The 2024 Fitzroy Crossing Bull Sale will mark yet another milestone in the event’s storied history as one of Australia's most remote bull sales, with AuctionsPlus providing an online interface for the first time, connecting buyers from across the country.
Since its launch in 2006, the Fitzroy Crossing Bull Sale has become a cornerstone event for the northern cattle industry, attracting pastoralists and breeders from across the nation’s north-west to the remote community of Fitzroy Crossing.
Located 400km east of Broome and 1,500km south-west of the nearest capital city Darwin, NT, the town with a population of 1,000 people comes alive for one of the biggest events of the year.
A mix of vendors from Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland will be offering more than 180 sale bulls, with a range of top-quality genetics on offer.
The Bos Indicus Bull Sale will showcase a range of Red and Grey Brahmans, Droughtmasters, Queenslanders, Simbrahs as well as Red Brangus cattle.
What makes the Fitzroy Crossing Bull Sale so remarkable is the sheer logistical challenge of bringing together a diverse group of vendors and buyers in one of the most isolated locations in the country.
The sale was the brainchild of Queensland based producer, Jimmy Edwards who coordinated the first ever Fitzroy Crossing sale more than two decades ago.
The Edwards family are based in Gayndah, two-hours south of Gympie, and have the Red Brahman Bull stud Barlyne Brahmans.
Jimmy Edwards and his son Johhny and wife Rachael continue to run the sale every year, taking on the 8000km round trip.
The Edwards are pivotal in the coordination of the event, working in close contact with sale agent Ken Bryant, to ensure the sale is run as smoothly as possible.
The Edwards family with Johnny and Rachael’s one-year old daughter, will depart Gayndah on Saturday morning and aim to reach Fitzroy Crossing by Monday, August 26, before the sale day on Friday, August 30.
“Mr Edwards (Jimmy) comes from WA, he used to muster over there and flew planes for a lot of the properties who buy bulls now,” Mrs Edwards said.
With knowledge of the conditions in Kimberley region, Mr Edwards tapped into the market to breed bulls he knew would do well in the Kimberley country.
This year, Barlyne Pastoral will have 41 bulls heading west, adding to the contingent of vendors making up the sale of more than 180 lots.
Every year since the bull sale's inception in 2006, Queensland breeder Jimmy Edwards had made the 4,000-km haul to the sale from his stud at Barlyne Pastoral in Gayndah, QLD. Pic: Google Maps
Mrs Edwards believes there is a lot to consider before making the commute, especially preparing the animals for the long haul.
“Our preparation has included getting the bull’s feed right, handling, paperwork for entering Western Australia, organising trucks and making sure everyone is on the same page,” Mrs Edwards said.
For Mrs Edwards, the favourite part of the trip is the people. Coming from a background as a secretary on the Sunshine Coast, of the long haul across the country each year Mrs Edwards says “It’s like a holiday for us”.
Putting on a sale in a location as remote as Fitzroy Crossing is only achieved thanks to the hard work of key figures such as Broome-based, Northern Rural Supplies livestock agent Ken Bryant.
Northern Rural Supplies have been involved with 12 of the bull sales throughout its tenure, with Mr Bryant only missing three-to-four sales since its inception.
Over the years, the sale has taken its fair share of knocks. From the pandemic restricting vendors from bringing their stock across the border, to fires and flooding, as well as issues stemming from youth crime in the community.
Mrs Edwards and Mr Bryant are deeply thankful of the local stations around Fitzroy Crossing who lend their crews to prepare the grounds for the sale each year. Pic: Northern Rural Supplies
“Covid made things difficult, not to mention the youth problems in Fitzroy. One year we had the local kids burning the rodeo grounds out, losing loads of hay overnight prior to the sale. This was all then followed by the flooding,” Mr Bryant explained.
The importance of the location is pivotal for the main buyers, the Kimberley Pastoralists. However, for the vendors the trek for most is more than 3,000km.
