It was good shopping at Wilencote Polled Hereford Stud's bull sale, with a small buyer base and some top bulls on offer.

Peter and Susie Humphreys settled for an average of $2,945 for the sale of 22 bulls at the annual auction yesterday.

This was back from last year's average of $3,632 for 28 bulls. The top bull at Wilencote sold for $4,500, back again from last year's top price of $5,000. The bull sale was the first in the three-day series of Hereford and exotic bull sales in the district. Wilencote stud master Peter Humphreys said it had been a sad day at Wilencote with the passing of long-time employee and friend Jack Ratana.

"Jacko" had lived and worked on the farm for the past 22 years.

"He has been a pleasure to have around and we are going to miss him a lot."

He said the bulls were ready to go to new homes and the stud believed in keeping it simple. Breedplan was used but it was really important the basics were right.

Mr Humphreys said it had been a rough year for pastoral farmers. "We just have to take it on the chin and box on",
he said.

Williams and Kettle stud stock auctioneer Neville Clark said the region had a relatively good season and they were hoping for a kind winter to get ready for great times in spring. The future for beef was never better, Mr Clark said. "It's looking really good. With the drought this year there are going to be massive shortages of cattle. Those resilient enough to stay in the job will do exceptionally well in the next five years.

History