If the entry for this year’s Stirling Bull Sales is anything to go by, the auction system remains strong 150 years on.
Now split into two sales the first next Monday and Tuesday, and the second on Monday and Tuesday February 16 and 17 around 1,200 pedigree cattle will change hands.
As Peter Small explained last week in his historical perspective, the auction system only came into its own as the railways spread across the country after 1850.
It then became possible for livestock and buyers to be easily brought together in one central venue for the first time.
As Peter explained, John McLaren Fraser was in the vanguard when it came to exploiting this new opportunity.
His investment in a new market in Caledonian Road, Perth, in 1875 must have been massive for its time.
But before long his decision was vindicated as Perth became synonymous around the world with bull sales.
There were glory days aplenty, especially in the 20-year period following the Second World War.
The pattern was set in 1946 with the Shorthorn bull Pittodrie Upright, consigned by Mr Laidlaw-Smith, Pitcaple, Inverurie, selling for an astounding 14,500gns (video online).
Allowing for inflation, that would equate to a 2015 price of £542,000.
That was not the end of the story, because at the same sale Upright’s pen mate Pittodrie Uprise sold for 14,000 gns.
Going home with a cheque for the modern equivalent of more than £1 million must have been quite a special feeling.
There have been other memorable transactions, with Lindertis Evulse the best publicised. Fetching 60,000 gns in 1963 and destined for Black Watch Farms in New York, Evulse became a worldwide celebrity.
In all the photographs of the time the vendor, Sir Torquil Munro, is shown maintaining a stony-eyed composure. Despite the excitement all around, he looks as if another bid or two wouldn’t have gone amiss.
There have been fairy-tale endings, too.
As recently as 2011 first-time consignors Tom and Sheena Gatherer, Inchinnan, Glasgow, saw their sole entry Barnsford Ferny soar to 70,000 gns. To say they were dumbfounded is an understatement, with the bull setting what was then a world record for the Charolais breed.
Other bulls have set the heather on fire over the years and, as those who have been there can testify, the excitement can be electric.
In 2012 the Gatherers’ Charolais record was broken at the October sale when Jan Boomaars sold Vexour Garth for an astounding 100,000 gns.
The bull sales are, however, at heart a truly commercial affair, with farmer customers setting the trade as they seek out new sires for use on their pedigree or commercial stock.
Before the days of artificial insemination there was no alternative to natural service, and for every 30 cows or so there had to be a bull.
The numbers sold reflect that, with the all-time record for one breed reached in 1960 when room had to be found one February in Caledonian Road for 978 bulls.
Macdonald Fraser sold another 230 in Aberdeen a few days later, and then 184 in Inverness.
These are numbers that may never be reached again, but United Auction’s executive chairman David Leggat is absolutely certain that the bull sales still have an important role to play.
“We are really pleased with the support we continue to have from every corner of the UK and for all breeds.
“The auction system continues to be a real driver.
“There are always farm-to farm private sales, but it is a very healthy thing to have public sale.
“Without competitive bidding it is hard to establish values, and of course it is a great chance to compare bulls in the show ring,” he said.
“It is easy to get carried away with the glitzy prices, but it is always important to remember that the trade is driven by the need to supply modern commercial beef systems with improved genetics.
“I always think a good average price and a healthy clearance rate is more satisfying than one or two headline prices, nice as it is to have them.
“We attract the most fantastic cattle from around the country, and they are backed universally by health declarations and performance figures.
“The industry is moving forward, and we are lucky to have bodies such as SAC Consulting, Moredun Research and Quality Meat Scotland all playing their part.”
Whether that means there will still be bull sales 150 years from now is an impossible question to answer, but for the meantime they continue to be a major feature of the agricultural calendar.
epate@thecourier.co.uk