News from the markets

Buyers came away the big winners at the supreme bull sale in Brunswick, WA last Thursday.

A big run of 160 bulls went under the hammer, to sell to $8000 with an average of $3704.

A total of 46 studs offered bulls, with an outstanding line-up from 11 breeds.

The $8000 top price tag was paid for a magnificent Blonde d’Aquitaine from Gerald Bergsma’s Amaroo stud, Mundijong, WA.

A compact 720kg, this June 2006-drop youngster's length, depth, muscle, impressive butt profile and temperament attracted attention from all sides of the shed.

In other market news:

• The price of wheat on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange futures exchange broke through R4000 a ton yesterday to a new record on supply concerns, making increases in the price of bread and other foodstuffs inevitable.
• Melbourne wool prices edged up by 3c/kg on Wednesday, steadying after Tuesday's 20c/kg fall.
• India's one-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has eclipsed Adam Gilchrist at the player auction for the Indian Premier League in Mumbai on Wednesday. Dhoni was picked up by the Chennai Superkings for $1.5 million while Gilchrist went to Hyderabad for $700,000. Shane Warne was picked up by Jaipur for his reserve price of $450,000 but his great spin rival, Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka, joined Dhoni at Chennai for $600,000.
• Tea volumes dropped by 33 per cent to 18.5 million kilogrammes at the weekly tea auction in Nairobi unveiling the full impact of recent outbreak of political violence on the sector.
• March soybean futures traded near unchanged late in Thursday's session but more active buying into the close in soybean oil helped push the market higher right at the close. Volume was light and the trade indicated that much of the selling was profit-taking. Ideas that India may cut import duties on vegetable oils was also seen as a positive force to drive soybean oil to a new all-time high and this helped pull soybeans to a new all-time high as well.

Finally, here's a sneak preview of next year's IPL draft:

sources: Farm Weekly (Western Australia), Business Day (South Africa), Sydney Morning Herald, Business Daily (Nairobi), Chicago Board of Trade, Iconic Media.