Angus bull sells for $420,000, smashing Australian beef record
Posted Fri 4 Sep 2026 at 11:26amFri 4 Sep 2026 at 11:26amFri 4 Sep 2026 at 11:26am
In short:
A bull bred in Central West NSW has become the most expensive beef animal ever sold in Australia.
Millah Murrah Wyatt W50 was named in honour of the breeder’s late father.
What’s next?
The bull’s semen will be collected and there has already been global interest in the genetics.
An Angus bull from New South Wales has become the most expensive beef animal ever traded in Australia, selling for $420,000 at a Central West bull sale.
Wyatt W50 was just the fourth lot to sell at Millah Murrah’s annual sale near Bathurst, where bidding saw the price skyrocket past the former all-breeds bull record of $360,000.
It also surpassed the all-time beef animal record of $400,000 paid for a Wagyu heifer in 2022.
The bull was named after stud principal Ross Thompson’s late father, which made the sale emotional for his family.
“I did have sunnies on, but apparently you could see [the tears] streaming,”
Mr Thompson said.
“He was just simply outstanding and extremely hard to fault. I did consider him the best bull, on balance, that we’d ever put in the sale ring.
“I was wondering why I was selling him by the time we got to the sale.”
Auctioneer Paul Dooley said it was an exciting afternoon.
“You can hear the buzz in the crowd as the numbers go up,” he said.
“It certainly speaks to the confidence in the cattle industry.”
Million-dollar semen sales
Gundungarra Angus purchased the bull at Moss Vale in the NSW Southern Highlands.
In breeding terms, the bull holds genes for everything cattle farmers chase — from calving ease to strong weight gains.
“In human terms, he’s supermodel-level looks,” Mr Thompson said.
“He’s got a pedigree that’s globally very diverse and on top of that. He’s just an incredibly versatile bull.”
Millah Murrah retains a 20 per cent share in the bull, and will work closely with Gundungarra Angus to manage the high demand for semen sales.
Mr Thompson said semen from the bull was already attracting interest from Australia, Canada and the USA.
“It’s nice to think that people from other parts of the world are looking at Australia as a potential genetic source, so it’s quite an exciting moment,” he said.
“The semen revenue potential in a bull like that would go into the seven-figure mark.“
Mr Thompson said managing such a valuable animal could be stressful.
“I’ve got 250 [semen] units in the tank, so if he drops dead, we’ve got him genetically away,” he said.
After a mass sell-off of cattle from drought-hit northern NSW, 2026 was tipped to be a challenging bull-selling season.
But Mr Thompson said the record-breaking bull was in a league of his own.
“You’re talking about one particularly elite animal,” he said.