Around 1,000 people from all over the country, and even overseas, flocked to Moree last Friday (September 1) to check out the hundreds of items of machinery and agricultural equipment for sale in Ritchie Bros.’ biggest ever Australian unreserved agricultural auction.
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Bidders travelled to Moree from all over New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, with some coming from as far as South Australia, Western Australia and even New Zealand.
Of the 1,000 people through the gate, there were more than 280 registered bidders, while more than 380 online bidders – many international from America, Canada, Asia and the Middle East - took part in the auction, setting a new record for Ritchie Bros. Australia with more than 50 per cent of registrations online.
This is the second auction Ritchie Bros. has held in Moree, the first being in March this year when more than 190 lots went under the hammer for a grand total of $4.67 million.
A total of 236 items were put under the hammer at Sundown Pastoral Company’s Keytah property on Friday, selling for in excess of $9 million – a new Australian record for Ritchie Bros.
“It’s fantastic, we couldn’t be happier,” Ritchie Bros. business unit marketing manager for Asia Pacific, David Fanning said.
“We’ve got some very happy buyers and very happy sellers, which is great; everyone walks away with a good deal.
“It just goes to show that rural Australia is starting to accept auctions with the unreserved model as they know that if they turn out they can walk away with equipment on the day.”
Every Ritchie Bros. auction is unreserved, with no minimum bids or reserve prices set on auction items; instead the price of equipment is set by the market on the day, which means that every item is sold.
Planning for this auction has been six months in the making, beginning when Sundown Pastoral Company decided to renew the entire inventory of John Deere tractors, headers and planting equipment at Keytah.
With Sundown Pastoral’s inventory of John Deere equipment as the anchor consignment, Ritchie Bros. were able to attract other consigners, making it a multi-vendor auction.
Mr Fanning said the quality of equipment on offer was a big drawcard for people from all over the world, particularly with the strong Australian dollar at the moment.
“A lot of it is late-model equipment; some of the John Deere stuff is still on warranty,” he said.
“To get that quality of equipment at an unreserved auction is unique.”
In particular, there was plenty of interest from growers in Victoria who have bumper crops at the moment and are looking to upgrade their equipment in preparation for harvest.
Ritchie Bros. regional sales manager Dale Spedding said Moree is ideally situated to bring together sellers and bidders from across QLD, NSW and Victoria.
“Moree we class as the hub of the highway – you’ve got north up to Emerald and down south to Narrabri and Dubbo – it makes attending the auction easy and accessible for buyers,” he said.
Ritchie Bros. is already planning another auction in Moree for March 2018.
Best in show:
- 3 x 2015 John Deere 8370RT Track Tractors which sold for $252,500 + GST each
- 2016 John Deere 8320R MFWD Tractor which sold for $247,500 + GST
- 2007 Caterpillar 143H VHP Plus Motor Grader which sold for $200,000 + GST
- 2013 John Deere 8310R MFWD Tractor which sold for $172,500 + GST
- 1988 Steiger Tiger KP525 Series IV 4WD Tractor which sold for $140,000 + GST
- 2011 Case IH 340 MAGNUM MFWD Tractor which sold for $100,000 + GST
- 2014 John Deere 1720 MAXEMERGER 16 Row 12 m Planter which sold for $95,000 + GST
- 2012 John Deere 640D 40ft Draper Header which sold for $65,000 + GST
- 2008 John Deere 6130 MFWD Tractor which sold for $54,000 + GST
- 2010 Macdon (NH) 45 Ft Draper Header which sold for $50,000 + GST
More photos here.
