THERE’S been a distinct rise in the number of registered female sales scheduled for the early parts of 2025, reflecting a number of seedstock industry trends.

The first is the completion of the herd recovery cycle after the 2019-20 drought period, with many stud breeding herds returning to peak numbers after a sequence of better than average years in some areas.

That’s left a surplus of stud cows in some stud managers’ inventories that are now finding their way to market. Allied with that, the return to dry conditions in some southern Australian bull-breeding areas has motivated some studmasters to lighten off breeder numbers a little again, heading into winter.

The second is the distinct rise in value of quality registered females, relative to bulls. Indeed, for several breeds listed in Beef Central’s searchable database of bull/female breed record prices (click here to access), elite females used as donors have sold for higher prices than bulls. That’s being driven squarely by IVF, which has elevated the genetic value of elite females far beyond their traditional natural mating capacity of one calf per year.

The rise in offerings of stud females this year is clearly evident in Beef Central’s recently completed Autumn 2025 bull and female sale schedule (click here to access), listing upcoming stud sales across Australia for more than a dozen major beef breeds.

Indeed, some of the studs scheduling female sales this year have never done so before.

Registered female buyers tend to fall into one of three categories, discussions surrounding this article suggest:

• People getting started in the seedstock industry, looking to establish or grow a small registered herd. Eye-catching bull prices seen especially in 2022 and 2023 motivated more new entrants to have a go at breeding a few bulls for sale
• Established bull breeders seeking an outcross into genetic lines or types (ie Polls) they do not currently have, or to add quality to an existing stud cow herd
• Well-established herd bull breeders seeking to ‘step-up’ into a donor-type female or two
• Commercial cattle breeders seeking to breed a few herd bulls themselves, or lift the quality of their unregistered herds.

Angus Australia CEO Scott Wright

Angus Australia chief executive Scott Wright noted that dedicated female sales was a trend now being seen in the Angus seedstock world, as well as other breeds.

“Sometimes, the female side of the business is neglected,” he said.

As an example, he pointed to this informative Breeder Exchange podcast on the topic of the value in females in a seedstock business put together with US seedstock consultant Chris Earl.    

Chris’s main point was the need for seedstock breeders to capitalise on the value from the female side of their business. The same trend was occurring in the US as in Australia, Mr Earl indicated.

“To be competitive going forward, our Angus breeders need to capture value wherever they can, and the growth being seen in female sales is following along those lines,” Scott Wright said.

“Many stud herds have now recovered from 2019-20 drought sell down, and are now looking to capitalise on some value. Artificial breeding has certainly helped breeders to do that.”

Selling the leftovers?

One of the challenges in selling stud females is often the buyer perception that the best of the stud’s females are always retained, with only the tail being sold, one prominent seedstock marketer said.

The solution several bull breeders have come to this year is to offer an entire heifer calf drop, or all females in the herd within a certain age range.

An example is Day’s Whiteface, which has never previously held a female sale, but is this year is holding a Mature Cow Dispersal, selling all females out of the herd over three years of age.

Principal Lachie Day said the reason for the sale was some ‘really good’ pregnancy rates in recent times, and an expansion in the stud’s embryo program.

“That’s allowed us to offer a good group of registered females for the first time, without impacting on our own herd numbers,” he said. “We’ll have daughters of many of those better cows coming through.”

On top of growing numbers in the stud herd, the other factor in the Days’ decision to market females has been the turn in the season. The last 18 months around their base at Bordertown (SA) had been “just terrible,” Mr Day said, leading to the need to lighten off.

The Day’s Whiteface Mature Cow Dispersal offering of 75 females happens on 23 February.

NSW Shorthorn breeders the Catts family’s Futurity Pastoral is holding its first dedicated Shorthorn Female sale on 7 March, offering 55 cows and heifers.

Kylie Catts explained that the sale was part of a stud re-alignment due to workload, dispersing the stud’s entire autumn drop females in favour of focussing on the spring drop cohort. A single seasonal calf-drop each year would reduce workload, she said.

Richard Retallick has operated his Glengowan Angus stud between orange and Bathurst in NSW for the past 60 years, having never sold a stud female before this year.

“Like everyone, our cow numbers dropped sharply during the 2019 drought, but we’re now back closer to normal. Like a lot of Angus breeders, my wife and I are getting older, and for us, the sale is mainly about downsizing a little,” Mr Retallick said.

“I don’t think that is uncommon – there’s an age factor in some of the female sales being held this year,” he said.

Being closely aligned with New Zealand Angus bloodlines, the Retallicks have been receiving sale interest from other Angus bull breeders seeking an outcross from US-style genetics. Their sale on 13 March will include 120 registered cows with calves, plus joined and unjoined cows and heifers.

Andrew Meara

Further north, Elders Rockhampton (Qld) based stud stock agent Andrew Meara said he was aware of a wide range of female sales planned this year, ranging from dispersals to production sales, to what could be termed ‘directional changes’ within a seedstock business.

“February/March tends to be the traditional stud female sale time in Queensland, especially for the tropical breeds, but also Charolais sales around Toowoomba,” he said.

“People in many areas have had a few good years, seasonally, and some now have a surplus of females on hand.”

Mr Meara said simply having a ‘female reduction sale’ was not always the best strategy, because buyers inevitably suspected that the best cattle had been retained by the vendor. “But a mature cow sale, or entire heifer drop sale means that buyers know the good cattle are on the market,” he said.

One trend that had emerged recently in the south in stud female sales was separating cows and calves, with the calves (mostly 6-8 month old weaners) sold separately.

An important factor to consider in stud female sales was exposure to seasonal conditions, Mr Meara said.

“If the season is great, it’s a lot easier to sell stud females if buyers have feed at home. And if the cattle market is strong, they don’t mind selling a few older cows to the meatworks to finance the purchase of a few younger ones.

“But if the season is much tighter, they don’t want more mouths to feed. That’s where there’s a difference between selling stud bulls and stud females.”

Some other upcoming stud female sales of note:

• Alumy Creek Angus Online Female Sale (28 February)
• Wormbete Simmental female Sale (4 April)
• National Droughtmaster Female Sale (8 March)
• Circle 8 Angus OnLine Female Sale (27 March)
• Rocky All Stars Elite Brahman Female Sale (15 March)
• Silverdale Brahman Female Sale (22 March)
• Southcote Shorthorn Female Sale (March 3)
• JAD Speckle Park Bull & Female Sale (April 4)