Outpouring of Support for Chris Lisle’s Legacy at Tummel Female Dispersal

The first phase of the dispersal of the Walcha based Tummel Hereford stud took place at Tamworth Regional Livestock Exchange (TRLX) on Wednesday 28 February.

Established in 1956 by Gordon and Olga Lisle, the Tummel stud was the ongoing passion and life’s work of their son; Chris Lisle who tragically passed away due to a horse-riding accident in September 2023.

Praise for the quality of the Tummel cattle came from agents, buyers and underbidders on sale day, with the Hereford community coming together to secure quality genetics for their herds and support the legacy of a long-time friend of the breed.

The dispersal of the female portion of the herd offered a unique opportunity for stud and commercial Hereford breeders to purchase a range of outcross genetics from the previously tightly held female herd.

The sale was well supported with 203 head plus 113 calves sold across 159 lots to average $2830 with a clearance of 92%.

Poll Hereford cows and calves averaged $3535 and sold to a top of $9250 which was paid for Mawarra Minerva 224 R351 by Sugarloaf Creek Herefords, Towong Victoria.

The September 2020 drop female was sold with an 8-month-old heifer calf at foot and pregnancy tested in calf (PTIC) to Wodonga champion bull Glendan Park Soprano S115.

Horned Hereford cows and calves averaged $3324 and sold to a top price of $8250 for Mawara Maritana 192, which was purchased by long-time friends of the Lisle family, Scott and Pip Hann of Truro Herefords, Bellata.

The 10-year-old dam was sold PTIC to Hylands Hero S416 with a 6-month-old heifer calf at foot sired by Mawarra Influential Q162.

According to Mr Hann he had selected the cow out of the catalogue based on her pedigree, and following inspection at the saleyards was equally drawn to the potential of her heifer calf.

“When we got here and I saw the calf on her, I rated her as the best horned heifer calf in the yard and she’s by the Mawarra bull. The heifer’s a cracker and obviously the cow’s pretty good to produce a calf like that,” Mr Hann said.

In the heifer portion of the sale PTIC Poll Hereford heifers sold to a top of $5500 and averaged $2806.

The top priced polled heifer was Kidman Albia T081, which was purchased by Ben and Leanne Rumbel of Supple Whiteface, Guyra, who purchased five lots at the sale to add to their stud herd.

The August 2022 drop heifer was PTIC to VP Redford T058, a son of record-breaking Super Sire Injemira Robert Redford Q287.

PTIC horned heifers averaged $2432 and sold to a top of $4750 for Tummel Diamond T232 which sold via Stocklive.

The 19-month-old Diamond T232 was sired by Wild Bear Play Maker P009 and PTIC to VP Redford T058.

Unjoined Poll Hereford heifers averaged $2531 and topped at $4500, while unjoined horned heifers averaged $1528 and fetched a top price of $1750.

Groups of commercial cows (some with calves at foot) averaged $1869 per head and fetched a top of $2700 per head for a group of five 24-36-month-old horned cows and calves which sold via AuctionsPlus.

In the sire portion of the sale, seven bulls were sold for an average of $6286 and topped at $11,000 for horned sire Hylands Hero S416 which sold to Robert and Joanne Thomson of Biddingsley Herefords, Inglewood QLD.

Other top prices on the day included horned dam Tummel Diamond Q089 which sold for $6750 to Jindalee Herefords.

Diamond was PTIC to Mawarra Indianna Q165 with a bull calf by Wild Bear Play Maker P009 at foot, Angus and Eunice Vivers had inspected the cows the day before the sale and had liked the look of Q089 and the outcross genetics she offers the Jindalee herd.

The Vivers’ also secured Tummel Minnie R149 and her calf, and PTIC heifer Tummel Toga T238 and were glad to support the Tummel sale.

“Chris was a great supporter of the breed, he was a true gentleman and I’m just glad that we were able to support the sale today,” Eunice said.

Two polled cow and calf lots fetched $5750, with Tummel First Day P064 and Tummel Carnation P046 selling to Llandillo Poll Herefords and Grathlyn Poll Herefords respectively.

Steve and Deb Reid of Talbalba Herefords paid $5250 for Tummel Revona P033 (sold with heifer calf at foot by Cascade Anzac Q004) and purchased PTIC heifers Tummel First Day S143 and Tummel Purity S130.

“Chris ran a really honest herd, and we were happy to pick up a few different genetics, they’ll be useful in our herd and it’ll be nice to have some of his cattle running around, every time we see them we’ll think of Chris,” Steve said.

Bulk purchasers on the day included Greg Tyler of Hillview Herefords who secured seven lots at the sale including PTIC heifer Tummel Cora T211 for $3500.

“We came here to buy a few cows and claves and to put a few cattle of Chris’s breeding into our stud herd. It was a very unique opportunity to support someone who was very fond of the breed and a good friend to all the Hereford breeders, he’ll be sadly missed,” Greg said.

Mr Tyler also plans to use bull calves purchased at the sale to join to stud heifers next year.

The Tummel female dispersal also offered a terrific opportunity for young Hereford enthusiasts to make their start in the breed with 13-year-old Eli McDonald securing foundation females and a bull for his stud Ghinni Ghinni Herefords.

“I had some crossbred commercial cattle, but I sold them to buy these stud cattle here,” Eli said.

Family friend and major contributor to organising the sale, Sam Martin described the sale as a “really solid representation of the Tummel herd” which catered to all prospective buyers including polled and horned breeders and long-time supporters of the Tummel program.

Chris’s nephew Simon Hawkins was extremely happy with the success of the sale and the overall support for the Tummel program.

“It’s been a great day, we’re very happy to see all Chris’s friends turn up today and I think I know of two young people who were buying a couple of cows to start their own herds, so I’m pretty excited about that,” Simon said.

Elders auctioneer Lincoln McKinlay was very happy with the overall clearance of the sale considering the number of animals on offer.

“It’s probably one of the biggest groups of Hereford cows we’ve seen go to sale like this in quite some time, but the clearance has ended up really good today,” Lincoln said.

Mr McKinlay also offered a great deal of praise for the quality of the cattle offered and the solidarity of the Tummel genetics.

“The consistency of the quality of the cows right the way through was unreal and a real testament to Chris and what he’s done over a long time, and I think we’ll see a lot of these cows for a long time to come.”

The dispersal of the Tummel stud will conclude with the final Tummel bull sale to be held on-property on 23 July 2024.