The $160,000 top priced heifer being knocked down at last night’s Elite Wagyu Sale in Brisbane.

ELITE registered females sold to $160,000 and bulls to $120,000 at the Australian Wagyu Association’s Elite Wagyu Sale held as part of the 2026 WagyuEdge Conference in Brisbane last night.

Strong bidding from established Wagyu seedstock producers, genetics marketers and new industry entrants saw prices for ten bulls average $39,800 and eleven  embryo donor-standard heifers average $43,350.

Unlike earlier years for this annual sale, there were no overseas buyers active this year.

The sale-topping heifer at $160,000, attracting 27 bids both from participants in the room and online via Stocklive, was knocked down to Genomic Selection, Southport, operating through MCC Rural Agencies Tenterfield.

Woodland Wagyu W0214, pictured right, was offered by Michael Bavea’s Woodland Partnership, Guyra NSW combining elite marbling genetics with balanced growth, maternal strength, and structural integrity. She carried 71pc Tajima genetics and Wagyu Breeding Values of +4.1 for marbling, +49kg for carcase weight and +16sq cm for eye muscle area, with an F1 terminal index figure of $547 above breed average and Fullblood terminal index of $609.

As shown in the new WBV Percentile Spider’s Web graph published below (click on image to enlarge), she had excellent all round performance, being in the top one percent of the breed on three Indexes.

“Backed by proven sires and a productive cow family, this heifer offers an outstanding foundation prospect for breeders targeting premium carcase performance and long-term genetic improvement,” the catalogue entry said.

As strong as it was, the top price was still a long way from the breed record for females of $400,000 set back in 2022.

The next best heifer price last night at $60,000 was paid for the high carcase merit heifer Norlin Wagyu W2285, bred by Norlin Wagyu Goorambat Victoria, owned by Danish Wagyu investor Sebastian Christensen.

Top priced bull at $120,000 was 3D Genetics 3DWF25W0030 representing Joe Grose’s 3D Genetics, Bukkulla NSW, bought by return buyer Keith Hay’s Geneflow Pty Ltd, Deniliquin NSW.

The 12 month old calf is a high-indexing, recessive-free Fullblood bull sired by one of the industry’s elite sires, IGWFS0332. He combined exceptional performance for growth, carcase weight, milk, marbling and marbling fineness, and originates from the core of the 3D Genetics herd producing Fullblood steers averaging a MIJ digital Marbling Score of 12.6.

Both the top priced female and bull were the product of sires produced by Peter Gilmour’s Irongate Wagyu business in Western Australia.

In the semen portion of the catalogue, prices peaked at $2100/straw, averaging $997, while embryos peaked at $2500/embryo for an offering from Spur Wagyu sold to online buyers Mark & Yasmin Smoothy. Embryos averaged $1355.

The sale was conducted by Ray White Livestock, Dalby.