WHEN Robbie and Anna Hick travelled to CQLX Gracemere for last week's February All Breeds Sale they had only intended to be spectators.
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However, after all was said and done, the Julia Creek producers took home this year's top seller, a black Simmental, which had set a sale record of $50,000 in the process.
By his own admission, Mr Hick said he had only intended to have "a sticky beak" at this year's sale, but a hot-tip from his father-in-law led him to fall in love with Eden Hills Rissole offered by Janet Newlands, Eden Hills stud, Upper Pilton.
"To be honest, I wasn't really looking for a bull, but my father-in-law told me there was a nice bIack bull out the back and he didn't even need to tell me where, the bull just stood out from the rest," Mr Hick said.
"After a bit of research on his pedigree, we decided that he was the one for us and it went from there."
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The Hick family breeds commercial Ultrablack, Angus and Brangus cattle but intend to explore breeding bulls, which is where Eden Hills Rissole, who is the first Simmental they have purchased, will come into their plans.
"He's out of a first-calf heifer, which was a big plus for us given he is such a big animal because it means he will be pretty safe in terms of low birthweight," Mr Hick said.
"We're not with our cattle all of the time given a lot of them are on agistment, so everything has got to be pretty safe from that respect.
"Now we are starting to go down the bull breeding scenario and this bull will go across Ultrablack heifers and other heifers that are not quite Ultrablacks."
Mr Hick said he hadn't ruled out possibly buying another black Simmental bull if Rissole proved successful with the family's female herd.
"If there was another bull like him out there I think we would certainly look at it," he said.
"A lot of that will depend on his calves, so I suppose the proof will be in the pudding so to speak.
"However, all the signs are pointing to him producing some really good calves, so we'll have to wait and see."
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Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
