'Buyers grab ... a good commercial bull at a good price': Central Reds sale
Buyers in the market for a number of bulls and repeat clients were the mainstay of this year's Central Reds Droughtmaster Sale on Monday, September 28.
Held at Ag-Grow, Emerald, the five-vendor sale was summed up as a buyer's market.
Taking home the top-priced bull, Strathfield Rawlins, for $13,000 was the Dumma family, Emoh Ruo Grazing, Middlemount
The 22-month-old heterozygous polled bull was offered by Josh and Lauren Perry, Strathfield Droughtmasters, Clermont.
It was sired by Carnudge Kingsman and was out of Strathfield Carol 89. The dam's sire was Huntly Aristocrat.
Weighing 891 kilograms, Strathfield Rawlins had P8 and rib fat measurements of 14 and 11 millimetres respectively, an eye muscle area of 128 square centimetres, a scrotal circumference of 41cm and an intramuscular fat percentage of 6.8.
The Dumma family bought a second lot, a Strathfield herd bull, for $11,000.
A repeat buyer of Strathfield Droughtmasters, Jack Dumma said he had been really happy with bulls from the Perrys.
"We liked this particular bull for his depth and length," he said.
"The same with the other bull, it had pretty good depth about him.
"It was a pretty good buyer's market on some of the bulls."
Mr Dumma said the top seller would go into their commercial program.
Emoh Ruo Grazing is a commercial bullock breeding operation on 24,281 hectares (60,000 acres) turning off between 800 and 1000 bullocks a year.
Mr Dumma said he used whatever information was available to him when purchasing a bull.
"Whether it be EBVs or the scanning data or ... our visual assessment of the bulls," he said.
This year's sale saw 28 of 38 bulls sell for a 74pc clearance, a gross of $202,000 and an average of $7215.
Central Reds Droughtmaster Sale
Monday, September 28, 2026
In comparison, the eight-vendor sale in 2025 sold 41 bulls under the hammer to achieve a clearance of 82pc, a gross of $289,000, an average of $7049 and a top of $19,000.
Repeat buyer to the sale, Colin Baker, Feez Creek, Capella, who bought three bulls for an average of $9000, said it was a high-quality lineup of bulls this year.
"I was just looking for good beefy bulls with good feet, good eye muscle area and good weight for age," he said.
"I'll be putting them out with some heifers, probably in December ... just going into the breeding herd basically."
Mr Baker, who has 6070 hectares (15,000 acres) across three properties, said he had mostly Droughtmaster cattle, selling some feeder steers and finishing others on crop.
He said it was definitely a buyer's market and reckoned the "not very encouraging" weather forecast may have put some buyers off.
Josh Perry agreed it was a buyers' market and put it down to the bulls not being overfed.
"They're probably just lightly prepped and people probably do see more polished bulls than what can come here," he said.
"We like to have bulls ... ready to go straight into a paddock and do a job."
Mr Perry said the sale was also behind a lot of other bull sales.
"So the change of venue and change of date next year might be in our favour, and the number of bulls is probably on our lacking side, having only 38," he said.
"People ... looking for six to eight bulls might have found this was not be the easiest place to buy them.
"But there were some good quality bulls here that went for the cheap market."
In summing up the sale, Gavin Tickle from TopX Rockhampton also said it was "a very good buyer's market".
"The initial clearance was about 74 per cent, but we've already sold a few out the back, so those numbers will update," he said.
Mr Tickle said there had been a lot of Droughtmaster sales before this one over the past three weeks.
"I think the new sale date next year to August 31 will be a positive move for the sale," he said.
"The bulls and certainly the genetics and the lineup of the bulls was there for the buyers and ... today was definitely a great opportunity for buyers to grab themselves a good commercial bull at a good price."
Mr Tickle said the season had definitely played a part in the sale results.
"I think the number of bulls that had been on offer played a part so next year when we've got a larger number of bulls at the sale, it might help more buyers turn up," he said.
Volume buyers included RA and PA Rideout (three); Lucky Downs Grazing (seven); DL & TL Perry (five); Loch Pastoral Company (four) and Mylrea Pastoral (three).
Stocklive had six registered bidders, with two unique buyers buying four bulls for a gross of $28,000. Two were bought by Ashley Smith, Hughenden, for $8000 each while Tom Roberts, Springsure, also bought two, but for $6000 each.
Vendor Averages at Auction:
Hillside - 2/4 for an average of $7000
Strathfield - 12/14 for an average of $7666
Vale View - 4/5 for an average of $8000
Kenlogan - 4/9 for an average of $6000
Wetheron - 4/5 for an average of $7000
- Selling agents: TopX. interfaced with Stocklive
