For more than a decade, Elders Stud Stock Specialist Anthony Ball has travelled thousands of kilometres, walked countless paddocks and stood ringside at some of the biggest stud stock sales in the country. But 2025 delivered a moment that will stay with him forever: the record-breaking $280,000 sale of Oasis A Cracker Jack at the National Droughtmaster Sale, sold on behalf of the Adam Geddes and the Geddes family of Oasis A Droughtmasters.
“It was a moment to be celebrated, but it was also a humbling one,” Anthony said.
“To do what Adam did was a credit to him. The decision to breed that bull was made years ago; the joining, the sire selection, the whole program behind it. To see it all culminate like that…I still don’t know how to put it into words.”
Anthony has been working in stud stock for over 10 years, joining the Elders Queensland stud stock team seven years ago. In that time, he’s seen the industry evolve, with the most significant change being the amount of data and information now expected by buyers.
“The details, the EBVs, the structure scoring, all of that has changed so much. And buying patterns shift with commercial markets. Nothing stays the same for long.”
Despite the changes, he believes the heart of stud stock hasn’t shifted.
“It’s always been a relationship and performance-based business. Some people will like how you do business, some won’t, and that’s okay. There’s no point being a nice bloke if you don’t perform, and there’s no point being a high performer if you can’t get along with people. It’s pretty black and white.”
What separates a good stud from an exceptional one, in his eyes, isn’t a single trait but an approach.
“There’s no one-size-fits-all. Breeding a Hereford for the New England Tablelands is totally different to breeding a Brahman for the north. But good, functional commercial cattle underpin everything. Perseverance matters. These stud breeders make decisions four or five years before a bull walks into the ring. That’s not easy.”
For Anthony, the stud stock year starts in mid-January and winds down toward the end of November, but in between, no two weeks look the same.
“There’s female sales, bull sales, horse sales; we’re always canvassing, organising, inspecting cattle, and then you throw in private paddock sales too.”
His client base stretches from Western Australia to the Northern Territory, across Queensland and into New South Wales, with a handful in South Australia too.
“It’s amazing how quickly the bull selling season comes around these days,” he said.
“You blink and it’s here again.”
Major national sales like the Droughtmaster National don’t come together in a month or two; preparation is a year-long effort.
“With the bulls, the decision is made before they’re born,” Anthony explains.
“Once they hit the ground, the selection process starts. The marketing, the cataloguing, the pedigrees, it’s not as simple as it looks.”
With 150+ vendors, the logistics are immense.
“You’ve got to keep a lot of people happy. For some, this sale might be their primary income for the next 12 months. You’ve got to get it right. What happens on sale day determines what they reinvest back into their program and the industry.”
Positioning bulls for the best outcome always comes back to understanding what buyers want.
“They tell you what they’re chasing, so I tell them honestly where I’ve seen it. No two buyers are the same. A bloke breeding bullocks in Taroom wants something completely different to someone buying at Georgetown.”
Image supplied by Queensland Country Life, picture by Bella Hanson. Oasis A Cracker Jack, pictured with vendor Adam Geddes and his children, Mackenzie, Connor, and Archie, Oasis A stud, purchaser Sam Barton, Huntly Droughtmasters stud, and Elders auctioneer, Anthony Ball.
When Oasis A Cracker Jack strode into the ring at the 2025 National Droughtmaster Bull Sale, there was hype, but no guarantee.
“You never know how much money is in the room. Once we got a roll on, I really wanted to go past the old record of $220,000. To get to $280,000… amazing.”
Sharing the moment with the Elders team made it even more special.
“When you work with the same guys for so long, it just happens. There’s trust. And experiencing that with some of the younger blokes who’d never seen anything like it , that’s something they won’t forget.”
The atmosphere was electric, amplified further by the audience watching on Stocklive.
“I wouldn’t be exaggerating to say there were hundreds or thousands watching online, across different breeds, and right across Australia.”
When asked what keeps him coming back year after year, Anthony doesn’t hesitate.
“All I ever wanted to be was a farmer or an auctioneer. I love what I do. I love the sales, the bulls, watching breeding programs evolve, seeing progeny three years later.
“We live in an amazing country. I can be in North Queensland looking at grey Brahmans one day, Central Queensland looking at Brangus the next, then South Australia looking at Simmentals. I just love it.”
Looking ahead, he sees exciting potential in modern breeding technologies.
“With IVF, genomics and new breeding techniques, we’ve never been able to multiply or narrow down genetics like we can now. What we can produce could be incredible. It’s exciting for studs and it flows on to commercial producers, processors, everyone along the chain.”
As the industry continues to evolve, Anthony is ready for whatever unforgettable moments come next.
