Stud stock agents are upbeat about upcoming bull sales

With all facets of the beef and dairy industry being so positive, Carrfields stud stock agent Neville Clark says that the Easter rainfall and consequent grass growth will seal the deal on a very positive bull selling season.

Clark was driving down the east Coast doing a presale lookover of the bulls to go under the hammer at upcoming autumn sales after Easter, and said the East Coast and Hawke’s Bay have had a fabulous season for grass growth, translating into excellent bulls being presented for sale.

Clark says while he thinks the market will be very positive, on the back of the US cow herd at a low base and growing demand for protein, he says the feeling is that bulls don’t need to go up in price.

“Commercial farmers are just feeling their way out of a couple of tough years where the overdraft grew, particularly East Coast farmers who were clobbered with remediation costs from Cyclone Gabriel.”

“But we think it will be a great season for them to take the opportunity to buy better bulls.”

He said the farmers in the Waikato and Northland have been in drought conditions from a really dry summer and autumn will be much more buoyant after the Easter rains and they can now grow some grass before the bull sales, setting them up for a much more growthy winter.

PGG Wrightsons agent John McCone covers the South Island and says farmers are similarly in a good place, with the upcoming crop of bulls looking good for the selling season.

“The bulls are getting better year in and year out.”

“The Marlborough farmers have been a little challenged in the dry but across the island the bulls are cranking and with the calf market having grown another life, you would think that will flow on through into bull sales.”

McCone said he is noticing a trend with commercial farmers asking for more information from their bull breeders and similarly finishers asking more questions from the weaner sellers.

“Farmers are asked more questions about calves they buy to fatten and also those who are buying bulls to breed replacement stock for their herds – they are wanting to know what bull breeders are doing in the way of new technology.”

“They are expecting a bit more for their money – I think there won’t be a drop off in what they pay, but they want more information on around growth rates and IMF and traits – they are asking really good questions and want more bang for their buck.”

“If they are paying $1300-1400 for a 6-month old calf they want to know that it’ll grow on and will be worth more at the other end.”

The information is all out there with Beef + Lamb’s fielddays and resources on social media and it’s easy to access, so its been a long time coming for farmers to start asking more from their breeders.

“I buy a lot of calves for finishers and they are asking a lot more questions.”

McCone added that he doesn’t see big growth in cow numbers and some farmers are taking the opportunity to cull more heavily when the beef market is high. And despite pine trees coming into a lot of Otago and Southland he says cows are transferring to other areas and as long as the numbers of bulls for sale doesn’t grow too much, he thinks “we’ll be in for a good tidy season.”