QUEENSLAND cattle producer Wayne Neilsen is bucking two major trends in the beef industry at the moment, he isn't crossbreeding or cashing-in on the strong market for weaner cattle.
Mr Neilsen operates a pure red Brahman commercial herd under Jarwood Grazing, which spans 44,500 hectares on properties in Taroom, Biloela and Hughenden.
They have in excess of 3500 red Brahman breeders mated to about 100 bulls and aim to produce cattle for the bullock market.
He was one of a number of commercial buyers who weren't afraid to spend up big at the Rockhampton Brahman Week Sale purchasing eight red bulls to average $11,875.
While last year's sale average was $3000 dearer than this year, Mr Neilsen said he had paid more for his bulls in 2017 as he was chasing the better quality lots in the draft.
"This year I'll pay $20,000 to $22,000 for two of them and the rest have got to come in around the $15,000 mark,” he said.
"I've always got my eye out for when the crowd goes to sleep and a good one comes in. I picked up one I had $20,000 for and I picked him up for half of that."
Mr Neilsen buys the majority of his bulls from Brahman Week but was expected to muster the following week and would know then if he needed any more replacements.
He said there were three main things he looked for when buying his bulls.
"They have always got to have a good strong head, that's the first thing that will catch your attention,” he said.
"The second thing is bone and the third thing is pizzle and then I'll look for faults.
"General rule of thumb, the bull I pick out has got to have a good EMA (eye muscle area), that's the only scan I worry about.”
With many people choosing to crossbreed their Brahman herd, Mr Nielsen said they had tried it themselves but were turned back to straight Brahman genetics.
"The Brahman does the job for us,” he said.
"We don't have any troubles meeting market specs, so they are clearly doing the job."
The bulk red Brahman buyer was Arafura Cattle Pty Ltd, West Inverleigh, Normanton who purchased 13 bulls to average $4346.