Speckle Park bull sells for world record price in Kempsey

"Shady" sold for a record price at the inaugural East Coast Speckle Park Sale at the Kempsey Showground Hall on Saturday, September 4.

Dyers Crossing based owners and partners Brooke and Andrew Paff, watched in disbelief as Shady was auctioned off at $150,000, setting a record price for Speckle Park bulls.

Guest auctioneer Brian Leslie brought the hammer down on the successful bid from Ivery Downs Stud from Colinton, Queensland.

"It just unfolded before our eyes and we just sat back with a look of... disbelief," Mrs Paff said.

"We certainly didn't see it coming."

Despite being on the same feeding regime as the other bulls at their property near Nabiac, the 25-month-old bull went to auction at a whopping 956 kilograms.

Shady's scans also delivered favourable results with eye muscle area (EMA) coming in at 143 and intramuscular fat (IMF) reaching six.

On top of being a record breaking sale, Shady is the couple's first ever bull sold at auction.

"You can understand why we're a little overwhelmed," Mrs Paff said.

"It was a very big shock."

It's been a long road though for them to get to this point.

The couple started out in 2017 with just a few embryos.

"That was a bit of a failure to begin with," Mrs Paff said.

"And then the drought hit so that sort of slowed us up again. We couldn't really keep expanding because the cost of feeding prevented us buying anything in.

"We were just trying to keep everything that we had alive."

But their perseverance has paid off with Shady now set to travel to Queensland to be part of the Ivery Downs Speckle Park breeding program.

The significance of a black coated bull being crowned as a record holder isn't lost on Mrs Paff.

Black Speckle Park animals can't be shown at cattle shows, with most black bulls becoming steers once they reach weaning age.

"Not a lot of them are grown out because they just don't sell," Mrs Paff said.

"Most auctions you go to, the black ones either get passed on or sell at the starting bid."

"So for us, it's quite a big turning point for Speckle Park that the world record holder is black."

Kempsey Stock and Land conducted the sale with attendees filling the Kempsey Showground Hall and joining online at Elite Livestock Auctions.

On top of the record breaking sale, bulls averaged $26,428 while cows and calves sold to a top of $9000.

Heifers topped at $18,000 for Lot 12 Gotcha Enigma and averaged $5,561.

One of the sale organisers, Mark Constable, said there was about a 65 to 70 per cent clearance.

"The quality of animal was outstanding," he said.

"The presentation of the animal was very good, the venue was good... all in all it was a great result to get the world record."

For Born Ready, the sale marks a happier turn for the business.

"We sort of had a bit of a run where we had just bulls, bulls and more bulls," Mrs Paff said.

"We've been praying for some more females to be born which is happening this year

"But after this weekend, we're thinking maybe bulls aren't so bad."

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