*Total clearance of 10 Simmental bulls to $16,000, av $8875
*Seven of 10 Simmental heifers to $7000, av $5571
*Five of eight cow and calf units to $8000 (five times)
Mt Ararat Simmentals' inaugural bull and feature female sale attracted strong attention last week when the top-priced bull sold for an impressive $16,000 to a grazier from South Gippsland.
The Nar Nar Goon stud sold its complete draft of 10 Simmental bulls to $16,000 to average $8875, while seven of 10 heifers sold to a top price of $7000 to average $5571.
Five cow and calf units also sold to $8000 five times during the auction, while another two units sold to the same price after the sale.
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Mt Ararat Simmentals stud principal John Leek said he was pleased with the result of his first auction after establishing the West Gippsland stud 13 years ago.
"We sold all of our bulls which was great and we've had buyers that have bought females in Rockhampton, Queensland, so these bulls really went Australia wide," he said.
"Seven of the bulls went to local Victorians and one bull went to Tasmania and that shows there is a good group of genetics that have been vastly spread out."
The top-priced homozygous polled bull, Lot 1, was a 23-month-old bull sired by Woonallee Nightcap and was bought by Simon Greaves, Nerrena.
Mr Greaves said he favoured the hybrid vigour of the Simmentals over Angus breeders.
"I've been using Simmental bulls for several years and this is probably the sixth bull I've bought from Mt Ararat," Mr Greaves said.
"I put them over straight British-bred cows, mainly Angus and Red Angus, but also some Herefords and Black Baldies.
"The main reason I like the breed is because I get considerably more weight gain at the same age out of the SimAngus, compared to straight bred cattle like Angus."
Mr Leek said he was also surprised by the level of interest among buyers for his female herd.
"It really showed me that people are after females," he said.
"We are always breeding females but we can only offer a few of them each year because we need them to breed our future stud bulls.
He said the stud would continue to offer three-in-one units with a cow and calf unit and the cow back in-calf by four months.
The sale, which was interfaced with AuctionsPlus, attracted several repeat buyers and a handful of new clients.