The long haul means multiple days on the road, spelling the cattle in different locations before clearing the bulls through the Kununurra DPI (Department of Primary Industries) dips to enter Western Australia. Due to select staffing hours, this cannot be done until Monday morning.
“So, after reloading the bulls and resuming the journey, the trucks will make it to Fitzroy just before dark that night, so to take them any further south is just another night on the trucks for the bulls,” Mr Bryant said.
“Some of the vendors have been coming since day one. A few have come and gone, but at the end of the day it’s a chance to showcase their genetics from over there (south), to try and sell more herd bulls throughout the year.
“It’s a chance for people to trial different progeny and see how they’ll perform throughout the year and hopefully purchase more outside of auction.”
This year the sale will be interfaced with an online platform – AuctionsPlus – for the first time.
“Previously, there were a few of us who were hesitant to interface through an online platform due to the mental health side of the sale. We wanted people to come into the sale, interact and catch-up,” My Bryant said.
“Even now, there are people who wouldn’t have seen each other until sale day. We always put on a few beers and barbie for the sale for everybody to have a get together before they get their game faces on for the auction.”
However, Mr Bryant believed that due to a lot of the pastoralist properties merging, there was a need to expand the pool of vendors and purchasers for the sale and widen the exposure for the auction.
On the venture from Queensland to the Kimberleys, the trucks loaded with bulls bypass through the Northern Territory, where Mr Bryant sees a bright opportunity for buyers out of the territory to purchase some progeny from the southern vendors.
AuctionsPlus’ Business Development Manager, Zoë Macfarlan, will be making the journey from the Central West of New South Wales to set up the online interfacing of the auction.
“Heading to Fitzroy Crossing from the Dubbo AuctionsPlus HQ will be quite the journey to service one of the most remote auctions we have held on the platform in recent years,” Ms Macfarlan said.
“Given the location and to ensure a seamless connection to online users, I will be setting up a Starlink booster which allows for uninterrupted connectivity – this is absolutely vital.
“We are incredibly excited to be partnering with the Fitzroy Crossing Bull Sale team this year to increase their exposure and access to buyers across the country.
“While it is so important for producers to get out to the sale and catch up with mates to enjoy the social side as well, for those who cannot make the sale for any number of reasons, not least the location! it will be great to bring the sale to them through AuctionsPlus.”
AuctionsPlus has a longstanding history in connecting remote vendors to wider audiences through the nature of the online platform.
Notably, CALM the platform of which AuctionsPlus derived from, has assisted Kimberley based pastoralists since the early 1990s.
Watching a CALM auction on remote Mt Barnett Station in the Kimberleys, 1991.
Mr Bryant will depart Broome Monday morning to take on the 400km trip to the crossing. By lunchtime, the hay is being unloaded and the coolrooms are chilled, waiting for the Queensland crew to roll in through the evening.
“It was traditionally a Droughtmaster/Brahman sale at the start. Composites seem to be popular now, with the uncertainty around live export, some fellas are trying to get some hump out for another market if they need to, and there’s a few vendors establishing breeds amongst themselves,” Mr Bryant said.
READ MORE: View the 2024 Fitzroy Crossing Bull Sale catalogue
Mr Bryant says last year a Brangus topped the sale. However, years before it has been Charbrays to Droughtmasters.
“It changes around, depending on who has the appetite on the day,” he said.
“Over the past 10 years, I don’t reckon we’ve passed a bull in. It’s a small catalogue, but a long trip home for stock so they aren’t passed in.
“We don’t try and flood the market. It’s important to us that we sell them all, and people can arrange privately if they want more.”
In 2021, the Fitzroy Crossing Bull Sale cracked $1m in sales for the first time.
As the 2024 sale approaches, anticipation is high among both vendors and buyers.
By Friday August 30, red dust from the roadtrains thumping across the Great Northern Highway will have settled, with buyers, vendors and patrons commemorating another successful year of Australia’s most remote bull sale.
The event continues to embody the resilience, determination, and pioneering spirit of those who aim to sustain regional communities and creating opportunities to improve herd genetics.