Lots offered at the 10th annual Bullzeye Droughtmaster Bull Sale held on Saturday, October 11, at the Nebo Saleyards met with solid demand.

 

On the day, 10 vendors offered 60 registered and herd bulls, of which 47 sold for a clearance of 78 per cent, at an average of $9170 and a top price of $45,000.

 

This average was up on the 2024 result, which saw 47 of 54 bulls sell for an 87 per cent clearance, $7200 average, and a top of $26,000.

 

Bullzeye sale spokesperson, Riley McKenzie, said the result had been "stronger than usual"."It was nice to see the average price go up a bit with a few more positive buyers turning up. There was a good atmosphere on the day," Mr McKenzie said. He said there were many repeat buyers in attendance, along with a few smaller operators who came for a look and bid on a few bulls."Most of the bulls were morphology tested this year, and this was reflected in the result as bulls with good figures sold well.

 

"It was lot 13, Sugerland Qantas, who was fast-tracked into the ring at its start, who claimed top price honours for Sugerland Droughtmaster stud principals Will and Ingrid Haviland, when the $45,000 winning bid was made by Cliff Mylrea, Needmor Droughtmasters, Gogango. The 27-month-old son of Needmor Garfield, out of Sugerland Nyree, was a hot ticket item on the day, with underbidders Mac and Gayle Shann, Lamont Droughtmasters, Clermont, providing spirited competition.

 

Mr Haviland said when selecting bulls for Bullzeye, Qantas stood out due to his "ridiculously quiet temperament"."He's a good, heavy-carcase bull with great structure that looked good from any angle. He went to a really good home."Mr Mylrea, who bid by phone, said they'd inspected and liked Qantas before the day of the sale."He's a really growthy bull with excellent weight and a great temperament, a really good underline and a strong head. The standout feature was his length. My wife said he was a "pretty bull" and that we needed to buy him."He said Qantas will go into the Needmor stud herd to hopefully "breed more like him.""It was our first purchase from Sugerland.

They bought a couple of bulls from us, so it was good to go back and support them.

 

"The second top-priced bull of the sale was Hamadra Ondray in lot 23. He was purchased by Ron and Di Pullen, Codrilla Pastoral, Koumala, for $16,000.Hamadra Droughtmaster stud co-principal Andrew McKenzie said Ondrays' smoothness, good sheath and head stood out to him when selecting the draft for Bullzeye. The McKenzies cleared their entire draft, but said the sale had been an up-and-down affair with the "better bulls selling well".

 

Mr Pullen said Ondray, a 22-month-old son of Glenn Valley Flinders and out of Hamadra Judith, will go into their multiple sire herd."The money speaks for itself. He's a very correct, serviceable and functional bull with good figures," he said.He congratulated the Bullzeye vendors on presenting an "extremely good lineup of bulls". The Pullens bought bulls out of the Bullzeye sale for the first time last year, and snapped up another four bulls at an average of $10,750 at this year's sale.

 

The top volume buyer on the day was the MacNicol family, MacNicol Pastoral Holdings, Marlborough, who purchased eight bulls at an average of $6625."We bought six or seven bulls at Bullzeye last year that are all going well, so we came back to purchase from this good line of bulls again," Mr MacNicol said.

 

Other volume buyers on the day were Chesalon Grazing, Alpha, which bought five bulls at an average of $10,400, while Pathmont Grazing, Pentland, bought four bulls at an average of $7500.

 

•Selling Agents: GDL and interfaced online through Stocklive.