Narrabri and Nutrien Studstock and was interfaced online via AuctionsPlus.
