Princess Royal Station, Bulla, dominates Boonaroo sale, while Kalangadoo buyer gets top price.

The Casterton stud sold 19 bulls for more than $20,000, in a sale that was competitive throughout.

The top-priced bull was Lot 97, Boonaroo Lincoln S132PV for $30,000, bought by Peter Coote, Kalangadoo, SA.

TDC Livestock and Property stock agent Jamie Gray who was representing Mr Coote said the bull will be a great addition.

"We picked the bull because we thought he was one of the best bulls in the sale, simply put," Mr Gray said.

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"He's got length and wants to use him on heifers this year and he's got the growth that we can use on cows in the years to come after that."

Mr Gray also believed the bull would put weight in his calves for the stud.

"Peter likes having the heavy calves at the weaner sales each year, and as we all know, we get paid on weight mainly so we try to invest in that."

The bull is the son of Rennylea L519, his dam is Boonaroo Eva Q372 and it was indeed one of the heaviest bulls at the sale, registering 740 kilograms on the scales.

His estimated breeding values were a birth weight at +4.2 kilograms, a 200-day weight of +53kg, 400-day weight of +99kg and a 600-day weight of +133kg, along with an eye muscle area of +1.3 and intramuscular fat of +3.2.

The sale was dominated by volume buyer Princess Royal Station, Burra, SA who went big on their bids much like at last year's Boonaroo sale.

The farm spent a total of nearly quarter of a million dollars on 14 bulls, and bought up three lots - Lot 11, Boonaroo Charlie S46, Lot 33, Boonaroo S160 and Lot 59 Boonaroo Prospect S103 - each bull sold for $24,000.

Jack Rowe, Burra, SA, who was representing Princess Royal, said he was impressed about how Boonaroo's bulls stood up.

"When we get them under the right conditions, [Boonaroo] bulls don't break down, so that's the main thing for us and we just simply look for all the good parts we are looking for," he said.

Camp Creek, Byaduk also bought up big, buying both Boonaroo Charlie S297 for $23,000 and Boonaroo Genius S257 for $22,000.

Other volume buyers included KG Feast and Sons, Greenpoint, SA who bought six bulls for $52,000 in total, the most dearest being Ragnar S186, bought for $11,000.

Local buyer Carapook Pastoral spent $83,000 buying five bulls, with their top purchase being Boonaroo Nebraska S167 for $21,000 .

There was interest from farmers based in the south west hubs of Port Fairy and Warrnambool, but many local vendors also kept the competition up.

Cheaper bulls towards the end of the sale regularly sold for more than $10,000.

Boonaroo co-stud principal Shane Foster said he was delighted by the total clearance, despite the top priced bull being a lower than the equivalent top-price of $34,000 last year.

"Bulls sold at all values, so there was something there for everyone's budget and that is what we aim to do - to make sure many people go home with a bull," he said.

He said the past year "was a bit tricky" in preparing bulls during an early winter, but later months also were challenging.

"From mid-October right through until December it didn't really want to stop raining here in Casterton, so that period where we would have that spring feed, we didn't have the right gains," he said.

He also said the stud had a focus on fat cover and muscling because it was important for females who work hard in tough seasons.

"The female's ability to put some fat back down, get in calf and have muscle at the end of the day is where the weight should be," he said.

"It's the same for the bulls, where you need a certain amount of condition on them to be able to work on them, and where the markets are targeting right now, we find we really need that fat cover on at around 575-580kgs."