Quick facts – Major Sale Results

• 2011 National Charbray Bull and Female Sale. September 21. 64 bulls av $4211. Top $9500
• Huntington Charbray Bull Sale. September 30. 82 bulls av $4200. Top $11,000
• Huntington Charbray Winton Sale. May 10. 40 bulls av $3500. Top $6500.
• Nobbs Family Moura Sale. Charbray bulls av $4053. Top $6000.
• Kandanga Valley Charbrays. July 23. 33 Charbray bulls av $4970. Top $9000.

Buyer inquiry points to growth
By Penelope Arthur

With another successful bull selling season all but over, many Charbray breeders are taking time to reflect on the 2011 sale results.

Bull Selling Season

Charbray Society of Australia President Matt Welsh said many breeders reported strong buyer inquiry leading up to sales, a fact he believes points to a bright future for Charbray seedstock producers.

“The general feeling among the stud breeders is that sales have been very positive this year despite the fact that, in some cases, the sale result didn’t quite match the inquiry the vendors received prior to the sale,” he said.

“I know in my own situation with the Huntington Charbray Sale, we had very strong interest from buyers prior to the sale which didn’t eventuate into as many sales as we thought it would on the day.”

“However, that interest is very encouraging – sometimes it just takes a little longer to evolve into more sales.”

Mr Welsh congratulated the vendors of the 2011 National Charbray Bull and Female Sale at Gracemere in September where 64 bulls sold for an average of $4211 and a top price of $9500.

He believes a growing number of Charbray bull buyers have come to recognize the power of using Charbray bulls, year in, year out.

“People are starting to see that with the consistency the Charbray breed is gaining, they can use Charbray bulls in their breeding program year in, year out, rather than just buying one or two bulls every few years,” he said.

“Charbray seedstock producers just need to keep putting those quality bulls under their noses, like they did at the National Sale, and continue developing and promoting the breed.”

Les and Anne Marshall from the Greenfields Charbray Stud at Jambin were delighted to sell the top price bull at the National Charbray Sale in September for $9500.

The Marshall’s offered and sold a total of 11 bulls at the sale for an average of $4250.

“We were happy with our sale result and how our bulls sold on the day.” Mr Marshall said.

The Marshall’s sold the top price bull to fellow breeders, Roz and John Mercer of the Kandanga Valley Charbray Stud who hosted their own on-property bull sale in July.

The Mercer’s were also pleased with their own sale result, selling 33 Charbray bulls to $9000 and an average of $4970 - up a massive $1220 on last year.

Mr Mercer said it was the second highest average price received for Charbray’s at a Kandanga Valley on-property sale.

“We had very good inquiry prior to the sale, the most ever in fact, and it did come to fruition for us,” he said.

“We were very happy with the sale result.”

“Our clients seem to be very keen on the generation bred cattle however they do still need to be as good a type as the F1 bulls, even though they do look slightly different in appearance.”

In addition to their annual Spring bull sale at Taroom, the Welsh family have hosted a Huntington sale at Winton in Autumn for the past four years.

Mr Welsh said the Winton Sale was held in May this year and saw 40 bulls average $3500.

“We are starting to get a good following of clients out there and it’s great to see our bulls going into districts such as the north west,” he said.

“The biggest advantage of that sale is being able to put a bigger spread on our genetics.”

Campdraft concept pays for Newcombes
By Penelope Arthur

The Newcombe family admit they were taking a gamble when they decided to host a helmsman auction for eight bulls at the Warwick Gold Cup Campdraft this year.

The family were looking for an innovative approach to bull marketing and wanted to help promote their stud and the Charbray breed to a wider audience of cattlemen.

The Newcombe family from Newcombe Charbrays believe hosting a helmsman auction at the Warwick Gold Cup Campdraft helped promote their operation and the Charbray breed to a wider audience.

Rob, Denise, Jayne and Myles Newcombe hosted a 32 by 30m site at the Warwick Campdraft and welcomed competitors and spectators to come through and view the twenty-two head of Charbray cattle on display.

They also held a helmsman auction of eight bulls over the week, achieving an average of $3875 and a top price of $5000 with 100pc clearance.

Rob Newcombe said they were pleased with the sale result but delighted by the response of beef producers coming through the site.

“We would have had 1000 people come through the site over the week and most wanted to chat about the cattle on display so it was fairly hectic,” he said.

“We were blown away by the genuine interest they showed in the cattle and the questions they asked.”

“It definitely generated more sales for us – we have one fellow from Victoria who wants to buy five bulls in March and many others who indicated they would be back to buy bulls next year.”

A keen family of campdrafters, the Newcombe family hit upon the idea of hosting a helmsman auction at the Warwick draft after deciding to sponsor the Champion of Champions Campdraft. They extended this theme by displaying the “Champion Charbray bull of Australia”, Newcombe’s Bodman, as well as his previous two and post two generations.

“Having been involved in a lot of drafts we knew that there is often periods in between runs when you are looking for something to do,” Mr Newcombe said.

“We also knew that there would be a lot of cattlemen and cattlewomen at the draft so we thought it would be a good opportunity to capture their attention.”

The Newcombe’s started the sale bulls at $3000 and set a minimum bid limit at $500.

“Some of the bulls might have made more money at a traditional sale but I think what we sacrificed in average price we made up for in promotion,” Mr Newcombe said.

“We also had for private offer, five bulls from our show team and out of them we sold an eight-month-old bull calf for $6000.”

Mr Newcombe said one of the most heartening results of the experience, was the discussion generated about generation bred Charbrays among the visitors to the site.

“On one side of the site we had generation bred cattle and on the other side we had mainly F1s,” he said.

“It really highlighted to people the change and improvement you could achieve by using generation bred Charbrays.”

“As members of the Charbray Society we are trying to push the message about generation bred cattle – this seemed to be a perfect forum for us to do it.”

“We’ll be taking bulls to the National Sale next year and we are also planning to be the major sponsor of the Champion of Champions Campdraft where we will hold another helmsman seedstock sale.”

Charbray Society of Australia President Matt Welsh congratulated the Newcombe family on their success with the helmsman auction.

“This was a very innovative idea that obviously found the right setting at the Warwick Gold Cup,” he said. “I congratulate the Newcombes on their success and their willingness to try something new.”