The top bulls at the Melville Park Hereford, Vasey, stud sale on Monday delivered strong prices despite slower trade for some.
The top-priced bull, Lot 26, Melville Tipperary T487, sold to Trent Morris, south Hamilton, for $15,000.
The April 2022-drop bull weighed 876 kilograms and was sired by Kidman Formula One N140 and out of Melville Almond Joy J433.
The sale topper recorded Hereford Group Breedplan EBV figures of 6.1 square centimetres eye muscle area, birth weight of 6.6kg, 200-day weight of 14kg, 400-day weight of 68kg and 600-day weight of 104kg.
Stud principal David Lyons said the homozygous polled bull was one of several who he thought would perform well at the sale.
"I was expecting him to do well and the better animals all sold well, really," he said.
Mr Morris, a first time buyer from the Melville Park stud, said it was a mix of the bulls performance figures and phenotype that attracted him.
"He'll further my genetics for the herd that I got," he said.
"He was on a shortlist with the figures and then seeing the physical specimen, he stood out.
The south Hamilton farmer said his new bull will be put to some Hereford heifers initially and later a mob of mature cows.
He will join the heifers from mid-May and runs a herd of approximately 70 cows in total.
Overall, Monday's sale saw 22 bulls sold from 36 offered for an average price of $7477.
This compared to the 2023 sale where 22 bulls were sold from 39 for an average of $8363 and a top price of $15,000.
Mr Lyons said the past year's cattle prices "definitely" had an impact on sale day.
"It was evident here," he said.
"All the sales have been a little bit tougher and they are a bit back."
Monday's sale was the 41st stud sale to be held at Melville Park, one of the longest running across Victoria.
Mr Lyons said Hereford cattle have been bred at the farm since the early 1960s.
"The Hereford's are quite and are good soft cattle with good carcase," he said.
It was this breeding that led repeat customer Ian Plush, Coojar to purchase three bulls at the sale.
Mr Plush bought Lot 14 for $7500, Lot 18 for $6000 and Lot 27 for $6000.
He said he had been buying from Melville Park for a "long time".
"He spends plenty of money on sires and we get good results," he said.
"We look at the bulls and then the figures go from there," he said.
Mr Plush said he ran almost 400 cows, mainly spring calving.
His new bulls will be joined with the herd in November.
Elders Mortlake agent Ross Milne sold the bulls at Merville Park on Monday.
"I think there was an even draft of bulls this year but [buyers] were very selective today and obviously that showed in the result," he said.
"What we did sell, particularly the better end, was very comparable to past years.
"We probably weren't too far back from a similar result.
"It was a good to see a top end of $15,000 and mostly repeat buyers here."
