An online clearing sale at Ogilvie, north of Northampton, two weeks ago attracted bids from across Australia, with the top items going to local buyers.
Thirty bids were lodged on the AuctionsPlus digital platform for a barely 12-month-old Miller Nitro 7380 self-propelled sprayer, offered as lot one and top lot of the 45-lot sale organised by Nutrien Ag Solutions on behalf of Rockvale Pty Ltd.
With just 330 hours showing, the in as-new condition sprayer had a 36.5 metre boom, 6000 litre stainless steel tank, Intellispray nozzle control, automatic boom height control, Raven Slingshot logistics connectivity, Raven ISOBUS product controller and Trimble 900 receiver and was ready to put to work before seeding.
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It sold for a top bid of $620,000 to a buyer from Newdegate.
The second top item and second lot, a 2021 Caterpillar Challenger MT865E 447 kiloWatt tractor with 76 centimetre wide tracks, full weight kit, RTK GS3 monitor, Starfire 3000 navigation receiver and with 2169 engine hours showing, attracted half the number of bids of the sprayer and went to a buyer from Marchagee for $550,000.
A 193kW 1999 New Holland 9282 Versatile tractor with Synchro Shift and 6900 hours showing, stayed even closer to home, selling for $59,000 as the best of 43 bids to a buyer from Arrowsmith.
But a 2019 New Holland T8.410 305kW tractor with 2500 hours and full weight kit was passed in at $245,000 after four bids and a 1978 Ford 420 tractor with front end loader, but motor not running, was passed in at $4250 after only one bid was received.
Unlike at clearing sales last year, there is limited interest in combine harvesters this year and a 2017 New Holland CR8.90 harvester with 2777 engine hours and 2237 rotor hours, RTK Trimble 372 receiver, IntelliView screen, 13.7m D60 front with Turbodrum and comb trailer, failed to attract a bid at its starting price of $350,000.
Similarly, a 2012 Case 9230 Harvester with 3998 engine hours, 3278 rotor hours, 13.7m MacDon 2152 front with Turbodrum and comb trailer, also failed to get a bid at $200,000.
Most interest - with 49 bids lodged - was in a 14.6 cubic metre, tandem-axle 2020 Agrispread AS150-T variable rate spreader with load cells and 36m fertiliser and lime discs.
It sold for $167,000 to a buyer from Malebelling near York.
Second most sought after item, with 48 bids lodged, was for an old tow-behind vibrating roller which went for $5000.
A 2021 Inmants 4.5m spader sold for $218,000 and went to Bruce Rock after it received 19 bids.
Despite interstate interest in the online sale, the only major item to end up going to an interstate bidder was a 2021 36t Coolamon CB3624 Chaser Bin.
It sold for $126,000 after 11 bids and is heading to New South Wales.
A 2017 Finch 25t chaser bin sold for $67,000 as the best of 33 bids and will stay local.
There was good interest in tipping semi trailers, with a 25t 2009 Triad tipping tri-axle lead trailer selling for $96,000 after 33 bids, a 40t 1999 Hercules six-axle aluminium tipping dog trailer selling for $54,000 after 12 bids and an unlicensed 2007 Howard Porter tri-axle side tipper trailer selling for $27,000 after 12 bids.
A 1996 Freightmaster low loader trailer sold for $38,000 after five bids and a 12.2m tri-axle flat top trailer sold for $16,000 after 24 bids.
A farm-licensed four-service truck was passed in at $6250, while a former airport fire truck, a 1971 International ACCO C1800 tray truck and 1978 Dodge 690 tray truck with recently rebuilt V8 motor all failed to attract a bid.
A Caterpillar 320C excavator with 5907 hours showing, two buckets and single ripper sold for $72,000 after 19 bids and is staying local, while a 2012 John Deere 544K articulated loader with four-in-one bucket was passed in at $52,000 after only one bid.
Two Moylan field bins sold for $23,500 and $17,500, while two Pederick bins sold for $8000 and $8500.
A1998 Burando Hill 46/8 grain auger with hydraulic wheel drive and 14.7kW Honda motor sold for $11,200 after 21 bids, while a manual Jetstream auger sold for $500 after one bid, indicative of the demand levels for self-propelled versus manual push-pull augers since revised occupational health and safety laws made farmers as employers more liable for preventable workplace injuries.
Items from outside vendors failed to sell.
A complete seeding unit consisting of 2017 Ausplow DBS 12.2m bar, a 2010 Morris 7300 VRT box and 3000lt liquid tank with variable rate technology from R Williams & Co, Northampton, failed to get a bid at a starting price of $260,000.
A John Deere ConservaPak hydraulic seeding bar from DV & ME Simpson, Northampton, was passed in at $31,000.
Chad Smith from Nutrien Northampton said the speed with which the sale came up and the quality of the equipment offered was behind the decision to conduct the clearing sale online.
"The sale came up quickly and given that we had quality, low-age equipment to offer and given the high demand, not just in Western Australia but in other States too, for big horsepower tractors and amelioration equipment, it was decided to put the sale up online via AuctionsPlus rather than setting up an on-property sale," Mr Smith said.
"In the end the Coolamon chaser bin was the only lot that went east, but many of the underbidders were from interstate.
"People who were interested in a particular lot could always contact the local dealer at Geraldton and ask them to send somebody up to check out the condition of the machine and that is what some bidders did.
"Overall, the vendors were happy with the sale result," he said.
The 4830 hectare Rockvale cropping property was advertised for sale in February and is currently under offer.
Rockvale's Alan Carson and his son Rhys are looking to other pursuits, Mr Smith said.
According to AuctionsPlus statistics, there were 5430 catalogue views, 766 log-ins, 59 active online bidders who bought 25 lots.
The sale grossed $2.33 million.
