Repeat buyers stepped up for well-muscled bulls at Wilkah Herefords, Vasey, stud sale on Monday.
The on-farm timed auction saw 14 bulls sold from the 19 offered for an average price of $6076.
This compared to the 2023 sale where 13 bulls were sold from 19 for an average of $8846.
The top-priced bull at Monday's sale, Lot 15, Wilkah Holyfield T003, sold to John Staude, Pigeon Pond, for $10,000.
The March 2022-drop bull was sired by Grathlyn Holyfield N019 and out of Wilkah Minerva L063.
The sale topper recorded Hereford Group Breedplan EBV figures of 6.0 square centimetres eye muscle area, birth weight of 2.5kg, 200-day weight of 40kg, 400-day weight of 60kg and 600-day weight of 85kg.
Stud principal Andrew Lyons said Lot 15 stud out since the bull was a calf.
"I always liked Lot 15 all the way through because of his carcase attributes," he said.
"He's a very strong muscular bull and the weight for age is just unbelievable.
"He stood out all the way right through since he was a calf."
Mr Staude said that while the top-priced bull's figures "stacked up pretty well", he was more interested in the look of the animal.
"I liked the way he walked and he had good pigment around the eyes," he said.
The Pigeon Pond farmer said his new bull will be joined with a mob of Hereford heifers in late may or early June.
A repeat customer to Wilkah Herefords, he said he kept coming back as Mr Lyons was local and he looked after his customers well.
"He looks after you like he looks after them," he said.
The bulls presented for sale by Wilkah Herefords had strong muscling and carcase attributes, something Mr Lyons said continued to bring back repeat customers.
"The figures are very important but a lot of our clients like the carcase on the live animal as well," he said.
However, Mr Lyons said the past year's cattle prices did have an impact on the sale.
"We were after a clearance today and we weren't really worried about the top prices," he said.
"There's not the money out there in the industry at the moment for them.
"A lot of the guys didn't have the money this year.
"A lot of the clients too, because they got two or three bulls in previous years, they've got a lot of young bulls in their bull paddock and they didn't have to replace as many," he said.
Southern Grampians Livestock agent Dylan Praolini sold the Wilkah Herefords bulls at the sale.
He said the top end of the bulls saw good competition and they were "well sought after".
"I still think there were some very viable bulls there at the bottom end that represented good buying," he said.
"The sale was back a little bit but I think that clearance rate was higher.
"To sell more bulls is probably what it's all about and that's a good start considering how tough it was."
Ian Murphy, Carapook bought Lot 1, Wilkah Paisley T010, for $6000.
The long-term customer of the stud said he liked the bulls figures and structure.
"You got to look at both," he said.
Mr Murphy will put the bull to a mob of Hereford cows in late May to produce U-grade bullocks.
"I've been here over the years," he said.
"The bulls do the job and they're handy cattle so I'll keep coming back."
