Haighs fill the truck with 10 bulls in one hit at DN, so how did they pick them?

Murray and Debbie Haigh of Redfield Pastoral Company started their 2025 bull buying season by loading 10 sires from the Droughtmaster National Sale onto the truck in one day.

They had set out to purchase 16 bulls this year and said the sale allowed them to tick off more than half their order in one hit.

"This year we wanted about 16 bulls," Mr Haigh said.

"This is 10 off the list we can tick off and get home, and then we've got a few more sales we plan to go to."

In total, they outlayed $92,000 for 10 bulls, averaging $9200.

Other notable bulk buyers present at the Droughtmaster National Sale were Bush Holdings, Alpha, who secured a line of 23 bulls for an average outlay of $15,826 and gross of $364,000, and Dane Lund, Clermont, who purchased 13 bulls for an average of $8308 and gross spend of $108,000.

The Haighs shopped at the same sale last year, where they secured six sires for an average of $8166.

"It's easy for us because it's not too far to come," Mr Haigh said.

"We got a good run and good bulls."

The couple runs a breeding and fattening operation across two properties, one on the Mackenzie River north of Blackwater and another 100 kilometres north of Clermont.

"The Mackenzie River place is buffel country, and up at Clermont, we've got a mix of forest country, brigalow, and gidgee out west," he said.

Between the two places, they operate approximately 2500 breeders, supported by their two sons on days off from the mines, as well as contractors.

The Haighs focus on Droughtmaster, Brangus, and Charbray genetics, and use Droughtmasters heavily over heifers.

"We're mainly putting the Droughty bulls over the heifers," Mr Haigh said.

"They just become a part of the herd and stay with those heifers for the rest of their days."

He said temperament was a deciding factor in why they chose to stick with the breed.

"I like the look of them and they've got great temperaments as a breed," he said.

"If you're a bullock breeder and they get to two-and-a-half, three years old and they haven't seen you for a couple of years, you want something that's pretty calm."

When selecting sires, Mr Haigh said he first worked through the supplementary sheet data to filter potential lots that display a balance of growth traits and fertility, with scrotal circumference and eye muscle area weighing heavily on what gets the initial tick of approval.

"This time I might have had 60 bulls that met everything I wanted in the sup sheet," Mr Haigh said.

He said he did not filter by stud nor pedigree and preferred to judge each animal on the numbers before visually assessing them in their pens.

Once on the ground, structural soundness, feet, and mobility were his key checks.

"Really, I just want to like the look of them," he said.

"I think a lot of people read a lot into pedigrees, but at the end of the day, you just want something to service your cows, make sure they pass their semen test, and away you go."

The Haighs still had six bulls to secure this season and said they would attend upcoming sales to round out their order.

"We've got a couple of other sales - a Charbray sale and we might still need a few more Droughtmaster bulls yet," Mr Haigh said.

For now, a truckload of 10 bulls marked a strong start to the year's breeding program.

"You don't know how a sale is going to go," Mr Haigh said.

"From the first bull of the day, you don't know if you're going to buy one bull or twenty.

"Better to secure them when you can."