'It's crazy': red bulls outperform black at major Benjarra Limousin sale
Red Limousin bulls were the most highly favoured by the geographically diverse buyers at the Benjarra Limousin sale at Ellangowan, near Clifton, on August 13.
The top-priced bull - a purebred homozygous polled red Limousin - reached $16,000 and was purchased by David York and the York family from Wallumbilla, at the annual sale.
The top-priced bull, Benjarra V34, was sired by Elwanvale Puddle Player, and out of Benjarra Diamonds & Rubies, which the Passmore family described as a consistent female line.
Benjarra V34 - 25 months - weighed 888 kilograms, scored 86 per cent morphology, had rib and P8 scans of 7 and 5 millimetres respectively, intramuscular fat of 4.6pc, and a scrotal circumference of 38.5 centimetres.
Buyer David York said that Benjarra V34's eye muscle area - 150 square centimetres - was what caught his attention during the pre-auction inspection.
The sale saw 32 bulls offered overall, with 23 sold for a clearance rate of 71.9pc, and received an average price of $9521.74, and a total price of $219,000.
The York family, located at Wallumbilla, have been breeding Limousin cattle for commercial purposes for 28 years, with most of their herd located at Surat.
"This is exactly what we're looking to buy - he'll go to work first thing in September over Charolais-cross cows," Mr York said.
He said he was specifically planning to buy a red bull, but said since he is breeding for meat, the external colour doesn't matter too much.
Benjarra stud operator Ben Passmore has been selling Limousin bulls for roughly 18 years - with this year's sale his seventh year selling on-property - and said he felt pleased with the result they received.
"It was good, it was strong enough - with dry seasonal conditions we didn't have a few of our bulk buyers, but we're really happy with how the bulls sold," he said.
Mr Passmore said the buyers were a mix of repeat buyers and new clientele, which he was happy about, adding that Benjarra was focusing on providing athletic bulls for a commercially focused demographic, which the top-selling bull and Mr York fitted.
"He's a real Benjarra bull, that's the bull type that we like to breed - he's just a big upstanding bull, dark red, plenty of meat and carcase in him, big EMAs... just a good bull for that crossbreeding program in the west, which we're trying to target," Mr Passmore said.
"We're trying to breed those bigger upstanding bulls with plenty of growth... fertile bulls too.
"[David York] is a repeat buyer, and has been using Limousins for a long time in his crossbreeding program, and it's good to see him back here again... I believe David and his family love to buy good quality cattle."
The red bulls were most popular of the two colours at the Benjarra sale, which Elders studstock agent Anthony Ball said was what he expected.
"Very strong on the red Limousins today - probably the black Limousins in places were a bit softer," Mr Ball said.
"With the large numbers of cows that have been killed because of drought conditions in NSW, that was probably expected a little bit, as a lot of those bulls will head to NSW.
"The pleasing thing was that the first two bulls were bought by repeat buyers, and there was a lot of repeat buyers here today."
Mr Ball said he was impressed by the variety in where and how far the Benjarra bulls were headed, saying the vendors usually expected interest in a 300 kilometre radius from their property.
"As far as the spread, there's bulls that are going to go up to the Daintree, and tropical northern Queensland, and NSW, and west in Queensland, and central Queensland," he said.
"For the vendor, that's confidence in the program that you've got pretty much the whole state of Queensland interested.
"When you've got that spread, that's crazy, so I'm happy - they're a good young couple that breed good Limousins and I'm proud of them."
Volume buyers included Comet Downs Cattle Company, which is operated by the Armstrong family in central Queensland, and who bought five lots for an average price of $10,000.
Mr Ball said Benjarra V34, who made top price, was his pick from the beginning, based on its data, and both Mr Ball and Nutrien Ag Solutions studstock agent Colby Ede mentioned the carcase traits the bull possessed.
"He had lots of good carcase attributes, and attributes the York family are chasing and continue to want to put into their commercial operation," Mr Ede said.
"I think today will be on par with where the Limousins will potentially finish up for the spring selling season," Mr Ball said.
- Selling agents - Elders, Nutrien, interfaced with StockLive
