Australia’s Most Expensive Bull at Auction

Australian Technology

The seller and buyer of Australia’s most expensive bull at auction

Brett Nobbs has the distinction of being the man who sold the most expensive bull at auction in Australia. This is good news for a man who has come a long way since his first business initiative, at the age of 11.
Nobbs started out by shearing his own sheep and selling the wool. He used the money he made to buy stud cattle when he was thirteen. Two years later, he attempted to sell a bull for the first time, at the Droughtmaster National Sale. There were no bids for the bull.
This was a disappointment for Nobbs but it turned out to be a positive step. He promised himself that the situation would never happen at a bull sale again.

This attitude helped him to reach his current position as a respected cattleman, at the NCC stud near Rockhampton. It has also led to him becoming the seller of the bull that achieved the highest bull price at auction in Australia.
The man who bought this bull is Cloncurry cattleman Rodger Jefferis. Jefferis and his wife Lorena run the successful Elrose Brahman Stud at Cloncurry in North West Queensland. The stud is well-known for its emphasis on sustainability and its impressive growth over the last four decades.
Interestingly, Rodger and Lorena Jefferis were outbid at the auction when the Australian record for previous highest bull sale price was achieved, in 2006. The bull in question was Lancefield Burton Manso. He was purchased by Happy Valley Brahman stud at the Tartrus Lancefield Brahman Sale at Gracemere. The bull held the record for the most expensive of bulls sold in Australia until his death, in 2014.
The Jefferis family’s Elrose Brahman Stud may have underbid for this one of the most expensive bulls at auction in Australia. However, after this Jefferis looked back at successes he achieved from the bulls that he invested in. This insight made him determined to win out in his bid to buy NCC Justified.

Why Jefferis paid a record price of $325,000 for NCC Justified

Back in 2006, Rodger Jefferis lacked the confidence to continue bidding for Lancefield Burton Manso. He wanted to secure the animal but he was unsure about paying such a high price at auction. After this, his confidence increased and he was determined not to lose out in his quest to buy NCC Justified. He believed that the record purchase price would be well justified.

This belief came from the returns Jefferis achieved from other bulls that he bought in the 1990s. The progeny of Lancefield Ambition secured $700,000 by 2006. The bull cost $60,000 so the returns were excellent. The same applies to Lancefield Signature. This bull cost  $87,500 and its progeny achieved a combined price of $320,000 at a single sale.

Jefferis believes that successes like these make paying a high price for a bull worthwhile. He has yet to realise the full potential from his purchase of NCC Justified as the sale only took place three years ago. However, he is well on his way to doing so.

This is despite the fact that drought conditions directly following the purchase of NCC Justified prevented the bull from meeting his new breeder herd. Despite this slight setback, semen collection did commence. Jefferis said that a large amount of semen had been sold offshore.

Now, several years after the original purchase, the offspring of NCC Justified are being sold at auction. So, the Jefferis family are still building on their returns for the purchase price. It appears that they made the right decision.

The price paid for NCC Justified is massive but it’s not entirely surprising in Queensland. The top ten highest priced stud bulls in the country have been sold in the state. This is due to the fact that the beef industry in the state is bigger than anywhere else in the country.

So, there is more money around. It seems as though the current situation in the industry is as buoyant as ever so maybe we will see another record price paid sooner rather than later.