'Confidence, passion' for buyers as studs celebrate Southern Beef Week
Consistency, excellence and a commitment to pioneering the best possible future from the beef industry were front and centre at The Land's Southern Beef Week.
Buyers new and old travelled across five unforgettable days, bringing home tips, tricks, and trucks of cattle to support their own operations.
At Moss Vale, The Vines Pastoral principal Robyn Dove welcomed buyers new and old for a full day of activities. She showcased bulls, steers, heifers and pregnancy-tested-in-calf females, selling across the board.
Ms Dove also welcomed first-time buyers John and Joanne Vissaritis, who planned to use weaner steers purchased during Southern Beef Week to supply their Parramatta restaurant.
She said it was a delight to see more people become passionate about agriculture.
"They have confidence to go and take the next step ... it gives a person a real feeling that they're doing something right, when you're buying animals, you have to be part of the deal," Ms Dove said.
"I've always had a good Beef Week."
Strong starts across the board were welcomed, including further south at Holbrook.
At Wirruna Poll Herefords, stud principal Ian Locke saw a "steady stream of visitors all day" on Monday (July 27), with plenty of opportunities to chat to clients about what they were looking for in their breeding programs.
Customers came from not only the local district but further afield within the Riverina and across the borders from Queensland and Victoria's Western District.
The operation hopes to translate those open day guests into owners of brand new bulls not only at its online spring sale in late August, but also a broader dispersal sale in October.
"We're still going to be still on the farm, but we're just de-intensifying the farm business, by not doing the bull breeding anymore," he said.
"It's still an important format for having people come and see the stock without the pressure of a selling day."
A crowd of a few dozen visited Hicks Beef, where principal Tom Hicks showcased the composite herd ahead of an on-property sale in early September.
The stud has been a part of "squillions" of Southern Beef Week and similar open days, he said, and the clientele had evolved through the years just as the stud stock industry had.
"The big change I have seen in recent times is it's a lot more targeted than it used to be," he said.
"It used to be a lot of people just having a look around and a bit of a day out, but now it's very focused with actual clients who are actually just really inspecting the bulls.
"The thing we love about the day is it's just so good to get the bulls all into their pens and used to what it's all about, getting different people walking through them.
"And that doesn't sound like much, but it makes a big difference."
For Galimbang Beef principal James Crawford, Yaven Creek, his first time taking part in the event had been a successful opportunity to show customers what the Angus stud could do.
About 12 people from across the district travelled to take a look at the Galimbang offering, which would be offered for private treaty sale from now on.
Mr Crawford said a few bulls were sold on the day to buyers not wanting to miss out.
"We didn't have a big volume of foot traffic, but they were genuinely interested people that came, which was good," he said.
"It's just a great opportunity to show what we've got and also to get feedback from the broader market to what people's various focuses and interests are."
More than 30 prospective buyers walked through the gates of Raff Angus, Book Book, during the first two days of Southern Beef Week, where the stud was participating for the second time from a new property near Wagga Wagga.
Stud principal Andrew Raff said the open day was halfway between its herd on Tasmania's King Island and its original property at Drillham, Qld, where its 41st bull sale would be held in August.
"For those that don't like auctions or prefer to buy just on the ground, we sold a handful of bulls from our private treaty sale group, which were brothers to the powerful and punchier types that'll be heading to our Queensland sale," he said.
"Joining with this Southern Beef Week day gave us a little enhanced exposure and we probably saw that through the gates."
Yavenvale Herefords owner James Pierce, Borambola, said it had been the stud's "best open day" in the several years it had been involved.
"This was definitely the most number of people that we've had come and visit," he said.
"Our bull sale is on August 25, so this is essentially the preview for that."
Day two
Bannaby Angus manager Glynn Langford, Bendick Murrell, said the stud had a turnout of about 30 people on Tuesday, with a number of return buyers making their pre-selection of sorts ahead of the August bull sale.
There was a "good spread" of clients, he said, including from as far afield as Wodonga and the Hunter Valley.
"We've been in [Southern Beef Week] virtually since day dot," he said.
"[The clients] were very happy with the bulls, very impressed with them, so we had a really good day."
The Rock Angus, The Rock, opened the gates for both Monday and Tuesday, taking advantage of crowds wending their way north.
Co-owner Karen Masson said there had been great interest from clients ahead of the stud's 10th anniversary sale in September.
"We normally run an open day about two weeks before the sale, but we decided to do the Beef Week this year," she said.
"Just because our numbers were significantly bigger and the timing sort of worked out really well.
"And we also had Cluden Newry Uppercut U15 on display ... so he created a lot of interest.
"He's just such a docile, beautiful bull and very impressive."
Day three
The third day of Southern Beef Week kept the momentum up for Vielun Pastoral Company, Mullamuddy, as the prospective buying gallery continued north.
Owner Sam Broinowski said about 20 new and existing clients visited the Angus and Poll Hereford stud in anticipation of its August sale.
"I think a good amount of the people really liked the quality of the bulls and were quite surprised, some of them, and I think they're definitely coming back," he said.
"I think, above all, it was just fantastic for the bulls, to settle them down."
MAK Agriculture Speckle Park director Kylie Buchanan, Stubbo, said the open day had been a great chance for feedback from agents.
"They were really happy with the punch of our bulls and the power of some of our heifers," she said.
"That was really good to hear, because we've put a lot of work into our sale draft coming up and I'm quite proud of what we've got on offer.
"The Speckles are gaining some momentum, which are being recognised for their eating qualities."
Days four and five
A strong finish to Southern Beef Week welcomed the return of Devanah Angus and Murray Greys, Ooma. The Thursday was a success for co-owner Jo-Anne Southorn.
The stud sent a client home with a brand new bull, and had several more that would be advertised for private treaty sale from August.
Across a bumper number of studs on Saturday, August 1, a steady flow upwards of 60 visitors and agents served as an excellent opportunity to showcase bulls that would be featured in the Bannaby Angus, Taralga, annual sale.
Further east, heritage breeder Clinton Leahy, Charlton Park, Coolagolite, cooked up a popular barbecue with visitors, sharing the quality meat traits of the Mandalong Special breed.
"We had prime steaks with Mandalong Special beef that was really well accepted," he said.
"We're trying to rebuild this rare breed within Australia, and continue Rick Pisaturo's legacy."
Greenleaf Angus, Crookwell, welcomed a strong turnout, with solid client feedback.
"One returning client shared the outstanding performance of a Greenleaf Angus bull purchased last year, reporting that the bull achieved an exceptional result by getting 44 of 45 cows in calf, with no calving issues," stud principal Andrew Harborne said, and added that this reinforced Greenleaf Angus's commitment to breeding fertile, easy-calving bulls.
Myanga Angus' Stephen Dunne said Southern Beef Week offered a constant flow of visitors, up for a chat about their operation.
"A lot of people spent quite a bit of time walking through the pens and looking at all the bulls and gave us an opportunity to have a conversation with people about things that they were unclear about or that they wanted to sort of drill in a bit further," he said.
"From my perspective, it was a worthwhile exercise."
