Guliford Hereford $26,000 bull snapped by Western Australian buyer

Guilford Poll Herefords sold 28 bulls to the impressive top price to average $8071 at its 48th on-property sale on Friday.

Guilford Poll Hereford stud principal Philip Davie said the Ouse, Tas, stud was started by his father in the early 1970s.

Mr Davie said the sale was underpinned by a handful of return buyers, including a handful of purchasers from King Island.

"We had a few new buyers including our top-priced buyer from WA, as well as at Scottsdale in the north-east of Tasmania," he said.

"Only two bulls were bought by clients on the mainland, including one bull which was bought by John McLeod, Jingellic, NSW, who bought Lot 9 for $10,000."

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Mr Davie said his stud offered bulls with good growth and weight figures, as well as sires with plenty of visual muscle.

"A lot of the bulls in our catalogue had a very good carcase shape about them and that's important because you want the steers to be able to hang up well when they are eventually processed," he said.

The top-priced bull, Lot 1, was the heaviest bull calf at the time the stud weaned its calves, and was described as a future sire with exceptional growth for age.

Guilford Roadworthy R035 sold to interstate buyer Matthew Della Gola, Tonebridge Grazing, Boyup Brook, WA, for $26,000.

"At weaning he weighed 461 kilograms at 230 days so that tells you he has a good mother and a fair bit of natural growth and doing ability," Mr Davie said.

His estimated breeding values included a milk score of 24, +46 for 200-day weight, +71 for 400-day weight and +107 for 600-day weight.

The bull was in the top 5 per cent of the breed for 200 and 600-day weight, milk, rib and rump fat.

He weighed 1045kg on sale day and was sired by Guilford Nuclear N19 and out of Guilford Vanity G77.

Mr Della Gola said the bull was out of a very fertile cow.

"He's a slightly bigger bull than we would normally buy but everything else about him is absolutely spot on," he said.

"He's a cow breeder and we run a self-replacing herd with 1200 cows and he represents part of our transition from horned to poll cattle and being PP, he will fit in perfectly."

The second top-priced bull, Lot 6, sold for $22,000 and was bought by return clients Greenhill Brothers, Wesley Vale, Tas.

Eleven of the bulls were bought by five clients on King Island, including S & A Velekoop who bought four bulls to a top price of $8000.

Four bulls were bought by Rushy Pastoral, Gladstone, Tas, to a top price of $5000 four times.

"It was a very strong result and it was great to see a bull go from Tassie to WA," Nutrien Tasmania stud stock agent Cooper Lamprey said.

"Since WA's border restrictions have changed, it's allowed bulls to head west and we haven't seen that in sometime.

"These cattle perform in all different environments and that's why they're pretty popular because they also have plenty of carcase and frame about them."