A top price of $63,000 was paid for an in-calf Holstein heifer, Lambda X Footloose, at the Busybrook Holstein Obsession sale conducted in Duntroon, North Otago.
The heifer is a direct daughter of Oakfield Solom Footloose EX97, a United States cow that has been judged supreme champion in recent World Dairy Expos.
She is being farmed in Australia and was bought by a leading Australian breeder as lot 6 of the Busybrook online sale, featuring cattle on both sides of the Tasman.
In total 136 lots were sold, a complete clearance, for an average price of $9246 and a gross of $1.26 million.
PGG Wrightson and Brian Leslie Livestock were agents and auctioneers, and the sale drew over 200 people to Duntroon and more than 500 online.
Second-top price was $35,000 for lot 11, a pick of ET heifers to born at Busybrook in early June.
The dam is Kingsway Caught a Vibe, another US champion, and the sire Farnear Delta Lambda.
Other lots were sold in the range $20,000 to $27,000.
Busybrook is a 1000-cow herd recorded for both NZ and US animals and run by the Bayne family as sharemilkers on a 385 hectare effective Waitaki Valley property.
The herd produces 575kg MS per cow annually.
PGG Wrightson national dairy specialists Jamie Cunninghame and Andrew Reyland convened the sale.
“It was one of the best catalogues ever put together for a single vendor sale, the offering included high index New Zealand animals, through to full sisters and direct daughters of some of the best performing North American dairy cows,” they said.
