A tough decision for brothers Pat and Brendon Nicholson to auction the young portion of their famed Jersey herd Jugiong was made a little easier by top priced lot, Jugiong Belle 7279, selling for $15,000.
The on-farm auction was held at Girgarre last week with 253 lots selling for a total clearance of $703,850.
Auctioneer Brian Leslie said the auction crowd was one of the largest seen at a dairy sale in many years with cows selling to Tasmania, NSW, Queensland and all parts of Victoria.
The brothers made the decision to sell as increasing costs, largely due to an out-of-control water market, put pressure on their business.
The brothers said they were looking for some much-needed breathing space to consolidate their business and work out their future.
Ironically, Pat said the auction results had now given them confidence in the future.
“To see our cows sell so well in light of such difficult conditions has, in a strange way, given us confidence in the industry and in the future of dairying,” Pat said.
“The sale was strong the whole way through. It started off well and kept going — we wouldn’t have expected it to go that well even if we were in a good period of dairying.”
Top priced lot, Jugiong Belle 7279 — the 2019 International Dairy Week Champion and Best Udder — was one of two cows to sell for more than $10,000.
The second-highest price was reached for EX 92 cow Jugiong Eran 7172 which sold for $14,000, while two-year-old Honeycomb Damsel sold for $9500.