Quarterway's $15,000 top-priced bull 'ticked all the boxes' for buyer

A northern Tasmanian Angus stud has cleared more than three-quarters of its annual sale offering, defying the odds after three bad seasons.

Quarterway Angus stud, Scottsdale, Tas, sold 41 of the 53 bulls it offered for an average of $7341.

Quarterway stud principal Trevor Hall said the sale had "been tough enough".

"In this area, we are in our third dry season," Mr Hall said.

"Cow numbers are back a bit, so it's a bit of a hangover from three bad seasons."

He said the bulls had been on irrigated country since Christmas.

"It's been a battle all the way through," he said.

"I was listening to the weather bureau and they were saying we are looking at some of the lowest summer rainfall on record."

The top-priced bull, Quarterway Vasilis V22, was by TLH21S25 Quarterway Sancho S25SV and out of TLH21S217 Quarterway Snowflake S217.

He was bought by commercial operation, Ashwood Ag, Winnaleah, Tas.

Mr Hall described the top lot as a "magnificent bull".

"He has data that stacks up and when it comes to phenotype, he is a ripper, out of a strong cow family," he said.

The bull had TransTasman Angus Cattle Evaluation figures of 5.3 kilograms birth weight, a 200-day weight of 49kg, 400-day weight of 90kg and 600-day weight of 118kg.

His carcase weight was 55kg, with an eye muscle area of 3.2 square centimetres, rump fat of -0.2 millimetres and intramuscular fat of 1.4 per cent.

He weighed 724kg and had a scrotal circumference of 48 centimetres.

Kallan Steel, Ashwood Ag, said the bull "ticked a lot of the boxes" as to what the commercial operation was looking for.

"It was his phenotype more than anything," Mr Steel said.

"He tracked really well on a good set of feet, he had length and depth and muscle where it counts."

He said they had used Quarterway genetics before.

"We've had a good run with them, we can't fault them on their soundness and fertility," he said.

Mr Steel said they were running 300 breeders and the new bull's main role would be in helping produce replacement females.

"He has some pretty good cow lines back through his pedigree, and his New Zealand blood will work well in this steep country," he said.

Nutrien stud stock specialist Cooper Lamprey, Launceston, Tas, said bulls went across the north-west of Tasmania, to the south of the state, King Island, Tas, and Victoria.

"It's been a tough season, seasonal conditions down the coastal region haven't been ideal," Mr Lamprey said.

He said while paddocks were starting to show a green tinge, more rain was needed.

He said the top bull was structurally sound.

"He was a really good phenotype bull and structurally sound - that's what people are chasing," he said.