Repeat buyers 'choosy' about the bulls they bought at National Belmont Red bull sale

A North Queensland family looking to infuse Belmont Red genetics into their commercial herd bought one of the two top-price bulls at this year's National Belmont Red sale at CQLX Gracemere.

The sale on Monday, September 7, featured 33 bulls from two vendors - Paul and Julie Watson, Greenhills Belmont Reds, Toogoolawah, offered six bulls, while Robert and Jane Sherry, Wahroonga Belmont Reds, Clarke Creek, put up the remaining 27.

The top price of $16,000 was achieved twice for two Wahroonga bulls, $2000 better than last year's top of $14,000 for Wahroonga 240117.

The first bull to hit the $16,000 mark was Wahroonga 250321, which was purchased by Allan Stevenson, Spring Creek P/L, Springsure.

The 22-month-old scurred bull tipped the scales at 662 kilograms, had an eye muscle area of 118 square centimetres, rump and rib fat of 11 and 7 millimetres respectively, a scrotum circumference of 39 centimetres and an intramuscular fat score of 5.2 per cent.

He was sired by SEI220253 Seifert Belmont Reds 220253, and was out RJS160008 Wahroonga 160008.

The second bull to attract $16,000 was Wahroonga 250267, purchased by the Burge family, Burge Grazing, Richmond.

He was sired by RJS230083 Wahroonga 230083 and was out of RJS220208 Wahroonga 220208.

Weighing 722kg, the 23-month-old bull had an EMA of 124sq cm, rump and rib fat of 15 and 10 mm respectively, a scrotum circumference of 43 cm and an intramuscular fat score of 6.1pc.

In summary, four of six Greenhills' bulls sold under the hammer for a gross of $27,000, a clearance rate of 67pc, an average of $6750 and a top of $8000. A fifth bull sold after the auction.

Of the Wahroonga bulls, 23 bulls sold of 27 for a clearance of 85pc, a gross of $209,000 and an average of $9086.

Combined, the auction saw 27 bulls sell of 33 offered for a clearance rate of 81 per cent, a gross of $236,000 and an average of $8740.

In 2025, 27 bulls sold of the 33 offered for a clearance rate of 81 per cent, a gross of $176,000 and an average of $6518.

A repeat buyer of many years standing at the national sale, Mr Stevenson said the top-price bull he bought would be going in with his maiden half-Angus, half-Simmental heifers.

"All his EBVs are perfectly suited to that job as well as his carcase qualities," he said.

"So after we've used him over the heifers for a couple of years, we can then use him over our older cows.

"His EBVs, his general measurements, his structure, physical appeal, he had it all."

Mr Stevenson said they always tried to buy bulls they could initially use over heifers and then migrate to their cows when they became physically bigger.

He said he looked at both a bull's physical appearance and EBVs when choosing a bull.

"If we're going to pay decent money for them, they've got to tick all the boxes," he said.

Mr Stevenson also bought Wahroonga 250347, for $15,000, another scurred bull. which was described as having great length, a self-replacing index of $106, and the highest terminal index in the draft of $65.

He also had the highest IMF scan of the group at 5.7pc.

With a breeding operation, turning off EU feeder steers mostly to a feedlot, Mr Stevenson said the lot 2 bull was also spot on with his figures

"His figures aren't suited for heifers, but they're certainly suited to go over cows, we have a decent line of half European breeders, mostly half Simmentals, and that's what he'll be going over," he said.

"He's a slick-coated, very soft bull, with really good structure and carcase figures and he's ideal to put over half-European cows."

With 1100 breeders, Mr Stevenson said his whole female herd had a strong Belmont Red influence.

"The common denominator in our whole herd is they all have some portion of Belmont Red in them," he said.

GDL's Simon Kinbacher, speaking on behalf of the Burges, said the family had several properties in the Richmond area.

"They have predominately breeders and sell feeders, it's predominantly a Brahman-Droughtmaster-based cow herd," he said.

"And they're now infusing composite bulls ... this will be the first Belmont bull they've bought ... they've previously had Senepol bulls."

Mr Kinbacher said they were going down this path to put some fertility into their Brahman-based cow herd.

He said the attraction of the top-price bull they bought was its growth for age, doing ability and his kilo per day weight gain, which was among the highest in the catalogue.

"Also, his fat cover was 15 and 10 mm, so he was an easy doing bull, but just mainly his growth for age and volume," he said.

Wahroonga Belmont Reds principal Robert Sherry said he thought the sale was pretty strong and he was happy with the result.

He said there were a lot of repeat buyers and they knew exactly what they wanted so were all bidding on the same bulls.

"I think maybe half a dozen or so bulls made over $10,000 so they (the buyers) knew exactly what they wanted and they waited for them," he said.

Mr Sherry said the whole draft was going into commercial herds.

"It's a better sale than last year, we had few more bid cards and ... the line of bulls was better too," he said.

'"We had to have a look at what we did last year to try and improve it, and I think we did, so I was happy with that."

The sale has been running since 2017, with the past six sales held at CQLX.

"The thing about the Belmont Reds is you can buy the top genetics in a Belmont Red for a lot less than you can for other breeds," Mr Sherry said.

"That's why the smart cattlemen come and buy Belmont Reds because they're not having to outlay as much money for the top genetics.

"They're all repeat buyers because they know they do the job - and we make money out of them at that rate, and they make money and get good value out of them.

"One person ... told me that one bull he bought in 2019 has averaged 80 calves a year."

GDL Rockhampton livestock agent and sale auctioneer Josh Heck said it was a vibrant sale with a positive result.

"The buyers were very selective in what they wanted, and were happy to pay more than $10,000 for those bulls they were selecting for their program," he said.

"We saw the buyers being very choosy, but, yes, a very, very good result."

• Selling agents: GDL Rockhampton and Stocklive