THE 52nd bull sale at Weeran Angus, Byaduk, exceeded the stud's expectations, with a higher average than the equivalent summer sale in 2023 and repeat buyers showing interest in new reference sires at the stud.
Weeran stud principal Alec Moore said the sale was underpinned by new sire Landfall Mainland Q494, purchased in 2021 in syndication with South Australian studs Bull Oak, based in Pinnaroo, and Mandayen Angus, based in Keith.
"That sire was a beauty and bred very well here as well as the other herds; he has bred very well at all three operations," Mr Moore said.
He said the sale had "exceeded expectations", with good, local support throughout the sale.
The sale offered 69 lots and sold 65, to a top of $18,000 and averaging $10,015.
The top-priced bull of the day, Lot 4, Weeran Telecom VHW22T151, had Landfall's genetics along with Weeran Prue Q39 as its dam and was sold to Luke and Gil Rees, Roo Park, Telangatuk East.
Luke Rees said he was impressed by the bull's stretch in the middle, his growth rate and his milk.
"He'll go out for joining in early May, and we will put him over our heifers that we kept from last year," he said.
"We've been buying here for about 25 years or so, and for this year, it will probably be our first and only purchase.
"Alec, Jo and family have looked after us for a long time now, and we know what the cattle do, plus we like the quietness of the bulls."
The 832-kilogram bull recorded a birth weight of 4.1kg, 200-day weight of 59kg, 400-day weight of 111kg, 600-day weight of 148kg, +9.7 square centimetre eye muscle area, 420 centimetre scrotal size and +2.4 per cent intramuscular fat.
Mr Rees said his operation had also been "lucky enough to not be too bad with calves coming off pretty well".
The second-highest price of the sale of $17,000 was achieved by Lot 45, Weeran Trinity VHW22T329, bought by Charlie Fraser, Heatherlie, Tallangatta, and Lot 51, Weeran Tristan VHW22T495, bought by Nareen Station, Nareen.
Mr Fraser said he was chasing a bull that calved easily.
"We were also looking for a bull that had a bit of growth, and was really fertile," he said.
"We are predominately a composite herd transitioning to an Angus herd and getting better genetics is an aim for us right now."
Both of those bulls were sired by Angus Performance Register (APR) sire Connamara Twinhearts P64, which Mr Moore said was a point of difference this year.
"I was very excited to try and use that bull because we got quite a lot of APR pedigrees in our herd where we could use an APR bull like Connamara Twinhearts P64," he said.
"Twinhearts was a bull used in Australia quite a few years ago, but is not used now, and him being an APR bull in our Herd Book Register herd."
Mr Moore said the spring posed some challenges for the stud with significant copper deficiencies found in his herd.
"Thankfully that was relatively easy to treat and we got a huge response from the cows and calves after that treatment," he said.
"As far as the sale was concerned, we did curb our numbers a little and tried to be a bit more realistic about the numbers that we can move into our local market."
Nareen Station was also among the top volume buyers of the day, buying three bulls for a total of $40,000.
The Allen family, South Boorook, Mortlake, bought two bulls for $27,000, with their top price being $15,000 for Lot 3.
