Hicks Beef Composite and Red Angus bulls average $5491

The Holbrook stud offered 14 Red Angus bulls to a top of $11,000 and average of $4964, 27 Black Composite bulls to a top of $8000 and average of $6074 and 17 Red Composite bulls to a top of $8000 and average of $5000.

The Red Angus sale-topper, Hicks Premier N14, was bought by Kevin and Libby Heggen of Hedley Range Red Angus, Binginwarri, Victoria.

Stud principal, Tom Hicks said he was sired by American bull, Brown Premier X7876 and out of Hicks Red Desire L148.

"We've used Premier pretty heavily in our Red Angus and Composite program, he's a calving ease sire with top one per cent marbling," Mr Hicks said.

The stud had already used Hicks Premier N14 and would retain semen rights.

Mr Hicks said he believed pedigree, figures and structure created interest in the bull.

"He's a bit of an outcross and his EBV profile's pretty hard to touch with the calving ease and carcase quality, he's also got good structure and is pretty easy to use," Mr Hicks said.

The bull had a calving ease of +3.9, intramuscular fat value of +1.1 and eye muscle area of +1.4.

Mr Heggen, a repeat client, said Hicks Premier N14 was the heifer bull they were looking for.

"We bought him for his overall figures, he was good on the eye, obviously the Hick's have used them themselves in their herd," Mr Heggen said.

He said the bull will be tested out in their commercial Red Angus herd before being used in the stud.

Mr Hicks said he was particularly pleased with the interest shown for their draft of Black Composites.

"The Composites are a way of using hybrid vigor without rotationally cross breeding, it's simplistic and you get all the gains," Mr Hicks said.

"People have been doing it with sheep for a long time and all other meat industries, it's about time people started to look at it as an option to increase profitability in beef."

Volume buyers at the sale included SOF Agribusiness, Wandal, Queensland, who bought 11 bulls and Newman Biotech of Bowna who took home four bulls.

The sale was interfaced by AuctionsPlus and conducted by Elders with Joe Wilks taking the bids.