The moderate, thick stature of the bulls at Violet Hills Charolais, and ability to finish on grass, continues to be a key selling point for the stud.
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At the stud's 14th annual on-property bull sale at Rydal on Thursday, a total of 23 bulls sold from 40 offered to a top of $12,000, three times, to average $8044.
Two of the three top-priced bulls sold to clients of about nine years, Audrey and Robert Scott, Stanley, Tas, for their crossbreeding operation.
The Scotts run 130-140 Red Angus females, which they buy as in-calf heifers from a breeder in Victoria, which avoids the work of growing out their own replacements.
Once calved, they are thereafter joined to Charolais bulls, the steer calves from which are grown out until ready for Greenham's Never Ever program, which means a 380 to 400 kilogram carcase weight at about two years old, all off pasture.
The heifer calves are sold as weaners, straight off the cows, to a neighbour who finishes them for slaughter too.
"The Charolais just do better than the British breeds," said Mrs Scott, who used the Violet Hills bulls for their "nicely rounded shape and good conformation" with good figures to top it off.
She said the phenotype was the primary selection factor, and the figures thereafter and is was their moderate, soft type that suited her pasture finishing system.
The Scott's two purchases included the poll/scur, 20-month-old Violet Hills Thorpe and the homozygous polled, 21-month-old Violet Hills Tallwood.
Thorpe, by Violet Hills Macauley, weighed 734 kilograms with a 134 square centimetre eye muscle area and 4.6 per cent intramuscular fat scan with just seven and four millimetres of rump and rib fat.
Tallwood, also by Macauley, weighed 784kg, with a 120sq cm EMA and 7mm and 5mm of rump and rib fat.
The third bull at $12,000 was the 21-month-old Violet Hills Tomaso, which sold to an undisclosed buyer via Nutrien Scone.
The Violet Hills Peronne son weighed 762kg, with a 135sq cm EMA and 7mm and 4mm of rump and rip fat.
Damien Ventry, who was buying for Deddick Springs, Cann River, Vic, to go over Simmental and Angus cows to produce vealers for the domestic trade.
The company only killed the first lot of calves produced like this a week ago, and, at nine- to 10-months-old straight off the cow - and raised on pasture only - weighed 205kg (cwt).
The company's Cann River property runs 450-500 cows.
All up, Deddick Springs bought four bulls to a top of $7000 to average $6250.
A son of the Canadian bull, SCR Triumph 2135, Violet Hills Triumph, made $11,000 to Wayne Missen, Denison.
The 21-month-old weighed 814kg, with a 135sq cm EMA and 7mm and 6mm of rump and rib fat.
Violet Hills stud principal, Daryl Jenkins, said at the sale's opening that these bulls would be breeding progeny to hit the market in two to four years time and some observers were predicting improvement in the beef market.
The sale was handled by Elders, with Elders' Brian Kennedy as auctioneer, and online handled by Auctionsplus.
