Woonallee stud sets new Black Simmie record with 'incredible sire prospect'
A spring drop Black Simmental bull described by vendors Tom and Lizzy Baker as an "incredible sire prospect" has rewritten the breed's history books selling for an Australian record.
Elders auctioneer Ben Finch's opening remarks to the crowd at Woonallee's 19th annual elite production bull sale at Furner when lot 41 entered the ring was that they were looking upon a bull that "was hard to put a value on".
The buyers did manage to with bids coming thick and fast for Woonallee Global V520. He weighed 826kg at just 17.5 months of age.
The magical price tag of $70,000 eclipsed the previous record of $67,500 for a purebred Black Simmental bull sold by the Elite Cattle Company, Meandarra, Qld in 2022.
Mr and Mrs Baker came close to retaining their record breaker which was among the first sons of KBHR Global J138 to be offered at auction and out of a Wombramurra P117 daughter.
Instead they retained 200 straws of semen for in-herd use.
"He (V520) is a class bull, he has a great data set, structurally good, quiet and easy keeping - he is the epitome of what we need in the modern day Black Simmental," Mr Baker said.
Global V520 had EPD figures ranking in the top 10pc for calving ease, birth weight, maternal calving ease stayability and API Index.
Elders Vic and NSW Riverina stud stock's Ryan Bajada put in the winning bid for Global V520 on behalf of David and Tara Brewer and their sons Austin and Henry, Brewer Beef, Tallangatta Valley, Vic.
They are still recovering from the Thologolong bushfire which roared through almost their entire farm-2600 acres- but thankfully they had no stock losses.
Mrs Brewer said they always inspected any potential stud sires for docility, as well as feet and leg structure but had been too busy to attend the sale, trucking cattle out on agistment.
She said they had put their confidence in others to inspect the homozygous polled and homozygous black bull with nearly all describing him a "stand out".
"We have been looking around for the right bull, this can be hard in Black Simmentals here in Australia because the gene pool is nowhere near as extensive as Angus so when you find one you like you need to make sure you buy them ," Mrs Brewer said.
"Phenotypically he is what we need to put into our herd right now with tremendous depth of body, weight for age and he will complement the work we have done with calving ease and birth weight."
Mrs Brewer says she had briefly questioned whether they should be buying a high priced bull at this time when so many people had been so generous donating hay to them but decided to go for it.
"We have had it in the budget for a while and the bull should not end up costing us much after we have made semen sales, now more than ever we need to keep moving forward with the stud," she said.
Brewer Beef now owns two national record holders- also paying a national record $35,000 for a SimAngus bull at Woonallee's 2024 on-property sale.
There was a huge jump in average at Woonallee, in a reflection of a stronger cattle market and less constrained budgets.
The Baker family offered and sold 92 Simmental and SimAngus bulls for a $14,962 average.
In comparison in 2025, 93 of 100 bulls topped at $30,000 and averaged $11,043.
Another sale highlight was lot 4, Woonallee Nashville V179, an eye appealing traditional Simmental which made $67,500.
The 23 month old sold to New Zealanders Tom Sanson and Anna Boyd, Gold Creek Simmentals, Gisborne, who have been clients of Woonallee for 16 years.
Mr Sanson says the Woonallee genetics have given them a point of difference in the NZ market.
. "We know the cattle and we know we will find options to choose from," he said.
Mr Sanson said he had picked out Nashville while reading the catalogue and the bull was equally as impressive in the flesh
" I don't think I have seen a homozygous Simmental bull with that sort of scope and the way he moves but he also has the bone, he has a good strong head and the data set stacks up for us as well," he said.
The 22 traditional Simmentals had the highest average of the different categories at $17,658.
One of the most impressive groups were the 26 SimAngus which met strong commercial interest from .SA to Qld and averaged $14,864.
The highest priced SimAngus was lot 85, Woonallee Rembrandt V654, which sold for $22,000 to Stony Well Pastoral, Meningie.
The September 2024 drop was a son of Millah Murrah Rembrandt and out of a Wombramurra Simmental female.
The 44 Black Simmentals, both autumn and spring drop, averaged $13,682.
Two commercial buyers left their mark on the sale with Hillcrest Pastoral Co, Avenue Range,securing eight l SimAngus and Black Simmentals for a $16,000 average.
Rankin Bros, Quirindi, NSW, bought six SimAngus to a $17,000 high and two Black Simmentals, through AuctionsPlus.
Mr Finch- who shared the rostrum with guest auctioneer Lincoln McKinlay - had high praise for the Woonallee offering.
"When you think they can't get any better they do, particularly in their depth and consistency but the secret to their success is really in the large herd they have to select from, he said.
He said repeat buyers had the confidence to spend up after having commercial success in the feedlot and over the hooks with Woonallee bloodlines
"I spoke to multiple people today who all said the (Woonallee) bloodlines were their highest performing so it is really paying dividends but it is no secret, it is a massive program with a massive amount of time and money invested, it is not happening by accident."
Mr Baker said they were proud of the draft of bulls they put up which was the culmination of more than 50 years of breeding and extensive research into new genetics.
He said they were "eternally grateful" for their client base who had supported them through good and bad times,
"We have built our clientele to be Australia wide and we certainly saw that today in their support, " he said.
"They were a great draft of bulls so now it is up to us to ensure the bulls do the right thing and we have the next draft that starts next week coming through."
