Bull sold for $42k at Limehills Herefords' 43rd annual sale

Bull Limehills Blast, Lot 1, fetched the highest price of $42,000 at Limehills Herefords' 43rd annual bull sale in Millers Flat last week. Photo / Shawn McAvinue

A Hereford bull sold for "crazy money" at a bull sale in Teviot Valley last week.

At Limehills Herefords' 43rd annual sale in Millers Flat, 60 of the 64 bulls on offer sold for an average of $9711, including a top price of $42,000 for bull Limehills Blast.

Speaking from inside the bull ring at the conclusion of the sale, stud owner Gray Pannett told the more than 100 people sitting in the grandstands surrounding the ring the result was "outstanding" and "heartwarming".

"There was some crazy money at the start."

After the sale, neither Pannett nor his wife Robyn could confirm if $42,000 was the most paid for a bull in the history of the sale.

"It's up there," Pannett said.

Poppy Blackmore (2), of Tarras, eats a snack among a strong bench of buyers at Limehills Herefords' 43rd annual bull sale in Millers Flat last week. Photo / Shawn McAvinue

Buyer Duncan Campbell, of Earnscleugh Station, near Alexandra, said the appeal of Limehills Blast was it being a "beautifully put-together bull".

"The cosmetics are right and the data is right - everything was in the right place."

Limehills Herefords owners Gray and Robyn Pannett, their daughters Madison (26, left) and Evie (16) and their dog Brynn, on their farm after the stud's 43rd annual bull sale in Millers Flat last week. Photo / Shawn McAvinue

The $42,000 price tag was the most he had spent on a Hereford bull, he said.

Addressing the crowd before the sale, Pannett said breeding stock to improve estimated breeding value (EBV) data was "hard work".

"That's what we are all in the game for, to make money or you wouldn't be here."

He had "gone close to breaking his neck" increasing intramuscular fat EBV values for his clients, he said,

Robyn Pannett said the successful sale result was a reward for the hard work of her husband.

"Gray is so passionate about bulls. He loves the industry."