There was plenty of value for money to be found at the 26th annual KO Angus stud spring bull sale at Kangaloon on Friday.
Overall, 59 bulls sold to a top of $20,000, achieving a sale average of $11,223 and grossing $673,400.
LA Angus, Goulburn, secured the top-priced bull, KO Proceed R144.
The 23-month-old bull is by sire HPCA Proceed and from dam KO Dream J45.
KO Proceed R144 had an EBV of +62 for 200-day growth, +113 for 400-day growth, and +154 for 600-day growth.
Lincoln McKinlay, Elders Stud Stock, said KO Angus stud sales always presented buyers with good value for money for bulls grown in one of the toughest environments in southern NSW.
Mr McKinlay said buyers were still in the market for heifer bulls.
"Heifer bulls are still the flavour of the month," he said.
"We also saw a few local clientele who shopped heavily on heifer bulls last year step up and buy some bigger, more powerful and better performing cow bulls this year.
"Many of them have gone to areas such as Goulburn and Crookwell."
Mr McKinlay described KO Proceed R144 as a balanced bull with good EBV data across the page.
"He was a really well made, correct bull with a lot of meat and volume in him," he said.
"The draft overall was really balanced. There is a lot of performance in these cattle, the data recording is massive, and that flowed through to today's draft of bulls."
The equal second top lots were KO M518 Momentous R77, KO B074 Beastmode R89 and KO Ashland S15, each making $18,000.
KO M518 Momentous R77 was purchased by Hanworth Station, which secured three lots on the day for an average of $17,000.
KO B074 Beastmode R89 and KO Ashland S15 went to Somerton Pastoral, which secured five lots for an average of $16,200.
KO Angus stud encompasses 405 hectares (1000 acres) on the Southern Highlands and runs 200 breeding females.
Another 200 females run at their recently purchased property at Gundagai, where they will hold their inaugural Riverina Autumn bull sale in March 2023.
KO Angus stud principal, Theo Onisforou, said it was a challenging sale relative to previous auctions.
"The sale was consistent with my motto for KO, where you can buy a 'Valuebull'," he said.
Mr Onisforou registered the name 'Valuebull' only this week.
"We rang around our clients asking if they needed bulls and they said they didn't because they weren't breaking down," he said.
"Therefore, I knew it would be a tough sale because our clients didn't need bulls."
Elders Goulburn were the selling agents, with Lincoln McKinlay as the auctioneer.
