Brahman Week's $4000 starting price questioned as cost of production rises

The $4000 upset at Rockhampton Brahman Week this month saw some breeders sell below cost price and raised broader questions about value, clearance, and the perception of the breed.

Vendors say the comparison with other multi-vendor sales had sharpened the debate.

The Rockhampton Brangus Sale and the National Braford Sale both started at $6000 while the Droughtmaster National Sale started at $5000.

Those floors lifted when the cattle market rose after 2021.

Brahman Week's upset changed from $3500 to $4000 in 2022 but has remained there for the last four years, decided by the committee.

"It costs four grand just to get him there"

A prominent Brahman breeder, who chose not to be named, believed it cost about $4000 to get a bull to a sale, without even taking into account the cost of genetics.

With a conservative commercial value of a two-year-old steer based on $2200, registration, DNA, and semen testing approximately $200, nominations and commission at $550, transport and feed at $1200, advertisement and accommodation for $400, the basic costs soon stacked up.

He said the opportunity cost mattered because a sale-fit bull also had a meatworks value that could not be ignored.

"We've all accepted that Toyotas have gone from $40,000 to $100,000 in the last 20 years and you just keep paying it, but we haven't seen an equitable rise in bull prices," he said.

In a further breakdown of the production costs to get a bull in a sale ring, this breeder painted a picture on paper that resulted in a loss of $550 if a bull was sold for $4000.

This year about 268 bulls, 35pc of those presented in the ring, were either unsold, made $4000, or sold at $5000.

Committee prioritises clearance

Fern Hills Brahmans principal Brett McCamley, who served on the Brahman Week sale committee, said the upset price had been reviewed annually at the July cataloguing meeting.

"We take into consideration the cattle market at the time and historically," Mr McCamley said.

He said the 2025 call to hold at $4000 reflected what the committee had seen in the mid-year settings.

"At that stage the feeder job was stubbornly low and in central markets Brahman weaners were back around 370 to 420c/kg with heifers another dollar below that and there were very few live export orders," he said.

He said fat cattle prices had been one of the few positives in those months but sentiment from agents had not been strong.

"We rely on bulk buyers coming and starting bulls and if we put that price up it could diminish clearance rates and take those bulk buyers out of the market," he said.

He said Brahman Week had a unique dependency on volume purchasing compared with smaller society and private fixtures.

"Brahman Week is moving 800 bulls and no other sale in Australia sells that volume," he said.

He said cost pressures on vendors had been real regardless of where the floor sat.

"A lot of bulls that go through that sale are probably owing the vendor in excess of the upset price by the time they reach market," he said.

He said the committee would consider any formal request from vendors to lift the starting price.

"Vendors are encouraged to reach out to their selling agents and the sale committee if they have concerns with the upset price and we welcome vendor feedback," he said.

"It's not where the bull starts"

Australian Brahman Breeders' Association president Reade Radel said the $4000 figure had been set by the sale committee in July and had been in place since 2021 after several years at $3500.

"With 200 vendors and 800 bulls catalogued it's a completely different dynamic," Mr Radel said.

The decision was made to actively promote the sale to past buyers, by way of personal correspondence or phone call with an invitation back to this year's sale.

While the market had lifted come sale time, organisers felt it was too late to increase the upset.

Mr Radel said a higher floor had been considered but not adopted.

"We certainly heard from a handful of vendors who wanted it lifted but I wouldn't say it was a majority," he said.

He said the key outcome remained the price achieved in the ring rather than the starting bid.

"It's not where the bull starts, it's where he finishes that counts," he said.

"Lifting the upset doesn't give the bull buyer any more money to spend."

He said the broader Brahman bull market had remained deep and competitive on the supply side.

"It's very much a buyers' market with around 10,000 Brahman bulls sold a year," he said.

When asked if he thought the $4000 upset price impacted the price producers could ask for paddock bulls, Mr Radel said it was the cheaper private paddock sales of $2500 that hurt the beed's value perception much more than the upset price at Brahman Week.

"If vendors are averaging $20,000 at Brahman Week, then that puts a higher value on their paddock sales, but if a vendor is only selling their best bulls through the ring for $4000, it's a reflection of the bull rather than the upset price," he said.

He said bulk buyers remained crucial to the sale outcome.

"Buyers purchasing greater than 10 bulls accounted for 32 per cent of purchases at Brahman Week 2025," he said.