Bulliac Angus sale a triple treat as three lots take out equal top price

Two buyers and three bulls claimed the top-price spot at the 2026 Bulliac Angus on-property bull sale in Miles on Thursday, August 20.

This year, Bulliac offered 69 bulls, of which 60 sold for a 87 per cent clearance, a $9400 average, and an overall sale gross of $564,000.

One lot sold post-sale to bring the clearance to 88pc, for a $9344 average and a $570,000 gross.

For comparison, last year's sale saw 68 of 100 bulls sell for a 68pc clearance, an $8500 average, a $30,000 top-price, and a $578,000 gross.

Setting the bar high from the get-go, Mick and Melanie Busby, Appleton Cattle Company, Islay Plains, Alpha, purchased lot one, Bulliac Victory V100, and lot three, Bulliac Valueball V110, for $20,000 apiece.

Rounding out the top-price trio, Cameron Flower and company, Garrabarra, Roma, purchased lot five, Bulliac Vintage V416 for $20,000.

Of the Busbys' bulls, 24-month-old, 872kg Bulliac Victory V100, sired by Te Mania Sander S159 and out of Bulliac Doris S315, was in the top one pc of the breed for his retail beef yield estimated breeding value, while 22-month-old, 906kg Bulliac Valueball V110, sired by LVVF Tanker 14 and out of Bulliac Mermaid S146, was in the top three pc of the breed for his gestation length EBV.

Mr Flower's purchase, Bulliac Vintage V416, a 23-month-old, 880kg bull, sired by Woodhill Comstock and out of Bulliac Mildred, was in the top two pc of the breed for his eye muscle area EBV.

Back home in Alpha, Mr Busby runs 5000 breeders and 24,000 backgrounders over a 109,265 hectare (270,000 acre), four-block aggregation.

In addition to their two top-price lots, the Busbys purchased a further six bulls, getting away with a total of eight bulls for an average of $11,375.

"We run predominantly a British herd, so Angus and Shorthorn cows, with Angus and Shorthorn bulls over them," he said.

"We've been buying bulls off Ben now for probably 12 years.

"They've just been consistent performers for us. They do well on the ticks at home, do well in the heat, so they've been consistently good.

"I think we've bought pretty well every year."

As Mr Busby turns off slaughter cattle, he said he couldn't look past the carcase potential of his two top-price bulls.

"We look for meat at the end, so just big carcase bulls," he said. "Big meaty bulls, big EMA, good data, all the normal stuff."

When he gets his bulls back to Alpha, Mr Busby said he planned to send them straight into his commercial herd, and potentially retain one for stud duties.

"We've got a small stud, 70 or 80 cows, so depending on how we go for bulls, we might use lot three as a back-up bull," he said.

"We don't sell, we just breed for ourselves just to offset buying bulls every year because we've got so many females.

"It just offsets the cost a little bit if we breed some of our own."

Bulliac Angus stud principal Ben Hill said he was extremely pleased to see the return of many long-time buyers at this year's sale.

"It's extremely gratifying to have so many repeat clients, guys who've been buying bulls off us now for nearly 20-odd years," he said. "Their programs are going forward; our program moves forward all the time, and it's just extremely pleasing to see and hear stories about clients and the success they're having with the bulls and from the program."

Of the top-price lots, Mr Hill said they were reflective of the thick bulls the stud was renowned for producing.

"I think the bulls that were at the top end of the sale today were the bulls who had a bit more thickness to them," he said.

"We have plenty of thick bulls, but those bulls, each of them individually, were probably the best bull for different markets and different traits.

"A couple of big, powerful bulls in lots one and three, and a very complete, really thick, muscled bull in lot five."

There was a wide geographic spread of buyers this year, with bulls dispersed to the Maranoa, North Queensland, the Western Downs, the Darling Downs, and the South Burnett, among others.

A bulk buyer at the sale, Tickalara Grazing, Tickalara Station, Thargomindah, purchased six head for an average of $6000.

• Selling agents: Elders interfaced with AuctionsPlus.