Roger Kneipp was just a baby when he attended the first Glen Innes Hereford Bull Sale in 1946. Next week, as the sale marks its 80th anniversary, Mr Kneipp reflects with quiet pride on a lifetime of memories, having never missed a single one.
"I'm proud to say I've been at every sale," he recalled.
"I'm not proud of my age, but I'm very passionate about the sale.
"It's much smaller now than it used to be, there's not nearly as many Hereford cattle around as there used to be."
A standout memory is from the 50th event, when led heifers were paraded and sold on stage at the Glen Innes Town Hall during a special evening celebration.
Mr Kneipp also highlighted winning the champion pen of three in 2003.
Roger Kneipp. Pic: Supplied
His father and uncle started the Dundee Hereford Stud in 1941 and they went along to the first sale in 1946, which was run by by Claude Bloxsome on November 19, 1946, and held at the saleyards.
The top price bull sold for 80 guineas, which Mr Kneipp estimated to be about $168.
They didn't buy a bull at that sale, but went on the do so over the years, and were also vendors on and off as well. From 1990 on the Kneipps have had bulls at every sales.
Mr Kneipp, from Dundee about 40km from Glen Innes, was home schooled and relished the opportunity to get away from the books and into the sale each year.
He has not only been an exhibitor, but also was a ring steward for 16 years. He credits being well dressed at a sale for getting the gig the first year and the job stuck.
At one of the early sales Cara Park Herefords sold a bull for $25,000, holding the sale record for a number of years.
He couldn't recall all of the record sale prices over the years, but said that it was reset in 1985 at $27,000 and then by Cara Park again in 2015.
It's the current record set in 2016 he's most proud of, with his son Grant's Battalion Stud achieving a sale price of $45,000.
The largest sale was in 1985 when 797 bulls were catalogued for the sale
The Dundee stud was established in 1941 by Roger Kneipp’s father and uncle. Roger, along with his brother Dale and sister Sandra, assumed ownership in 1999, after the death of their father. They ran it together for a decade. Roger had already founded his own stud, Echo Park, in 1981, and in 2010, he merged the two operations under the Dundee Echo Park Herefords banner.
For the 80th Glen Innes sale, Roger is offering one September-drop bull and six females, including two standout V-drop heifers he describes as among his best.
After some partnerships, Elders took over the sale in its own right in 1959 and has retained the sale ever since.
Michael Lamph from Elders Glen Innes said 32 bulls and 13 heifers would be offered in the sale, which is also interfaced with AuctionsPlus.
“It’s the longest running multi-vendor sale in Australia," Mr Lamph said.
He said the quality in this year's sale in particular was strong, even with a smaller field on offer.
"What we really want to do is promote Herefords in general and their sustainability, productivity and quality, that has really allowed them to strive within the Australian Beef Industry on grass fed and grain fed operations," he said.
Mr Lamph has been involved with the sale for 40 years and said the introduction of online selling opened up other studs to be able to purchase bulls from across the whole country at the time.
"AuctionsPlus got bigger during Covid and now it seems to be mainstream everywhere," he said.
CHECK OUT THE AUCTION HERE: https://auctionsplus.com.au/auctions/cattle/glen-innes-hereford-bull-sale/124988
