Buyers looking for Dunoon- and Anvil-bloodline heifers will be spoiled for choice at the Omeo black sale on Tuesday.
Charlie and Lynne Whelan, along with their farm manager, Trent Howell, have prepared about 170 Angus steers and heifers for the sale, with half the drop being female.
"We thought we'd sell the entire of this year's crop of heifers from Buchan to give breeders a chance to restock," Mr Whelan said.
The owners of Tamcal Livestock, trading as Snowy River Angus, calve down and grow out the majority of their 500-head self-replacing breeding herd on the limestone country at Buchan.
Heifers are joined and calve down twice at the Swan Reach property. About 60 per cent of their breeding herd have grown out at Buchan.
The Whelan's have been selling their Buchan calves at this Omeo sale for seven years.
"It's a good market, we like it. It's a market that attracts a lot of buyers," Mr Whelan said.
He believes the steep limestone country at Buchan helps the calves build up muscle and strong bones, not only from the pasture but also by having to walk to water.
Mr Howell agrees with his view.
"It definitely creates better, healthier calves,” he said.
“We notice the difference in growth rates between the calves on the Buchan and Swan Reach farms.
With a total herd size of 500 breeders spread across distance and farms, Mr Howell has his job cut out for him.
At the moment, he is regularly at the Buchan farm, preparing the calves for market.
"The steer calves would be around 240-250kg at the moment; the heifer calves are a bit lighter," he said.
They were drenched on February 8 and injected with B12 and Multimin.
"We've given them the B12 and Multimin for the last couple of years and the calves have responded well," Mr Howell said.
"A mix of irrigated clover and ryegrass was harvested as hay at Swan Reach and the calves are getting a regular portion every couple of days.
"The cows are naturally weaning the calves and they're very quiet, so we'll be taking them straight off their mothers for the Omeo sale."
It will be an early start, with the first of two truck loads due to leave the Buchan farm at daybreak on Monday.
In the meantime, Mr Howell is receiving enquiries from past and potential buyers.
"I always get a lot of interest from agents and buyers," he said.
One of those buyers in the past has been Wade Hodgson, Flynn.
"We like to turn off steers within 10 months of buying them, so we look for easy doing animals that finish quickly," Mr Hodgson said.
"These calves have what we're looking for - broad muzzles, short noses, stocky legs and lots of brisket to grow into."
