Top-priced Hazeldean bull nears $50K mark at 2026 Northern Performance Sale
The top-priced bull at the 2026 Hazeldean Northern Performance Bull Sale was snapped up by a prominent agricultural company for just shy of $50,000 at Drillham on Friday, July 31.
Of the 152 bulls offered by the Cooma, NSW, stud, 149 sold for a 98 per cent clearance, an $11,054 average, and an overall sale gross of $1,647,000.
One lot sold post sale, bringing the clearance to 99pc for a $11,020 average and a $1,653,000 gross.
The top-priced lot, Hazeldean V110, sold to the Consolidated Pastoral Company for $46,000.
At last year's sale, 178 of 192 bulls sold for a clearance rate of 93pc, a sale average of $11,123, an overall gross of $1,980,000, and a top price of $30,000.
Offered as lot 9, Hazeldean V110 was sired by Alpine Real Deal R163 and out of Burenda Sunbeam R385.
The 24-month-old bull weighed 938kg, and was in the top 5pc of the breed for his 200, 400, and 600-day-weights in estimated breeding values data.
Hazeldean sales and marketing manager Ed Bradley said the bull was pulled out of the Hazeldean keeper pen to be offered at this year's sale.
"We think he's a pretty good bull. We've used him at home and there's semen stored on him," he said.
"It's great to get him to a herd like CPC where he can go and breed bulls for them and hopefully do a good job.
"He's an incredible sound bull, especially given his frame and size.
"He's a big, capacious type, very easy to look at, and keeping those type of bulls sound and active isn't always easy.
"He's got really cool breeding values, we think, for his moderate birth weight, high growth, big eye muscle area, and, I think, 4.9 for intramuscular fat.
"It's hard to get EMA, IMF, and growth all high together."
Mr Bradley said Hazeldean had previously sold bulls to CPC.
"Over the years we have. They've bought a lot of bulls," he said.
Reflecting on the day's results, Mr Bradley said he was happy with what the stud had achieved, and that he was glad to see a mix of new and return buyers in the stands.
"It's great to have another sale behind us," he said.
"It's great to see some good support, there's more and more...requirements of what a good Angus bull is now, but we feel like we're keeping up.
"In auctions, it's pretty hard to know what's going to happen, so it's good to see people come from far and wide.
"[Bulls] went up into northern Queensland and back down into central NSW."
2026 Hazeldean Northern Performance Bull Sale
Pictures by Neave Duff.
Well-established as a reliable stud for the Queensland commercial market, Mr Bradley said the majority of the bulls sold at the 2026 sale were to commercial buyers.
"I think the commercial people value the product, and some of them have bought hundreds of bulls from us over the years, so it's good to see that they're still here doing it," he said.
A bulk buyer at the sale, Scott McClymont, Rosella Station, Mt Garnet, purchased 15 head for an average of $6000.
Nutrien north east livestock lead Colby Ede said the Hazeldean sale had achieved one of the strongest results for an Angus sale in the local area.
"It was a very solid result here for the 36th annual sale," he said.
"I think it just underpins the Hazeldean brand. They've obviously been here for 36 years, but they've been breeding Angus bulls for over 100 years.
"Nothing is new to them in the genetic or seedstock industry."
Echoing Mr Bradley, Mr Ede said a mix of new and return buyers were present at this year's sale, and that the spread of bulls across Australia was a notable aspect of the sale.
"The wide spread on the bulls is probably the biggest thing here today," he said.
"We're sending them through central NSW, across the top of the Tablelands, and far up north of Charters Towers to Mount Garnet.
"So, a real big spread on the bulls, and I think, overall, that's really a testament to the cattle and the performance behind these cattle."
- Selling agents: Nutrien and Hourn and Bishop Queensland, interfaced with AuctionsPlus.
