Longstanding PGG Wrightson Livestock genetics auctioneer Neville Clark reckons the recently concluded record-breaking bull sales season is the start of something even more rewarding for farmers.

“For the last 10 years I’ve been saying that the world will face a protein shortage. I believe the record prices paid for bulls over the last few weeks indicates we are now on the cusp of that. If so, this is just the start of markedly increased profitability for New Zealand farmers,” he says.

After land use change to forestry dropping livestock numbers is part of the shift, reckons Neville Clark.

“Since 2017 300,000 hectares of farmland has gone into pine trees, with an accompanying loss of stock. Meanwhile, global demand for red meat is holding firm, if not rising, meaning a shortage of supply prevails, so the market is shifting firmly in the farmer’s favour.”

Through the bull sales season new high prices were paid on an almost daily basis. Last year Gisborne’s Tangihau Angus established a new record for a bull at a New Zealand on farm sale of $135,000, surpassing the long-standing previous best of $108,000. That 2024 record only stood for 12 months, when Neville Clark’s hammer fell at Cricklewood Angus, Nūhaka on 22 June on an offer of $156,000, breaking the New Zealand record for all bull breeds in all types of sale. Within 24 hours however, that record was also eclipsed, Tangihau Angus taking back the record, this time for a $161,000 bull bought by Oregon Angus, Masterton.

“While the Tangihau bull was outstanding, East Coast breeders were more widely to the fore over the past few weeks. Breeding Angus has made the East Coast what it is. This region produces sound, functional cattle that deliver and are true to their breed type. Stockmanship is the key: breeders who know and understand their herd and can mate accordingly. Sixty per cent of the bulls sold here go to farms outside the region. That testifies to the value placed on good East Coast station bred cattle,” says Neville Clark

Greater focus on genetics is also working to advantage the most successful breeders.

“We are now presenting cattle with 40 years of EBVs documented. People who breed bulls know how to use that science to best advantage. Anyone now in the market has an excellent bunch of cattle to select from. Breeders are gathering the rewards for the hard yards they have put in over the years.

“How commercial farmers have responded, with the exceptional demand for the bulls offered, shows the importance now placed on buying the best available genetics. Bulls are not a one-night wonder. They need to be able to carry on for several years, influencing the long-term success and profitability of a herd.”

Neville Clark suggests the few recent lean years resulted in a big bounce back this year, which helped underline the strength of the current market for bulls.

“Going into the bull season last year, things where less positive and many farmers decided they’d be able to get through with one bull short, which may have cost them in dry cows. Now the market for beef is at $8 per kilogram, that thinking was shown up as a false economy, and no one repeated such a decision this year.”

Also cashing in on strong demand, East Coast Hereford breeders rode the same positive trends as their Angus counterparts. Wilencote Polled Herefords, Ngatapa, offered 28 bulls for a 100 per cent clearance, all sold to commercial farmers, for an average $12,821 with the top priced bull going for $16,000. On the strength of their own sale, Wilencote then teamed up with fellow East Coast stud Mokairau Reeves Herefords, heading south to Kaikōura, where they paid $80,000 for a Matariki Herefords bull, a transaction that set a new national on-farm record for a Hereford bull.

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