Trucks full of cattle will soon be hitting the roads in South Australia’s South East, with 10,000 Watervalley steers to be sold in coming weeks.

Watervalley owners Tom and Pat Brinkworth, together with their son Angas, are based at Kingston at the southern tip of SA’s Coorong region and are the biggest landowners in southern Australia. They will kick-off the sale of the annual drafts with an offering of 2500 mostly black steers on AuctionsPlus on Friday, October 5.

The combined scale of Watervalley’s annual online and private sales makes it truly a one-of-a-kind exercise in Australia, especially for the southern market.

Based on current saleyard rates, including comparable prices from recent online sales, the 10,000 steers should have a market value of at least $6 million.

The beef cattle sales, combined with the estimated 60,000 young ewes and wether lambs Watervalley will sell on AuctionsPlus this spring, paint a clear picture about the remarkable size of the Brinkworth’s business.

Not only are the Brinkworths stand-out operators based on the sheer number of sheep and cattle they sell each year, the large proportion of their stock offered online also makes them unique.

Watervalley’s ongoing support for AuctionsPlus follows on from Tom Brinkworth’s long-standing use of online selling’s predecessor, CALM (Computer Aided Livestock Marketing). With evolving sale technology, the Watervalley has gradually moved away from traditional live auctions, holding its last on-property steer sale over a decade ago.

The media-shy family has been in the news lately, following their purchase of the famous Uardry Merino stud at Hay, NSW, which included 38,000 hectares and 26,000 mostly Merino sheep.

The Uardry acquisition, understood to be worth about $30 million, means the Brinkworths now boast Australia’s biggest sheep flock with 350,000 head in total.

And while Watervalley patriarch Tom was away visiting his new Riverina holding this week, it was business-as-usual for his son Angas, who was organising for steers to be assessed and weighed in readiness for sale.

On Tuesday Angas was at Logan Rock, a Coorong property used to graze steers in the months leading up to spring sales.

“Typically, we’ve got properties with our breeding cows, where the calves are born. After weaning, the calves are split (into steers and heifers) and they’re trucked to another property,” Angas said.

“Steers get the best feed we’ve got, like the lucerne country at Logan Rock.”

“We aim to sell cattle in forward-store condition and this year’s steers are looking quite good.”

With a team of up to seven people in the cattle yards, Angas says 500-700 steers can be handled each day and expects to continue weighing cattle until mid-October.

‘Watervalley Blacks’

About 90 per cent of the Watervalley steers come off of the Brinkworth’s properties in SA’s South East, with the balance from its pastoral holdings around Wilcannia and White Cliffs in north-western NSW.

The Brinkworth’s 40,000-head cow herd is based on composite genetics but consistently produces the noted ‘Watervalley Blacks’, Angus-type calves suitable for southern feedlots and bullock fatteners.

“As we continue to use our own black bulls, our steers are coming up in much straighter, more consistent lines,” Angas said.

“And with our numbers, we can put together quite big lines of even steers from the same drop and with the same mark and colour, all within a 20kg weight range. This is really sought-after by clients, especially feedlots.

“With this in mind, cattle must be drafted in consistent lines to suit the buyers, particularly for the online sales.”

The steers offered on Friday as part of the weekly AuctionsPlus Eastern States Cattle Sale will range from 12-20 months of age and will be offered in lots from 250-300 kilograms liveweight, 300-300kg, 330-360kg and 360-400kg.

Over the years the Watervalley steers have earned a loyal following throughout southern Australia, with repeat support from buyers including Elders’ Charlton Feedlot in Victoria, S Kidman & Co’s Tungali Feedlot in SA and noted bullock finishers from Gippsland. When seasonal conditions permit, large numbers of Watervalley cattle have also been sold to pastoral interests in Queensland. And the quality of the finished product has also been verified, with a Watervalley steer, processed at HW Greenham and Sons’ Tongala facility, finishing second in a Rockhampton carcase competition last year.

“We get great feedback from our clients and I’ve been to Charlton and Tungali to see how our cattle perform in a feedlot situation,” Angas said.

“Buyers say the Watervalley steers are tough cattle. They don’t sook when they get off the truck, they’re ready to go.”

Getting it right

Peter Rollason is Elders’ AuctionsPlus southern and western zone manager and spends five weeks a year working out of Kingston with the Brinkworths in the lead-up to Watervalley’s online sheep and cattle sales.

In other words, he spends more than 10 per cent of his working year on-property assessing Watervalley livestock.

Working alongside Angas on Tuesday at the Logan Rock yards, where some 2000 steers have been assessed and weighed this week, Mr Rollason says he and his Elders colleagues work with the Watervalley team to “make sure everything’s right”.

“With a job of this magnitude, there’s quite a lot of coordination involved across the various properties,” he said.

“We need to make sure the lots are even. The buyers looking for cattle at a certain weight specification need to know all the cattle they bid for are right on the mark.

“This work is also a great training ground for our young agents because it’s rare for them to be in the yards with the numbers of stock like we do here.”

Mr Rollason, who is based in Melbourne, said the online sales played an important role in the Watervalley’s overall market strategy, especially during periods of lower market prices.

“AuctionsPlus allows us to identify buyers for the various lines of cattle on offer. We have quite a few regular buyers that we’re aware of, but each year is always a bit different,” he said.

“The cattle market is pretty tough going at the moment and we’re realistic about what prices to expect. But Tom breeds them to sell them, so we’ll have to meet the market.”

Mr Rollason said it was during more difficult market periods that the quality of livestock became even more vital.

“The thing about these cattle is they do very well. The Brinkworths are running big numbers and the cattle don’t get pampered, they don’t get any special treatment,” he said.

“Looking at the steers coming through the yards, they all look well. They’re where we want them, in good forward store condition and are really just starting to do.

“They really are ideal cattle to take into a feedlot or put onto grass.”