Repeat buyers take home quality and volume at snowy Hazeldean Angus sale
A crisp and snowy morning did nothing to deter buyers from the chance to pick up quality genetics at the Hazeldean Angus Autumn Bull Sale on Thursday, May 7.
A significant gallery from the district and beyond braved the cold weather to help the sale to a full clearance of 82 bulls at an average of $12,170.
The top-priced bull, Hazeldean V1619, by Hazeldean Synergy S2055 out of Hazeldean N699, sold for $22,000 to Shaun Beasley, Emu Park, Lindenow South, Vic.
The 888 kilograms, August 2024-drop bull was in the top five per cent for 400 day growth at +116 and scrotal size at +4.7, and described by the vendor as a "belter of a bull... with superb type and great shape".
Pictures by Dakota Tait.
Mr Beasley said the "very balanced bull" would help bolster the breeding operation in East Gippsland, where he runs 1500 cows to deliver nine-old-month calves to the Bairnsdale saleyards at a 330kg average in January and April.
"I'm always on the lookout for things to improve our herd," Mr Beasley said.
"We join a lot of cattle, so we need a lot of bulls."
Mr Beasley has been buying both bulls and rams from Hazeldean for a number of years and also had an extensive AI program using Hazeldean sires.
The sale enjoyed support from northern NSW right through the south and especially into Victoria, with plenty of repeat volume buyers as well as some new customers.
Southern NSW Nutrien Stud Stock agent and sale auctioneer Matt Campion said it had been a "very strong sale" for Hazeldean, with the average up some $200 on last autumn's sale despite a tough season for much of eastern Australia.
"Today is an investment in your future, not only for the calves you'll sell next year, but the females that you'll keep as replacement females in two or three years' time," Mr Campion said.
"People are happy to invest in quality, as long as you've got phenotype first."
Mixed farmer Nayce Dalton, Wumbulgal Agriculture, Griffith, was one of the biggest volume buyers of the sale, picking up six bulls each for $10,000 to take home to the Riverina.
The new sires were set to replace retiring bulls to go over the heifer mob, with Mr Dalton running around 400 Angus breeding cows across 10,000 hectares in conjunction with a cropping operation.
Mr Dalton said he had been buying Hazeldean bulls for five or six years.
Hazeldean stud principal Bea Litchfield said the bulls "had come through really well" despite a difficult season.
The commercial cattle side of the stud business had helped to "ground truth" their breeding on the way to sale day, she said.
"That's the aim of the program, is to have an even line of bulls that are breeding even lines of progeny," she said.
"For us, it's got to be phenotype first. They've got to have a very sound structure and be able to do the miles.
"Temperament is non-negotiable, and then we've got the breeding values: fertility first, growth, and then carcase."
Jonathan Duff, Yackerboon Pty Ltd, was the underbidder of the day, purchasing Hazeldean V723, by Hazeldean T1607 out of Hazeldean T174, for $20,000.
Mark Kracht, Mittagong, also bought six bulls, ranging in price from $8000 to $13000 at an average of $9166.
Andrew and Tess Herbert, Gundamain, Eugowra, took five bulls home, from $10000 to $16000 at an average of $13200.
The sale was conducted by Nutrien Ag Solutions, with auctioneers Matt Campion and Hamish McGeoch, and interfaced with AuctionsPlus.
