AFTER being postponed in 2014 due to the drought conditions that hit the North hard, the North Queensland Droughtmaster Bull Sale is expected to hit new heights of quality this year.
The 2015 sale will be conducted on Monday, February 9 commencing at 10am at the Dalrymple Sale Complex, Charters Towers, and sale coordinator Brian Wedemeyer, Elders Rockhampton, said the 70 registered and herd bulls that have been catalogued for this year’s sale are the best that have been sent to the sale in recent years.
“The quality of the cattle being presented by the studs has gotten better and better over the last three years, and the bulls catalogued this year are exceptionally strong all the way through, and include a total of 52pc poll bulls” Mr Wedemeyer said.
“Some of the most highly regarded registered Droughtmaster studs from across Central and North Queensland have put together a catalogue of quality bulls offering value for money for both the stud and commercial operations,” he said.
“All of the vendors at the sale send bulls to the National Droughtmaster Sale each year where they perform well above the norm, if that gives you an indication of their impeccable breeding standards.
“Conducted as an unreserved sale you can bid with confidence on sale day.”
The Muller family at KM Cattle Company have high hopes that one of their top notch draft of 24 bulls heading to the sale will give them their third consecutive top price bull after they claimed the honour in 2012 and 2013. The Muller’s are dedicated to breeding tropical red Droughtmasters, producing young fertile bulls exhibiting muscling, thickness, higher than average EMA, ideal fat cover and all the attributes necessary to get out and produce your best weight gainers and top feed convertors.
Minlacowie Wingfield sires renowned for their length, muscling, bone and tropical skin type are a product of Central Queensland based vendors the Spann family who for the 2015 sale will be offering a sale draft of 10 bulls.
The two studs have topped the Droughtmaster National Sale for a record eight times with both selling bulls to $100,000 (Wingfield Cagney and Minlacowie Lexington).
Leverdale Droughtmaster Stud’s Alan, Elaine and Paul Lever take great pride in their cattle and are constantly focussed on the commercial product, the Leverdale sale team will consist of four registered sires.
With over 30 years’ experience in breeding Droughtmaster, Doug Miles, owner operator of Trafalgar Droughtmasters, will offer 11 registered bulls at the sale. Over the years Trafalgar bulls have proven to be tough hard working cattle that adapt to all conditions as attested to by the number of repeat buyers returning on a regular basis for more Trafalgar genetics.
Andrew and Sonya Harvey of Kenlogan Droughtmasters will be leading of the sale with their superb draft of five registered bulls and three herd bulls. The Harvey’s focus heavily on producing good, clean quality bulls with excellent temperament, great bone structure, tidy underline, good muscle, scale and walking ability.
Rob, Ayla and Karen Scanlan from Parawanga Stud have been breeding droughtmaster cattle since 1990. Parawanga’s point of difference is in bucking the trend to feedlotter types, and sticking to the old original Droughtmaster type, as they believe that this leggy, sleek-coated framey type is the best at thriving on the grassy rangelands that most breeders inhabit, producing more live calves that survive and grow faster, bigger, and heavier. They’ll be presenting three grandsons of Billabong Neon which are all well grown and ready to work.
Wolfang Droughtmasters’ Greg and Donna Edwards are looking forward to presenting their sale team of eight herd bulls that are sound breeders and offer value for money. Their objectives concentrate on fertility, adaptability, durability, whilst producing the right amount of inter-muscle fat to grade MSA.
All Bulls for this sale have been pre-sale inspected, pre-treated for ticks, vaccinated and have been semen tested and soundness evaluated to breed and industry standards. This testing and pre-treatment enable clients to purchase with confidence.
For those purchasers travelling a long distance there is a generous freight rebate of $55/head on purchases of five bulls or more and an outside agent rebate of 4 per cent to approved agents.
The North Queensland Droughtmaster Sale coordinators said they’re very grateful of the support provided by major sponsor the Droughtmaster Breeders’ Society, and the continued support from their other sponsors Merial Products, Coopers Animal Health, Elanco and Beachport Liquid Minerals.
Beachport Liquid Minerals has kindly donated 20 litres of White Cap with Phosphorus Low Stress to the biggest bulk buyer and 20 litres of Green Cap Low Stress to the person with the highest vendor average.
Beachport is a family owned Australian company with its heart and soul in the Australian livestock industry. The entire sale draft will be pre-treated with Beachport’s Green Cap Low Stress Liquid prior to movement to saleyards.
For more information and catalogues contact Elders Rockhampton (07) 4927 6122 or Elders Charters Towers (07) 4787 2244.