THE 26th annual Premier Murray Grey Sale will take place on Thursday at the Wodonga Exhibition Centre.
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Thirty-six cows/calves, 14 heifers and 12 bulls will be put up for auction.
The sale was started by Murray grey breeders in Victoria as a multi-vendor sale for females but also now features bulls and sellers from South Australia, Western Australia, and a wide area of Victoria and NSW, according to sale president Geoff Buick.
“It is probably the leading Murray grey stud sale in Australia and provides a great opportunity for people in the industry to get together socially and exchange ideas on genetics and the like,” Mr Buick, from Western Flat in South Australia, said.
“The potential is certainly there this year; there has been a lot of pictures on our Facebook page.”
Gary Buller has good reason to come all the way from Western Australia, having won top-priced female and top-priced bull for the past four years.
“I started coming five years ago to support the sale when numbers were down a bit and I have missed only one year,” he said.
“The timing of the sale fits in well with my program at this time of the year.
“I don’t come across for the national sale because I have just got too much on.
“And it’s a time of year that is conducive for cattle to travel.”
But it is not just his success that keeps Mr Buller coming back.
“The area is the home of the Murray grey — where the breed started — the selling centre is a pretty wonderful sort of facility, it is central and it provides an opportunity to catch up with a lot of people,” he said.
“Seasonal conditions have been pretty good south of Wagga and people have been telling me they have had their best winter and spring for some time. So there is plenty of feed.
“The cattle market was pretty depressed last year but it has jumped back considerably.”
Mr Buller said the Murray grey breed had been performing well in Western Australia.
“For the past 15 years we have been the second most numerous breed, after angus.
“Over the last two years Murray grey bulls have outsold Charolais, Limousin and simmental, combined.”
Mr Buller will bring six females and one bull to the sale, which starts at 1pm.
A pre-sale dinner will be held on Wednesday on the Blazing Stump Hotel in Wodonga.