
Saleyards upgrade to further boost event
RILEY WELLMAN stood composed in his Akubra hat after selling the school bull for $7000 at the All Breeds sale in Casino on Saturday.
The 15-year-old Woodlawn College student had previously taken the prize charolais bull named Valley View Leader to the Royal Easter Show in Sydney.
The 860kg bull so impressed the buyer in Sydney, he travelled to the Northern Rivers Livestock Exchange to see him again.
The bull was sold to Challambi Charolais Stud in Victoria.
Top sale on the day went to a Weona Brangus bull that sold for $12,500.
The Leeville bull was bought for stud duties by Brad Saunders from Pheasant Creek Brangus in Wowan in southern Queensland.
Sale committee president Bruce Lyle said the average sale price was $5257.

Mr Lyle's own bull from Lyle Family Angus sold for $10,000, and he was happy with the price.
"You never expect anything," he said.
"It's who turns up on the day."
There was a clearance rate of 81% with 132 bulls sold, Mr Lyle said.
Fourteen bulls did not reach their minimum sale price.
On the day auctioneer Glenn Weir said the market was patchy.
Talk around the cattle pens was that farmers were holding on to their money.
A crowd of 350 people clambered to see the cattle.
The beasts were more crowded this year than other years because the sale was short on pens due to work beginning on a soft floor and roof over pens, Mr Lyle said.
With a further $7 million in state government funding announced by Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis in Casino this week, the saleyards upgrade will add to the selling capacity next year, he said.
"It will ensure future sales are vendor, buyer and cattle friendly," he said.
The Casino All Breeds Sale is held on the last Saturday of July each year and in its 19th year has become the region's major bull sale.