A MUCH heavier line-up of powerful bulls greeted potential buyers at the Karoo annual on-property sale near Bathurst last Friday.
The consistency of the draft was reflected in a healthy average of $9964 and top of $20,000.
All up, the sale achieved a 100 per cent clearance of 57 bulls.
Stud principals John Reen and Annie and Tony Scott were pleased with the result, which was the highest average the annual sale had ever achieved.
Annie Scott said the bulls offered this year were also heavier than past years.
This extra weight was in part due to the picture postcard season the district was experiencing after several years of severe drought.
Mrs Scott said the bulls had gone through a tough selection process to make it to the sale group and really were the heart of their bull program.
It was also the second year bidding had been available via the online selling platform, AuctionsPlus. There was solid activity on AuctionsPlus right throughout the sale, with eight bulls sold via online bids.
The top price at $20,000 was for a March 2019-drop bull, Karoo L125 Pearl Q17, bought by Ross and Ruth Friedrich, Rossrich, Gerogery.
Mr Friedrich said the bull "had a nice rounded set of [EBV] figures".
"We liked that he was a very calm bull in the yards and was smooth bodied," he said.
The couple, who were repeat buyers at Karoo, plan to put their new sire with younger cows for his first season.
Karoo L125 Pearl Q17 was by Karoo Black Pearl L125 from Karoo Wilcoola J192 and weighed in at 712 kilograms with a scrotal circumference of 39 centimetres.
The bull was an excellent proposition as a heifer bull, having an EBV birth figure of -5.9 for gestation length (GL) and 3.9 for birth weight (BW).
Second top price was two-year-old Karoo L125 Pearl P129 at $17,000, which sold to Barry Peters buying through Nutrien Ag Solutions, Bathurst.
Karoo L125 Pearl P129 was one of the heavier bulls in the draft and tipped the scales at 922kg with a scrotal circumference of 43cm.
Sired by Karoo Black Pearl L125, the growthy bull was from Karoo Jedda M353.
Volume buyers included Sion Hill Pastoral Company, Lyndhurst, taking home four bulls for a top of $12,000 and average of $10,500, and Tim and Sharron Mendham, Springvale, Barry, who bought four bulls for a top of $12,000 and average of $9750.
The sale was conducted by Ray White Emms Mooney, Blayney, with Ben Emms as auctioneer.