Dannevirke: Bull sale at Tui Brewery - yeah, right

Bryan Bendall (Seven Hills Angus) with Tui HQ manager Jenny Holmes at the Mangatainoka brewery. Photo/Supplied

Tui Brewery's iconic gates open to farmers tomorrow for the world's first bull sale at a brewery.

The famous Tui Brewery girls will be keeping a watchful eye on the bulls grazing 300 metres away (a hops, step and a jump) while breeders Bryan and Nicky Bendall run their first bull auction, which is also the first Angus bull video sale held in New Zealand.

These are nothing new in Australia and US and, according to Bryan Bendall, "they are so simple, there is no need to run bulls through a ring".

The brewery's Flagon Room will be used to conduct the auction, after Bryan took his idea to Tui HQ manager Jenny Holmes.

"He asked me what would I think if a lot of bulls came here for a bull auction?" says Holmes. "I thought 'yeah right' for a start.

"I'm really excited to have this event and looking forward to knowing where all the farmers come from. They can't miss our tower."

There will be food (Angus Pure steaks), tea and coffee, soft drinks with alcohol served at the conclusion of the auction.

One of Tui's billboards will have a slogan "head and jaw equals top 1% of the Angus Pure index - Yeah right." Bendall says the farmers will understand this.

"Farmers are buying a genetic package. The younger generation of farmers is definitely looking at the figures and what is happening to the end product. They have broken the mold," he says. "Recording on computer has had a huge impact with estimated breeding values available on internet solutions. This is a totally transparent system.

"Thinking of the future, farming is good. We have to get more professional and have a bigger focus on quality product. This is a combined effort of good stockmanship and genetics. Farming is exciting at the moment it's a great industry to be in," Bendall says.

The Bendalls' Mangaone farm Seven Hills is 1400 hectares, running 550 Angus breeding cows and 4500 ewes plus hoggets mated, along with 50 hectares leased from the family trust next to the brewery, where the bulls can be inspected.